Chapter Text
”I have to the bathroom.”
His face had been red.
Not from the bruises. He kept his eyes on the floor while reaching for the door.
Nobody stopped him. Daichi looked after him. Nishinoya frowned. Even Tsukishima didn’t comment
The door clicked shut. The room became quieter. Hinata stared at it.
He'll be back.
His room was full of teammates that morning. He should’ve felt happy.
Suga smiled at him. Tanaka and Nishinoya were practically laying with him and Tsukishima hadn’t made any rude remarks towards him.
He picked at the blanket covering his legs.
Kageyama hadn't talked much.
He'd just...stayed.
Every time Hinata woke up, no matter if it was the middle of the night or early morning, Kageyama was still sitting beside the bed
Now that he was awake, he found himself looking at the empty chair.
He never did return.
Hinata got discharged that afternoon.
His head still throbbed every time he moved too quickly. The nurse insisted on using a wheelchair to get him downstairs.
"I can walk," he'd complained.
"You also got a concussion," she'd replied.
So he'd let himself be wheeled through the automatic doors anyway.
The late afternoon air hit his face as they reached the parking lot. His mom helped him into the passenger seat.
The ride home should've been quiet.
"I still can't believe you got suspended."
His mom kept her eyes on the road.
"I got a call from Takeda-sensei this morning."
Hinata shrank a little farther into his seat.
"They said you aren't allowed anywhere near volleyball until a doctor clears you."
He nodded.
"And fighting?" she continued. "Shoyo, that's not like you."
"Sorry." He mumbled out
She kept talking.
About school, making up assignments, being more careful.
Hinata listened.
At least, he looked like he was listening.
Really, all he could think about was Kageyama.
Had he made it home?
Was he sleeping?
Was he eating?
Why had he left?
The last one stayed with him the longest.
His phone vibrated against his leg.
Suga: heard you’re out of the hospital today! Can’t wait to see you back at school.
Yama: Tsukki and I will visit you if you get bored!!
Tanaka: DUDEEEE missing you already
He found himself checking Kageyamas contact.
Just to make sure. No new texts
He wasn’t expexcting one anyways.
He set his phone down and leaned his head against the window.
This was going to be a long three days.
"...and then Tsukki actually laughed."
"I did not."
Hinata barely heard either of them.
His eyes locked on the boy standing in the convienence store.
His black eye had faded. The cut on his lip was almost gone. Most of the bruising had already started to disappear. But there was something in his eyes that hadn't healed.
He felt a nudge on his shoulder.
“Shoyo?” Yamaguchi said.
He hummed.
He didn't look away.
He looked behind him to see daichi and suga also staring at him.
“Look there’s kageyama” Yamaguchi said as he pointed.
“He already saw that.” Tsukishima added
“Tsukki!”
“Look at the boy” Tsukishima pointed relentlessly Tsukishima sighed. “You're impossible."
"What?"
"You've been staring at him since we got here."
That made Hinata turn around. Heat crept up his neck.
“I just..haven’t seen him since he walked out the hospital room.” He said rubbing the back of his neck.
Yamaguchi frowned.
"Has he talked to you?"
Hinata shook his head.
He wasn't sure which hurt more.
That Kageyama had left.
Or that he'd stayed gone
Yamaguchi's hand settled gently on his shoulder.
“Come on."
He was already walking toward the convenience store before anyone answered.
“Tsukki, wait!” Yamaguchi pleaded
"He's been staring at him for five minutes." Tsukishima said with an all knowing grin.
They both looked at Hinata as he stood up from the grass.
“Alright, let’s go”
Yamaguchi jumped up and clung to Tsukishimas arm.
“Let’s go!” He said
Tsukishima didn't pull his arm away.Tsukishima didn't complain. Didn't sigh.
Didn't even try to shake him off.
Hinata blinked. He hadn't realized how close they'd become He knew they were friends since they were young but they seemed total opposites.
Yet Tsukishima still put up with yamaguchis actions. And yamaguchi put up with Tsukishimas impossible attitude.
They found the front of the store and went inside.
Cold air washed over them.
Hinata looked up.
Daichi saw them first.
“Hinata! How are you?” Sugawara said grabbing Hinatas shoulders
He laughed
“I’m good” he said smiling, “how are you guys?” He said gesturing to Daichi and him
“We’ve been good.” Daichi said walking up,
“Practice had been lonely without you.” He said wrapping his arm around Sugawara shoulder.
