Chapter Text
“Chance ball!”
Hinata glanced up at the volleyball Daichi had just received as it arced lazily across the court, seeming to float for a moment as it reached the parabola’s height. Beyond that, he had no idea what the volleyball did; he was already sprinting up to the net, planting both of his feet firmly on the ground before springing upwards to the harmony of the linoleum thud and the squeak of his sneakers. He drew his hand back and watched in slow motion as Tsukishima rose to block him.
I’ll slam it down right… there!
He pinpointed a spot on the edge of the court, just to Tsukishima’s right. Grinning, he swung his arm downwards and was met with the dissatisfying sensation of empty air whizzing past his palm. He frowned a bit in disappointment as he landed, though the frustrated click of Tsukishima's tongue convinced him it was worth it. A split second later, the sound of the ball slamming down on the opposite side of the net signified the end of the rally.
Ukai’s whistle sounded across the gym, and Hinata turned to see Tanaka fist pumping with a characteristic shout of victory, before turning with both hands raised to Kageyama, who was, also characteristically, silent. They shared a high-five that was slightly less awkward than it had typically been a few months ago, Kageyama attempting to match Tanaka’s enthusiastic cheers with an uncertain yell of his own. Hinata bounded over to them and whooped, jumping into the air to take his turn at high-fiving his bald upperclassman with both hands.
“Alright, alright,” Daichi said calmly, though his expression was equally triumphant, as he walked up behind them. “Don’t overdo it.” The three of them nodded, buzzing with energy, and turned to face Ukai as he descended the ladder to address them.
“Good match, everyone,” he called out. “Hinata, you’re getting even better at playing decoy, and way better at receiving. Good work.”
“Thank you, coach!” he shouted. Being a ball boy really helped! And Takeda-sensei didn’t kill me, either!
“And Yamaguchi,” Ukai continued, “your serves were really consistent today. But I’d like to see you try aiming towards the front sometimes, so the receivers don’t get used to them. As for Tsukishima…”
Hinata bounced on the balls of his feet for the rest of Ukai’s talk; if they hadn’t already pleaded with him for the set they’d just played, he’d ask for another. The prospect of nationals was always hovering in the back of his mind, with the faces of the players he’d met at the Tokyo training camp floating constantly through his thoughts. He could tell as he glanced sideways at Kageyama that they were both filled with the same restless energy. The moment Ukai dismissed them and their teammates went about cleaning up, they turned to each other in unspoken agreement.
“Spiking practice?” Hinata asked unnecessarily. Kageyama nodded, and the two instinctively turned to Daichi, who was watching them with an exasperated expression.
“If I find out either of you stayed longer than thirty minutes, we’re going to have a talk tomorrow,” the captain threatened. They nodded earnestly, before taking off towards the blue volleyball cart sitting next to the net. Kageyama bent over to pick one up, and turned towards Hinata with solemnity glittering in the navy of his eyes.
“Imagine you’re spiking against Kuroo-san,” he instructed, before throwing the ball upwards.
That evil rooster-haired blocker? Hinata shuddered at the thought, but nonetheless ran towards the net and threw his arms back, feeling the strain in his calves as he leapt and spiked the ball with a satisfying smack.
“Put your weight on the balls of your feet before you jump!” Kageyama snapped, glaring. Hinata glared back.
“I know that,” he grumbled.
“Don’t stay too late, you two!” Sugawara shouted from across the gym as he left, closing the door behind him.
An hour later, Hinata hit a final spike and landed back on the linoleum, promptly falling backwards as his legs gave out from under him. Ouch. He stood, rubbing his tailbone, as Kageyama regarded him with an infuriatingly unfatigued expression.
“Are you done?” he asked. Hinata narrowed his eyes. That sounded kinda like a challenge.
“...No,” he managed after a few seconds of exhausted panting. Kageyama hummed disapprovingly.
“You’ll be too sore to jump tomorrow.”
“No… way!” Ignoring him, Kageyama walked forwards and began picking up the volleyballs that were now scattered across the court. Hinata made an effort not to show his relief and joined him, his legs burning every time he bent down.
By the time they left the gym, the sun had long since set, and Hinata winced a bit at the cold bite in the outside air. He heard Kageyama shutting the door behind them and the jingling of keys as he locked it, before his teammate appeared beside him on the steps.
“Be here early tomorrow,” the setter commanded. “5:00.” The brief rush of irritation Hinata felt at his tone was overtaken by excitement.
