serveivor | [i n b o x - hollyheights]

[He sees the name when he's scrolling through looking for the other people Suga mentioned having made friends with here. He's certain that name wasn't here before, but maybe it's not who he thinks.]

Asahi?

[Asahi spends a solid minute just staring at his phone. This... this is just plain weird now.]

Hello!

[He doesn't seem to be freaking out. Maybe it isn't Asahi.]

Where are you? When did you get here?

[And, a moment later]

Are you all right?

[Oh... THANK GOD it's you. His next response comes a little more quickly.]

This place is really scary :( Daichi how do we get home??

[Introducing himself never even crossed Daichi's mind. Gosh, Asahi, you should just know.]

It's actually not, it's pretty peaceful, but I don't think we can. What house did you get put into?

[But he's worried there are just multiple people with the same name YOU NEVER KNOW]

I... forgot the number. I'm with Coach and Noya and another guy but I forgot his name.

We can't go home???

[Ah, yes, a random text from some other Sawamura ~~Daiki~~ ~~Daisuke~~ Daichi. Suuuuure.

Don't get mad, Daichi. Remember your first night here? Remember being ushered into a bathroom because you thought you were hallucinating? Deep breaths.]

Asahi. It's going to be all right. But no, we can't go home. Or, I guess, this is home now. So it's good you're living with people you know.

[You never know. This is a topsy turvy world and he's thoroughly convinced this is a really bad dream. Or alien kidnapping. Maybe both.]

i have to go

I'm going to wait until I wake up

sorry, bye

[OH NO YOU DON'T.

RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RING RIGN PICK UP ASAHI.]

[He actually drops his phone at the loud volume of the ring. But then he picks it up, and there's just a very soft whine.]

...H-hello?

[DAMMIT. Daichi's holding his phone so tight it's creaking a little, but he can't yell at him. For once--for once--Asahi actually has a legitimate reason to be this unsettled.]

Asahi. Going to sleep isn't going to change this. You'll just wake up here.

[Asahi'd been bracing himself to be yelled at, but it's actually rather comforting that it doesn't come. He just sighs softly.]

...There's really no way out?

[Don't get used to it. This is Daichi's welcoming present: patience and understanding for a little bit.]

No. One of the guys I met, Matsuoka... he's been here for two years. You can get sent back, but you can't just leave.

[He's counting his blessings.]

Two years?! Oh no... B-but we'll miss camp! We'll miss the Spring Tournament!

[Camp... He hasn't been to training camp. Oikawa was the same way, coming from what was basically Daichi's past. This place was so weird.]

Everybody I've asked told me home just waits for you. So the world back home is on pause until you get back to it. Besides, [and now he's actively trying to be reassuring] pretty much our entire team is here, plus some of Nekoma, Seijoh, and Fukurodani. They can't hold camp without all of us.

[What...? Well, it is true, they can't hold a training camp with that many people missing, but...]

Did they really kidnap all of us!? That... none of this makes sense!

Nope. No sense at all. No one I've talked to knows why we're here. Nobody seems to be getting hurt, though, it's all pretty quiet and safe here. It's not home but it's not bad.

And yeah, now that you're here, all Karasuno's missing is [pause...] Ennoshita, Narita, Kinoshita, Yamaguchi, Tsukishima and Takeda-san. Suga's been here even longer than I have, and I'm living with Kageyama.

Just... a few more...

[But then... wait.]

Ehh?! B-but I just saw you an hour ago at practice! How could you guys be here?

[Didn't he just say... Daichi pinches the bridge of his nose. This is not easy. He himself still doesn't know it all, but Asahi'd probably have a meltdown if he had to get it explained by Sharptooth.]

Everything at home is waiting for me. Or for you, or for Suga or whoever. So you saw me, but now that life is on hold for me and you and everybody else while we're here. Does that make sense?

[He's probably going to go into meltdown mode in the next five minutes given the way his brain is leading him.]

...So life is on hold... but it can be on hold at different times? Eh?

...No, this has to be the worst dream ever. I'm going back to sleep, I'll wake up in my room! It's okay!

[Does he handle this like he handled Asahi trying to quit the team? Hands off, let it run its course? If what he's saying is true and he's living with Noya, then Asahi's entire support system is here the same way it was then.

On the other hand, shaking him till his headband falls out would be really satisfying.]

Exactly, like if you were watching a movie and paused it, and I was watching a movie and paused it. Two different lives, two different times.

You're going to wake up in your room here, Asahi. It's not a dream. But if you really want to sleep, call me when you wake up.

[Are you trying to make him cry? Asahi just goes silent for a moment, before he just sighs. Like a movie on pause... It makes sense when put that way, but the actual reality of it doesn't. But if he can't wake up in his own bed... sleep is pretty impossible with how anxious he's feeling now anyway.]

...n-no... It's okay. I can't sleep like this anyway.

So, what... do we do?

[~~Maybe.~~ No, just get him to accept this really pretty unacceptable turn of events. Focusing on what can't be done right now won't help move Asahi forward.]

Well, school's over later this week so graduate. Keep playing volleyball--there's a huge sports center here, it's really nice. Suga's birthday is Saturday, we should really do something.

[Just keep moving forward.]

Edited 2015-06-10 00:11 (UTC)

[But how do you move forward when your life is on pause...? 'Graduate' already throws him in for a loop.]

...Eh? Graduate? But that's not for another few...

[Wait. Suga's birthday is in the summer, meaning...]

...It's... It's June?

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<small<[...Oops. Well, they were going to have to deal with that fact eventually.]</small>

Yeah, June. The date here doesn't always match up to the one you left, but if you get sent back, it'll still be whatever date it was when you left. That's what I mean by pause. And don't worry about graduation, the school here is... weird.

[i n b o x - hollyheights]

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