I don't know how long I've been here.
The light filtering through the blinds had shifted at least twice once bright and golden, now dim and gray-blue with the weight of an approaching evening. Time didn't move in hours anymore, only in shadows crawling across the floor. The student council office that once felt cold and sterile now pulsed with something darker. Something alive.
And I was the prey in its jaws.
My wrists throbbed, raw and bruised from the rough ropes that had initially cut into my skin. They'd replaced them zip ties now, biting cruelly into flesh. Efficient. Cold. Probably Atsumu's idea. My ankles were bound too, stiff and aching, and beneath me was a crumpled blazer shoved like a cheap apology. As if that could make the floor any softer. As if comfort was something they even considered.
But the restraints weren't what haunted me most.
It was the eyes.
Always watching. Always lingering. Even when I tried to pretend they weren't.
Each time I shifted, even slightly, someone noticed. A rustle of clothing. A breath caught. And those eyes...hungry, wary, possessive were there again.
"Still not speaking?"
Kuroo's voice sliced through the silence like a knife wrapped in velvet. Too smooth, too casual, and yet it prickled my skin with something jagged. He crouched beside me, his elbows resting lazily on his knees as he looked me over with amusement, like I was some wild thing he'd finally cornered.
"That hurts my feelings, Kitten," he added with a crooked grin.
I glared at him, not bothering to answer. If I opened my mouth, I wasn't sure what would come out. Rage? A scream? Or something weaker?
"Stop talking to her like that," Semi muttered from across the room, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. His jaw was clenched, muscles ticking with visible tension. "You'll only make her more agitated."
"Oh? And what would you prefer I do?" Kuroo drawled lazily. "Sing her a lullaby? Give her a warm bath and read her a bedtime story?"
"She's not some damn doll," Semi snapped, stepping forward, fists clenched. "And you're not charming, Kuroo. Just creepy."
Kuroo's smirk widened, but something in his eyes darkened.
"Creepy, huh?" he repeated, head tilting just slightly. "You keep talking like I'm the villain in some fairytale. Remind me, Semi who was the one who said she needed to be 'taught a lesson' when she ignored you for three days straight?"
Semi's expression froze for a beat.
"I didn't mean this," he said coldly, but the edge in his voice was dull now, almost defensive.
A low chuckle came from the corner. Atsumu leaned against a cabinet, arms folded, chewing on a toothpick like he didn't have a care in the world.
"Aw, don't act like you're better than the rest of us, Semi," he said, his southern accent curling lazily around every word. "You just didn't have the guts to do what we did."
"She was going to leave," Bokuto said suddenly, voice quieter but no less intense. He sat near the window, shoulders tense. "She was gonna leave all of us behind."
"So you kidnapped her?" I rasped, my voice finally breaking through the silence, hoarse and cracking from days without use. "That's how you deal with being left behind?"
They all turned to look at me. Some looked guilty. Most didn't.
"You say it like it's a bad thing," Terushima said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Isn't it?" I whispered.
"Not if it means keeping you," Oikawa murmured, crouching next to Kuroo now. "Not if it means making sure you finally see us."
"See you?" I shook my head in disbelief. "I saw you. I saw all of you. And now I see what you really are."
There was a thick pause, heavy with things unspoken.
"I'm not staying here," I said, voice shaking but firm. "You can tie me down, drug me, whatever the hell you want but I'm not staying here. Not with people who think this is love."
Kuroo's grin vanished.
"You'll understand eventually," he said after a long silence, voice low. "We just have to help you get there."
He stood, brushing invisible dust off his pants, and turned to the others.
"Get her ready. We're leaving tonight."
"Tonight?" Tsukishima raised an eyebrow, standing from his place near the door
"Are you seriously suggesting we sneak her out of school in broad daylight?" Tsukishima adjusted his uniform, his tone laced with disbelief and disdain. "You really think nobody will question that? Not one teacher? Not one student?"
"They won't," Osamu replied coolly, voice low and deliberate. "We've all got our reasons to 'leave early for a break.' Parents called, family emergency, a sudden trip take your pick. Kuroo drives. One car. Tinted windows. She's unconscious, no one will see a thing."
I felt a chill snake down my spine, cold and sharp.
Unconscious.
They were talking about knocking me out like it was just another checkbox on a checklist.
"And her parents?" Oikawa chimed in, flicking a lock of his hair out of his face with dramatic flair, his smirk razor-sharp. "They'll throw a fit when their little golden girl suddenly stops responding. They'll call the media. Maybe even hire investigators."
I wanted to scream that they wouldn't. That they'd barely notice.
"Don't worry about that," Suna said flatly, pulling out his phone and scrolling casually. "I already forged the letter Kuroo asked me to. Her parents think she got accepted into some elite summer program overseas. They even responded with a thumbs-up emoji."
My stomach twisted violently.
They'd thought of everything.
"You guys really planned this, huh?" I rasped, voice rough and cracking from disuse.
It got quiet. For a beat.
Kuroo turned slowly to look at me, his smile lazy but his eyes burning. "We've been planning this longer than you think, sweetheart."
Atsumu leaned against the wall, arms crossed, grinning wide. "Yeah? Did ya think we just started losing it this week? Nah, we've been patient. Real patient."
Bokuto stepped forward, eyes wide and unblinking. "You were always going to end up with us. We just… sped things up a little."
"You don't get it," Terushima added with a tilt of his head, "this is the best thing for you. Away from the pressure. Away from the lies. Away from them."
"Away from me," I whispered bitterly, my voice barely audible.
"No," Semi said, tone unreadable. "Closer to us. That's the difference."