“Of course I’ll be there,” he promised.
Hinata’s legs were ready to disintegrate into dust by the time he walked through his living room door, feeling a twinge of relief as he untied his sneakers and laid them down at the entrance. I hope Daichi-san doesn’t find out how long we practiced. That’d be worse than losing my legs. In fact, I might lose ‘em either way.
Suddenly, he heard the squeak of a door opening and the thump of footsteps on hardwood. Looking down the hall, he watched in surprise as Natsu bounded up to him, coming to a sliding halt in her baby blue socks and just barely managing to not crash into his dying legs. She sprung up straight, orange eyes glittering, her hands clenched into little fists just below her chin.
“Shoyo!” she chirped. “Teach me to ride a bike!”
“Huh?” He blinked. He realized that she was fully dressed in a thick sweater and sweatpants, her hair done up in tiny pigtails behind her head. Right now? I’ll die! “No way! It’s way too dark out, and it’s cold! And shouldn’t you know how to ride a bike anyway?” She pouted.
“Yeah, I did, but I haven’t gotten to in a while so I forgot. Plus, the street isn’t icy, and I’m wearing a sweater! And there’s streetlights!” She pointed helpfully at her clothes as she spoke, gazing up at him with round, hopeful eyes. He looked away, gritting his teeth. Can’t give in to her cuteness attack…
“Nuh-uh. We can do it another time.”
“But you’re always at practice!” she protested, her hands dropping to fidget agitatedly at the seams of her top. “And you’re always doing homework on Sunday ‘cause mom says you pro-crast-in-ate too much!” She stumbled a bit at the word procrastinate, but Hinata had to admit that she got through it better than he would have. He sighed and looked back at her, ignoring his legs as they screamed at him for even considering the idea. I guess I don’t get to see her much… and she doesn’t ask me stuff like this a lot.
“...Fine,” he sighed, and she straightened with an excited jump. “But it’s only gonna be for a bit. And you have to be quiet so Mom doesn’t come and pull us back in by our ears.” With that, he leaned over and tugged gently at her ear, and she giggled.
“She’s asleep!” Natsu declared. “I told her she should go ahead and go to bed ‘cause she deserves some rest.”
“Evil,” Hinata remarked solemnly. She giggled again.
The two of them stealthily put on their shoes and headed out the door, stifling snickers as they tip-toed with unnecessary caution to where Hinata’s bike stood leaned against the outside wall. He walked it out to the sideroad leading from their house, Natsu bouncing along behind him, and stopped at the start of the larger, silent street. It was a mostly clear night, with only a few dark gray clouds scattered across the winter sky, and the snow-muffled trees on either side of the street loomed high, jagged and silhouetted. He could make out his breath only faintly if he looked towards the silvery glow of the nearby streetlights, which seemed to be competing with the trees as they stretched upwards before giving up and bending sideways at the top. Hinata had never known a quieter time than these winter nights.
“Shoyo,” Natsu whined, “when can I get on the bike? You can’t drag it the whole way.”
“Nah, maybe I’ll just ride off without you.” He stroked his chin and moved closer to the bike, adopting a pensive expression. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Natsu hopping restlessly in place, aghast.
“You can’t do that! Besides, I know you’re not gonna.” He took one look at her puffed cheeks and pursed lips and laughed.
“Fine, fine. You remember how to get on it?”
“Yeah!” She skipped over to the other side of the bike and grabbed the handlebars, struggling a bit to swing her leg over the seat. She wobbled a little and put her right foot out to steady herself as the bike began falling to the side.
“You gotta have good balance,” Hinata instructed. I feel just like Coach Ukai. He pointed down at the ground, and Natsu looked over her shoulder to follow his gaze. “Once I put up the kickstand, that little metaly bit, you’ll fall over if you don’t catch yourself.” His sister frowned and nodded, suddenly looking apprehensive.
“Will you hold the bike ‘til I get used to it?”
“Yeah, since you suck at it so much,” he responded with a grin. She stuck her tongue out at him. He took hold of one of the handlebars and hooked a foot around the kickstand, pushing it upwards and steadying the bike as Natsu inevitably began to lean dangerously to the side. “You can’t keep it upright while it’s just sitting there, but once you get going, you gotta balance, like I said. You know what pedaling is, right?”
“Yeah. I’m not stupid,” she replied petulantly.
“Are you sure?”
“Shoyo!”
He laughed.