Sugawara's shoulders dropped almost instantly. Like he hadn't realized they were tense until Daichi touched him.
“It really hasn’t” Tsukishima whispered to Hinata.
He gave Tsukishima a glare. Hinata stuck his tongue out anyway.
"Then why're you here?"
“Only because Yamaguchi made me” he said rolling his eyes.
Hinata ignored him and peered past Daichi and Sugawara. Kageyama had somehow shrunk behind them trying to be lest visible.
“Hey Kageyama.” Hinata said barely above a whisper.
He waved shyly towards the boy. Like it was a frail animal scared of any sudden movements.
Kageyama peered from behind them
“Hi.”
The silence settled over the group. Nobody seemed sure who was supposed to speak next.
It felt like everyone was waiting to see whether Hinata and Kageyama would move closer or farther apart.
Daichi cleared his throat.
"Well this is awkward."
Tanaka would've said it louder.
It earned a small laugh from Sugawara.
"Your head okay?" Kageyama asked.
"...Yeah."
"Doctor said no volleyball?"
"Yeah."
"Same."
"That sucks."
"Yeah."
“Tsukki! I think I left my phone outside” Yamaguchi said with some kind of sarcastic tone.
He grabbed Tsukishima by the wrist and brought him back outside.
Hinata took a hesitant step closer.
Up close, the bruises looked different. The swelling around Kageyama's eye had gone down. The cut on his lip had already begun to scar.
He looked better.
He still looked tired.
He observed his face
“You look better," Hinata said, offering a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
Kageyama looked away.
"Thanks."
A beat passed.
"You too."
Hinata opened his mouth.
Closed it again.
There were too many questions.
Why did you leave?
Are you mad at me?
Are we okay?
Somehow...
"Have you been sleeping okay?"
Even he wanted to laugh.
Kageyama nodded.
He hadn't looked him in the eyes once.
Not since saying hello.
That bothered Hinata more than he wanted it to.
Kageyama looked toward Daichi and Sugawara, like he expected them to come and save him. Hinata turned towards them too.
“I’m going to go check on Yamaguchi” he said rubbing his neck. “His phone seems lost.”
He said as he rushed out the store. He found himself at the back of. The store before he even knew.
He rounded the corner behind the store. There they were.
Yamaguchi had both hands on Tsukishima's jacket. Tsukishima was leaning down. Hinata stopped walking.
Yamaguchi laughed.
"You've got something on your face."
Tsukishima rolled his eyes.
"I know."
Yamaguchi reached up and brushed something from the corner of his mouth. Too close.
Hinata immediately turned around.
"I-I'll... come back later."
He sat down on the bench.
Kageyama's homework sat beside him.
Yamaguchi understood Tsukishima without asking. Daichi understood Sugawara before either of them spoke. Even Tanaka and Nishinoya always seemed to know what the other was thinking.
Hinata rested his elbows on his knees.
When had everyone gotten so close?
He didn’t know what to trust. He didn’t know why he felt frustrated seeing people happy like that. Watching them felt strange.
They always had someone.
Someone to walk beside. Someone who already knew what they were thinking. Someone who stayed.
He looked back up at the store His eyes found Kageyama almost immediately.
No.
That wouldn’t work.
Were they even friends anymore?
It bothered him that the thought had come so naturally.
Why had he compared himself to them?
They just had the biggest fight of their lives and now he seems to think there’s a connection.
“We’re not.” He heard himself say out loud.
He unlocked his bike. Nobody called after him.
The wind drowned out everything else on the ride home. Hinata thought about how Kageyama was.
The time they shared a milk after practice. Hinata overworked himself that day and didn’t have any money. Kageyama noticed. On the walk back to their houses kageyama slipped his milk over to him.
Hinata looked at him with a confused look.
“Do you want some?” Kageyama managed out.
Hinata smiled, as he took the milk.
Kageyama never shared his milk. He barely shared anything. Yet that day, he'd slid it across without making a big deal out of it.
Hinata hadn't understood why back then. He wondered if Kageyama would still do it.
He reached his door and got greeted by his little sister
“Shoyo!” She said as he reached up to him
He smiled at her.
“Hey Natsu.”
“Welcome back!” His mome
Voice came from the kitchen
“I’m going to go take a shower.”
He wasn’t dirty.
He just didn’t want to talk to anyone. The bathroom door clicked shut behind him.
Hinata leaned against it for a second before letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
He reached over and turned the shower on. The pipes groaned before warm water began spilling from the showerhead. While it heated, Hinata wandered over to the mirror.
