> ERROR: FILE PROTECTED. ADMINISTRATIVE PASSWORD REQUIRED.
My fingers froze above the keyboard, the cursor blinking like a countdown to something awful. My breath caught in my throat, heart hammering in my chest so loudly I could hear it in my ears.
"…What? No, no...again?"
I furiously clicked out of the prompt, trying again, this time a different command.
> ACCESS DENIED. TRACE INITIATED.
A low beep rang out.
I stared at the screen. My reflection stared back in the black glass eyes wide, lips parted, pale as death. The air in the room shifted, like it suddenly grew heavier. Denser.
I felt it. Something was wrong.
"Shit," I whispered under my breath, panic flaring in my chest. My hand moved instinctively, yanking the flash drive from the port with a muted click. I stuffed it into the front pocket of my hoodie, fumbling with the zipper. My hands wouldn't stop shaking.
"This can't be happening. This wasn't supposed to happen-"
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. The office was silent but not empty.
Then I heard it.
A creak.
Just the soft groan of a floorboard behind me. Almost imperceptible. But loud enough to send a spike of terror through my spine.
I turned-
Or tried to.
THWACK.
Pain exploded in my skull like lightning white-hot, searing. My knees buckled. The screen swam in and out of view as I crumpled forward, arms limp, breath knocked out of me.
My last thought was I should've never come here.
Then..-
Darkness.
••__________________________••
??? POV
"She looks so peaceful like this," Atsumu whispered, his voice low, almost reverent as he crouched beside Y/n's slumped form.
"Don't touch her, Atsumu," Kuroo snapped sharply, stepping forward, his eyes cold and calculating.
"Pfft," Atsumu smirked, brushing a stray lock of hair from Y/n's face despite the warning. "Too late."
Y/n's head lolled to the side, a thin trickle of blood weaving its slow path down her temple. The student council office, once eerily silent, was now thick with a suffocating tension like a cage closing in around them all.
Kuroo leaned heavily on the desk, fingers drumming impatiently. "I told you she was getting too curious. This was inevitable."
"She almost deleted the files," Suna said quietly, kneeling beside the flickering computer screen, eyes narrowed. "She's sharper than we thought. Not just some clueless kid poking around."
"Of course she's not," Oikawa said smoothly, voice syrupy but with a dark edge as he gently brushed Y/n's hair back from her pale forehead. "That's what makes her so… interesting. That's why we keep her close."
Bokuto's tone was uncharacteristically grave, his usual boisterousness drained away. "She wasn't supposed to find anything. Let alone that flash drive."
Tsukishima adjusted his glasses with a slow, precise motion, eyes glinting behind the lenses. "So, what's the plan? Wipe her memory? Keep her locked away? Or something… more permanent?"
"We could use her," Osamu said smoothly, arms folded across his chest, eyes unreadable. "She already knows too much. And honestly, you're all acting way too invested. More than you're letting on."
Terushima chuckled darkly, a wolfish grin spreading across his face. "She broke in like some little spy. Gotta admit, that's kinda hot."
Semi's voice cut through the tension like a knife. "Don't talk about her like that. She's not just some pawn in your game."
A heavy silence fell, broken only by Atsumu's low, humorless laugh. "Yet here we all are. Standing over her like vultures. Funny, huh?"
Y/n stirred a faint groan slipping from her lips, her fingers twitching weakly.
"She's waking up," Suna announced, rising slowly, eyes sharp and alert.
Atsumu arched an eyebrow, a mischievous grin tugging at his lips. "Round two?"
"No," Kuroo said, voice like iron. "Let her wake. Let her see exactly what she's stepped into."
Oikawa tilted his head, the faintest smile playing at his lips. "And then what?"
"Then we remind her," Kuroo murmured, dark and dangerous, "who she belongs to."
••__________________________••
Y/n POV
My wrists burned where the ropes bit into my skin, my body slumped awkwardly in the chair. The room smelled like stale cigarettes and something...metallic blood? I blinked slowly, trying to focus, the dull throb in my temple reminding me I wasn't entirely myself.
"Ah, you're awake," a silky voice purred, and my eyes snapped to the figure leaning casually against the doorframe.
Kuroo.
His dark eyes glimmered with something dangerous, a twisted smile curving his lips like he was savoring the moment. "Did you miss us, Y/n?"