Tsukishima gave a sigh, adjusting his glasses again. "We'll do it tonight. The staff will be too busy with their own departure prep to notice anything off. Kuroo, how long is the drive to your villa?"
"Four hours," Kuroo said casually, pulling out his keys and twirling them on one finger. "Remote location. Private road. Gated entrance. My parents won't be home till the end of the season. Summer break is ours."
"Everyone gets visitation time," Oikawa muttered, rolling his eyes. "We're not turning this into a prison."
"We're not?" Terushima asked with a raised brow. "Because that's exactly what it is."
I stayed silent. Frozen. My body..aching, my skin raw, my mouth dry and still, they kept planning like I wasn't even there.
But then..Terushima crouched beside me, the glint in his eyes softer than usual almost... wistful. His hand hovered just inches from my cheek, trembling ever so slightly like he was fighting the urge to touch. "At the villa... you'll be safe," he murmured, voice gentler than I'd ever heard it. "From them. From yourself."
I flinched away from his presence, revulsion and confusion tightening my chest like a vice. "You don't get to decide what I'm safe from!" My voice cracked, raw and ragged from disuse, but it came out a scream. Desperate. Defiant. "Let me go! Let me decide for myself!"
Terushima blinked, but didn't respond. Behind him, Atsumu leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest. He didn't look smug this time just... resigned.
"You had your chance," Atsumu said, his voice low and quiet, lacking his usual fire. "We waited. We watched you break yourself down every damn day trying to be what they wanted. Now... we take care of you. Even if you hate us for it."
"I don't need your care!" I shouted. My body trembled with rage, fear, helplessness all of it was too heavy to carry alone. "I didn't ask for this!"
Kuroo stood slowly from where he'd been seated by the desk and nodded toward Osamu, who stepped forward silently. There was a certain kind of darkness in Kuroo's eyes one that wasn't cruel, just determined. Final. "Sedative?"
Osamu didn't speak. He just pulled a small, silver case from his pocket, flipping it open to reveal a syringe nestled inside like it was precious. The liquid inside shimmered faintly under the dim lighting sterile, clear, and terrifying in its simplicity.
"It won't hurt," Osamu finally said, his voice almost too calm. "You'll just sleep through the drive."
My chest tightened, heart pounding loud in my ears. "Don't touch me...don't you dare touch me!"
I tried to crawl back, but my restraints made it impossible. Panic clawed its way up my throat as the shadows around me moved Semi and Suna closing in with slow, steady steps like they were approaching a wounded animal.
"No, no, don't!" I screamed, thrashing against the binds as hot tears burned down my cheeks. My voice cracked again, hoarse and broken from the days of silence and fear. "Please, just let me go! I won't tell anyone...I swear, I won't"
Suna's hands gripped my shoulders gently, but firmly. His face didn't show anger or even guilt. Just inevitability. Semi took my legs, pinning them as carefully as he could while Osamu knelt beside me, syringe in hand.
"Shh…" Semi whispered, as if soothing a child. "It's okay. You're not alone anymore."
I shook my head violently, sobbing now, the sound echoing off the sterile walls like some twisted lullaby. "Stop... please…"
Then..sharp.
A sting in my arm, fast and precise.
Coldness spread like ink beneath my skin, and the room began to tilt.
The fluorescent lights overhead blurred, colors bleeding at the edges of my vision. My limbs went numb one by one, and my cries faded into hiccuped breaths.
I could barely make out the blurry outline of Kuroo as he leaned in close, his features swimming in the haze. That damn smirk never left his face.
"Sweet dreams, kitten," he whispered, brushing a strand of hair from my temple. "When you wake up… you'll be home."
I wasn't conscious on the car ride, but pieces came back to me in flashes fractured moments stitched together like broken glass catching the light.
Warm arms slipped beneath me, lifting me off the cold, unforgiving floor. My body hung limp, but somewhere in the haze, I recognized the scent of Terushima's cologne faint citrus and smoke just before something heavy and warm was draped over me. His jacket. It smelled like bonfires and rain.
There was a shift in the air, the sterile hum of fluorescent lights giving way to open space. Footsteps echoed hurried but hushed as someone pushed open a door. The mechanical click of a car unlocking followed by the low creak of leather seats.
"She's lighter than I thought," a voice murmured Tsukishima, maybe. Distant. Detached. "Has she even eaten this week?"
A pause. The weight of that silence crushed my chest.
"No," Semi said quietly. "She barely touched anything. Just coffee. Energy drinks. Not real food."
I was lowered into something soft...too soft. A seat, not a floor. The jacket tucked around me like a blanket I hadn't asked for. The gentle hum of the engine beneath me started, steady and constant, vibrating up my spine like a lullaby sung through steel.
The voices blurred together, fading in and out like radio static.
"She's burning up," someone whispered near my ear, a cool hand brushing sweaty strands of hair off my forehead. Oikawa. His fingertips were careful, almost reverent, like touching something fragile that might break from too much pressure.
"It's just the sedative," Osamu's voice answered, low and clinical. "Her system's adjusting. She'll be okay."
"Should we stop?" That was Suna, from somewhere behind me. I could barely process the words. "She looks pale."
"She always looks pale," Atsumu muttered. "You've seen her in the mornings like a damn ghost."
"She's not a ghost," Terushima said sharply. "She's just... tired."
Someone sighed, long and frustrated. "We're all tired," Kuroo muttered from the driver's seat. "She'll sleep through the rest of it. We're almost there."
Another silence settled in the car. This one felt heavier, as if no one wanted to admit they were scared too.
I drifted again, pulled under invisible waves weightless and numb yet somewhere inside, a small ember of fear still burned.
They were taking me somewhere I didn't choose.
And I didn't know who I would be when I woke up.