The swelling around his jaw had gone down. Most of the bruising had faded into pale yellow patches. The bandage above his eyebrow was smaller than it had been yesterday.
He looked normal.
Or at least, close enough.
His fingertips drifted toward the bruise on his cheek. It barely hurt anymore.
That surprised him.
His head hurt.
Every time he thought about the hospital. Every time he remembered Kageyama walking out of the room. Every time he remembered seeing him today.
The water had finally warmed. He stepped beneath it. Heat rushed over his shoulders.
He closed his eyes.
Usually showers helped him think.
Today they only made everything louder.
The way Kageyama had hidden behind Daichi.
The awkward silence.
"You look better."
"You too."
That was it.
That was all they'd managed after three days.
Hinata laughed quietly.
"We suck at talking."
The sound disappeared beneath the steady rush of water. He stood there longer than he meant to.
With every drop of water that rolled over his shoulders, his thoughts seemed to drift a little farther away.
Not because they'd disappeared. Because he was too tired to keep chasing them.
Eventually, the water began to cool. Hinata reached over and shut it off. The sudden silence felt almost louder than the shower had.
He stepped out onto the bath mat, dried himself off, and wiped a circle through the fogged mirror with the sleeve of his towel.
A wet mop of orange hair stared back at him.
He laughed.
"I look tiny."
His bangs hung flat against his forehead, making him look several years younger.
Without thinking, he grabbed his phone.
Click.
Hinata: look
1 photo attached
It took less than a minute.
Noya: ARE YOU MAKING FUN OF ME??
Hinata snorted.
Hinata: It reminded me of that time you scared me and Tanaka with your hair down lol
Noya: IT'S CALLED STYLE, SHOYO >:(
Hinata smiled to himself before locking his phone.
The conversation lasted less than a minute, but somehow it made the house feel a little less quiet.
He wandered back to his room.
Stacks of worksheets waited on his desk. Yachi had dropped them off that morning before he woke up.
Stupid homework.
He gathered the packets into his arms and let them fall onto his desk.
Thud.
The sound alone made him want to crawl back into bed.
He flipped through the stack.
Math.
English.
Science.
History.
A packet from Coach reminding them to keep up with schoolwork while suspended.
"Seriously?"
He reached for the math packet first.
If he got it over with now, maybe the rest of it wouldn't seem so bad.
The first page was on quadratic equations.
Hinata stared at it.
The worksheet stared back.
"We're learning letters in math now?"
He frowned harder.
"Since when does math have the alphabet?"
He looked around his room as if the answers might be hiding somewhere.
"I should’ve brought Tsukishima back home with me."
He picked up his pencil anyway. For the next ten minutes, he accomplished remarkably little.
One answer. A doodle. Another answer. Three more doodles.
Eventually the corner of his worksheet contained what was supposed to be a tiger. The ears looked more like rabbit ears.
Its legs were different lengths.
He sighed dramatically before grabbing his phone.
Hinata: I need help :(
1 photo attached.
He set the phone beside his worksheet and spun his pencil between his fingers.
No response.
So he kept adding to the tiger. It somehow got worse.
His phone buzzed.
He snatched it up so fast it nearly slipped out of his hand.
Tsukishima: no.
Hinata frowned.
There went his grades.
For a brief, horrifying second, he pictured his math test with one giant red F stretched across the page.
He physically winced.
His phone buzzed again.
Tsukishima: dumbass.
1 photo attached.
Hinata opened it.
It was Tsukishima's completed worksheet.
Every answer.
Every step.
Perfect handwriting, because of course it was.
Hinata nearly jumped out of his chair.
Hinata: THANks Tsukishima!!
Hinata: I’ll need all the other ones btw :))
The typing bubble appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Tsukishima: Why couldn't you ask your boyfriend?
Hinata blinked.
Hinata: Huh?
Tsukishima: The King.
Hinata frowned at the screen.
Hinata: I don't think he wants to be my friend anymore.
A few seconds passed.
Tsukishima: That's not the problem.
Hinata tilted his head.
Hinata: Then what is?
The typing bubble stayed there longer this time.
Long enough that Hinata wondered if Tsukishima had gotten distracted.
Finally—
Tsukishima: He's an idiot.
Hinata: Yeah
Tsukishima: You're a bigger one.
Hinata: RUDE :(
Tsukishima: He's nervous.
Hinata stared.
Hinata: ...So he'll still be my friend?
There was almost no delay.
Tsukishima: Definitely.