My throat was dry, but I managed a shaky, "Why… why are you doing this?"
He laughed softly, stepping closer until I could feel his breath. "Doing this? No, sweetheart. This is for you. We're protecting you from yourself. From what you don't understand."
A sudden weight pressed into my side Bokuto, grinning with those wild eyes that never quite reached kindness. "Curiosity killed the cat, huh? Or maybe it just made her ours."
Oikawa appeared next, twirling a pen between his fingers like a weapon. "Trying to delete files? That was brave… foolish, but brave." His smile was sharp, too bright for a place like this. "But you've made a mess now."
Terushima leaned in from behind, voice low and thick with mock sympathy. "You should've just stayed away, Y/n. But here you are, tied up like a little secret we're keeping."
Tsukishima's cold gaze met mine, adjusting his glasses with deliberate calm. "Don't worry. We're not heartless. Just… selective."
I swallowed hard, desperate to find strength inside the haze. "Please… just let me go. I won't tell anyone."
Osamu chuckled softly from the corner, arms crossed. "You don't get to decide anymore."
Atsumu circled the chair like a predator, eyes gleaming. "You're ours now. And we don't like losing our toys."
Semi's voice broke in sharply. "Enough with the games. You've pushed too far."
Suna stood by the window, calm but watchful, eyes flicking between us all. "The longer she resists, the worse it'll be."
I shook my head, tears stinging. "I'm not afraid of you."
"Not afraid?" Kuroo's smile widened, unsettling. "Oh, Y/n. You should be."
He leaned down, his face inches from mine. "Because you don't know what it means to be tied to us. To belong. But soon… you will."
And in that moment, I realized there was no escape not from them, not from this twisted game where I was already caught.
"She's so much quieter like this," Tsukishima said coldly, pushing up his glasses with a faint click. "Peaceful. Almost tolerable."
"Not for long," Terushima chuckled, crouching in front of me. His fingers reached out to brush my cheek I flinched. "Don't worry, baby. You'll adjust. Might even start liking it."
"You hit her too hard," Semi's voice snapped from somewhere to the left, sharp and furious. "You could've killed her."
"She's fine," Osamu said flatly, standing near the window, arms crossed. "She needed a lesson. That's all."
"I said don't touch her, Atsumu," Kuroo growled, eyes flashing.
"I wasn't gonna hurt her!" Atsumu said defensively, sitting on the edge of a desk like this was all just some joke. "I just wanted to feel her skin. You've been hoggin' her all morning, Kuroo."
"Hogging?" Kuroo laughed low and cruel. "She's tied to a chair with a concussion, and you think I'm hogging her?"
I let out a choked breath. "You're all insane…"
Suna was still on the computer. He hadn't spoken much, but I could feel his eyes on me every time I moved. Cold. Calculating.
"You found the flash drive," he finally said, not even looking up. "You tried to delete everything. That's… impressive."
"Stupid," Tsukishima corrected. "If she had succeeded, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Oikawa leaned over me from behind. I could feel his fingers in my hair, gentle but invasive. "You almost broke our trust, Y/n. That hurts me. Truly."
"There was nothing to trust," I spat. "You've been lying to me. Manipulating me. I saw the files-"
"And that's why we couldn't let you go," Bokuto cut in, grin faltering slightly. "You weren't supposed to know. But now that you do…"
"She's ours," Kuroo said simply.
"Yours?" I snapped, tugging uselessly at the ropes. "I'm not anyone's..-"
"You are," Atsumu cut in. "You just don't get it yet. But we'll help you. Won't we, boys?"
A chilling silence fell. Then, one by one, they nodded.
Suna stood up. "I say we erase the files from her memory. Start fresh."
"That's risky," Tsukishima said. "Side effects. Memory gaps. Mental instability."
Oikawa leaned in closer, lips nearly brushing my ear. "She was always a little unstable though, weren't you, Y/n? That's what makes you perfect for us."
I wanted to scream to kick, to claw my way out but the ropes held me still. My voice came out smaller than I wanted.
"You're all monsters."
Kuroo knelt in front of me, tilting his head. His gaze softened, but it was worse than the threats it was possessive. Intimate. Sick.
"We're your monsters," he whispered. "And now you belong to us."