“Okay, so start pedaling. I’m gonna hold onto it and run beside you so you don’t fall over ‘cause you’re stu-,”
“I’m gonna tell mom you broke her flowerpot with a volleyball,” Natsu threatened with a glare too sharp for such a round babyface. Hinata felt a shiver go down his spine.
“No way,” he deadpanned, by way of admitting defeat. “It was the wind, remember?”
Natsu began pedaling, and Hinata forced his leaden legs to follow along beside her, occasionally pulling at the handlebars to prevent her from careening sideways onto the asphalt. She wobbled constantly, her eyes shining with nervousness and concentration, as their house disappeared after a curve in the road behind them.
“I don’t get it!” she piped up finally, putting out a leg and skidding to a halt. “How are you supposed to balance on this stupid thing?” Hinata scrunched up his face as he tried to recall the muscle movements that went into his bike ride to school every morning. Let’s see. I turn the pedals with my feet… and keep it from falling over with my whole body?
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Just kinda squeeze all your muscles up and don’t lean to the side or anything.” Natsu grumbled in frustration, tensing her arms and legs and bending down closer to the handlebars before starting to pedal again. As they rounded the next curve and made their way through the alleyway of trees, towards a hill in the distance, she began to pick up a bit of speed. Hinata’s calves burned as he quickened his jog, but thanks, he was sure, to his sparkling explanation, his sister was no longer wobbling as much and was sitting more comfortably on the seat.
“I’m getting it!” she shouted, straightening. “I think I remember!”
“Maybe you’re not stupid after all!” Hinata added with a grin, and fortunately, she seemed too engrossed in her success to lash out at him for that one. After a few dozen more feet, he noticed that she had stopped wobbling entirely, and slowly took his hand off the handlebars, still keeping pace with her as she rode. Her eyes shone, an exhilarated smile stretching across her face, her little hands clutching tightly at the bike as the whirring of the chain and wheels grew louder. Finally, they reached the foot of the hill and slowed to a halt, Natsu putting out a leg to catch herself without him telling her to do so.
“Your brother’s a great teacher, huh?” Hinata asked as they stopped. Natsu caught her breath and looked over at him, her expression lit with joy.
“Yeah!” she agreed, to his surprise. He looked away and scratched the back of his head.
“W-well, you know…. I’ve always been pretty good with words-,”
“Can we go to the top?” she asked suddenly, pointing up at the hill. He looked up the slope in horror. That’s impossible. I can’t survive that.
“Come on. We still gotta go all the way back, and hills’re really hard, you know?” he practically pleaded. As he made eye contact, the enthusiasm in her stare nearly blinded him.
“Please?” she begged. “I wanna be good at it! And Mom says you’re a student ath-lete, so you can make it up, too. It’s not that steep!”
“Fine.” Hinata’s legs couldn’t believe this. “But we’re walking the bike back downhill. There’s no way I’m chasing after you if you’re going that fast.”
Natsu shouted in excitement and began pedaling again, lowering her torso and pumping her legs harder as she reached the incline. Hinata followed after her, prepared to spend the next two minutes in hell. And sure enough, though his sister began breathing heavily in exertion after about fifteen seconds, he was struggling to keep from wheezing right from the start, his orange locks sticking to his forehead as sweat dripped down his face despite the biting cold. By the time they reached the top of the hill, he was about ready to lie down and die. He heard Natsu give a cheer of victory as she stopped the bike and began walking it forwards to turn around. Panting, he crouched over with his hands on his knees and struggled to push air into his lungs.
And then he heard Natsu scream.
His head shot back up in alarm. His sister was beginning to speed down the hill, accelerating as she continued losing control of the bike. Her feet were being pushed in rapid circles by the pedals rather than the reverse, and Hinata straightened and leapt forward, the pain in his legs forgotten, sprinting downhill after her.
“Natsu!”
There was an intersection at the bottom of the hill. There was an intersection, and she was speeding helplessly towards it with no way of safely stopping. He managed to close a few feet of distance between them, watching the rushing wind snap at her pigtails and the back of her sweater. He knew that in a few seconds, she’d speed up too much for him to catch her. Planting both feet on the ground, he dove forward, reaching out with an open hand for the back wheel of the bike.
His fingers closed on nothing. Pain lanced through his forearm and chin as he skidded against the asphalt, his hand splayed out uselessly in front of him. Blinking the dirt from his eyes, a scream stuck in his throat, he watched his little sister roll down the hill, still crying for help, his help, and into the intersection.
He heard the distant crunch when the car hit her.