A grin spread across Hinata's face before he could stop it.
Hinata: Thanks Tsukishima!!
Tsukishima never replied.
He'd just finished the last problem when his mom called from downstairs.
"Shoyo! Dinner!"
He stretched his arms over his head before pushing himself away from the desk.
His conversation with Tsukishima still lingered in the back of his mind.
Strangely...
He felt lighter.
"Coming!"
The smell of curry greeted him before he even reached the kitchen.
“Shoyo!” Natsu nearly crashed into him.
"Look what I made today!"
She darted toward her backpack, nearly tripping over one of her shoes before pulling out a wrinkled sheet of paper.
She held it up proudly.
"I made a glitter volleyball!"
Hinata took it carefully.
The volleyball was covered in pink glitter. One panel had a unicorn. Another had stars. Somehow there were rainbows too. It looked absolutely nothing like a real volleyball.
"I want one exactly like this," Natsu declared.
Hinata laughed.
"I think we could make that happen."
Her eyes widened.
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
"I wanna play with it!"
"We will."
She beamed.
"Can Kageyama help too?"
The smile on Hinata's face paused.
He hadn't realized how much Kageyama had become part of Natsu's routine. Most Fridays, Kageyama ended up at their house without either of them really planning it.
Sometimes it was because they'd stayed late at practice.
Other times they were studying. More times just because.
Hinata would disappear upstairs to shower or finish homework, and when he'd come back down
Kageyama would still be there.
Sitting cross-legged on the living room floor while Natsu enthusiastically explained whatever she'd learned at school that week.
He never talked much.
But around Natsu, he listened.
He'd answer every question she asked. Help her with homework if she needed it. Let her beat him at whatever made-up game she'd invented that day.
Hinata had caught himself watching them more than once.
Kageyama never seemed bothered by it. His shoulders always looked a little more relaxed around her.
He looked back down at Natsu.
"I'll pick up a volleyball while you're at school tomorrow."
"Promise?"
Hinata smiled.
"Promise."
Hinata dug into his curry before it had time to cool.
He hadn't realized how hungry he was.
Hospital food never really tasted like anything. This did. The vegetables were soft, the rice still steaming, and the curry had just enough spice to make his nose warm.
Natsu happily talked between bites.
"..and then Miss Harada said glitter wasn't supposed to go everywhere, but it wasn't my fault because Kenji bumped the table—"
Their mom laughed.
"I somehow doubt that."
Hinata smiled without really listening.
But every few minutes his thoughts drifted somewhere else.
He wondered what Karasuno had practiced today. Whether Coach Ukai had made everyone run. If Nishinoya had thrown himself into another wall trying to save a ball.
Maybe Sugawara had finally gotten used to setting for the first string again.
He didn't need to wonder what Kageyama had done.
He already knew.
Kageyama wasn't allowed at practice either.
For the first time since middle school, neither of them had touched a volleyball that day.
"...Shoyo?"
He blinked.
"Hm?"
"You've been staring at your food."
Hinata looked down.
Half his dinner was still sitting in front of him.
"Oh."
He laughed awkwardly.
"Guess I got distracted."
"You feeling alright?" his mom asked.
"My head's okay."
It wasn't a lie.
His head hurt less than it had yesterday.
He wasn't sure how to explain.
He helped carry the dishes to the sink, listened to Natsu tell one more story about school, brushed his teeth, and wandered back to his room.
The house gradually settled into silence.
He said goodnight to his mom and little sister before settling into bed.
His blankets were warm.
Much warmer than the hospital ones.
He'd always hated hospitals.
They smelled too clean. Too empty. Like people only visited them because something had already gone wrong.
He rolled onto his side.
Sleepovers with the first-years suddenly came to mind.
Most of them happened at Tsukishima's house.
After practice they'd stop by the convenience store, argue over snacks, then pile into his living room until somebody inevitably fell asleep first.
Tsukishima's house had always been quiet.
Not lonely.
Just quiet.
There was a difference.
At Hinata's house, Natsu was always talking. Running through the hallway. Laughing at something only she understood.
At Tsukishima's, nobody filled the silence.
He wondered what Kageyama's house sounded like tonight. The thought came so naturally that he didn't even notice it until it was already there.
His hand reached for his phone.
He opened their messages.
His thumb hovered over the keyboard.
What if he's asleep?
What if he isn't?
Before he could think himself out of it—
Hinata: you awake?
He stared at the message.
Then locked his phone and set it on his nightstand.