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He should've known that riding his bike to school every day would eventually cause some problems. It'd get colder in the winter, things would freeze over and cut off his routes, but he honestly hadn't thought about that yet. Of course, physical activity overpowers logic. All Hinata could think about was the exercise he'd get from the bike ride. How better of a volleyball player he'd be if he went the extra mile, (both metaphorically and literally.)
Still, he should've seen it coming today. He saw the dark gray clouds at bay, he felt the cool, muggy air, he'd even overheard the classmates talking about a terrible thunderstorm forming just later that day. Surely something that bad would have people preparing days beforehand.
So why did he still end up this way?
Water droplets fell as soon as practice had ended, Hinata waving a goodbye to Kageyama, getting a click of the tongue in return, as he hopped on his bike and started toward the mountain. But an upward slope, mixed with the worst thunderstorm they'd had all year? Probably not the best idea.
But Hinata being Hinata, he didn't think to go the extra mile and take precautions. It was just the kind of guy he was. He always had approached problems head on, decisions being on the spot and not often calculated. He never really had the brains to think through all of his choices so quickly. Maybe somebody like Tsukishima could do that, (or as he'd say, Stingyshima) but Hinata couldn't. He knew that one day he'd have to pay for it, but he didn't like to think so negatively.
But now, it seems, his actions had finally caught up to him.
By the time he had made it even half way up, the rain was pouring down fiercely. So much he almost couldn't see. It was chilling, soaking him and his clothes, which is definitely getting him sick. He contemplated stopping at the side of the road, but he had to make it home before it got dark. If it got too dark, he wouldn't be able to see anything, which was practically a disaster screaming in his ear.
As he continued to trudge himself up the mountain, he felt himself shiver. His legs were getting tired as he paced himself. The rain poured down his body, mixing in with his sweat. He couldn't keep this up for much longer, he had to hurry. He paused for a minute, gasping for breath, before taking one huge gulp of air and speeding up the mountain.
He faintly saw light coming toward him, but by the time he'd manage to notice the fact that they were headlights, it was too late.
Hinata quickly swerved out of the way, the car hitting his back wheel and the side of his right foot. He yelped in pain as he crashed onto the side of the road, his bike providing no significance now.
He'd manage to dodge that car and avoid, well, dying, but at what cost? His ankle definitely took quite a lot of the hit, providing to either be sprained or fractured. He couldn't make it home now. He could try, but the waves of pain searing through his foot told him that he didn't even need to try standing to know that he couldn't. He had a pretty high pain tolerance, but, well, he just got hit with a car.
He dug around in his bag, adrenaline rushing through his veins as he whipped out his phone. Somehow, it hadn't been damaged in the accident. He only had 19% of the battery left on it. He had to make a call that could help him out, and he had to do it now. There was no time to think about statistics, it was now or never.
He first shot off a text to his mom, telling her he'd be staying the night at a friend's house. Good, it bought him time. He didn't see her reply before he made his way back to his contact list. Now, his phone only read 16%. It was a race of time.
Using what little battery he had, he called the first person he could think of.
Hinata watched the screen with baited breath as he heard the ringing go off. He set it to speaker so he could hear better and not have to worry about holding up the phone. Honestly, he might be too exhausted to even do that. He had to pick up. This was all he had. His battery would only drain quicker the longer he stayed on call.
But the odds must've been in Hinata's favor today, because he watched as the ringing stopped and a caller ID filled the screen.
"Heyy, Shouyou!" A familiar voice spoke, "What's up, dude?"
"N-Nishinoya-senpai...I... Hinata responded breathily, stuttering from the cold, sucking through his teeth from the pain of his ankle.
He vaguely distinguished movement from the other end, and he could almost see Nishinoya sitting more upright and gaping at his tone. Honestly, he wouldn't blame him. He probably sounded like shit.
"Shouyou? What's wrong? Are you okay!?" Nishinoya all but shouted at him in a fast pace. Even a second of wait time was too much, as Nishinoya paced in his room, his phone in his hand.
"Uhm...can you come pick me up? I-I...I kinda...uh...got hit by a car?" Hinata winced. That was not the wording he was looking for. That made things sounds a lot worse than what actually happened.
"YOU WHAT?!" Nishinoya yelled through the phone, now extremely worried if he hadn't been already. He bolted down the stairs, already putting on his shoes to leave the house. It was a bit of a surprise to say, but Nishinoya actually had his license.
"Hold on, Shouyou, I'm coming! Where are you?!" He rushed out in one breath, and Hinata could vaguely register the sound of his car starting.
"Up the mountain...? I don't really know where...but if you just go up the mountain pass you'll see me. But please hurry, my phone is about to die." Hinata was shaking, both from fear and the cold. Nishinoya was his only hope of, well, surviving. Albeit, calling this as a life or death situation may be exaggerating, but could you blame him? He was functioning on pure adrenaline, he had a killer headache. Maybe from the crash.
"I'll be there as soon as possible! Please, just stay on the phone as long as you can." Nishinoya pleaded.
"Okay...I'll do my best." Hinata promised.
"And, Shouyou?"
"Yeah?"
"Hang in there."
When Nishinoya had gotten a call from his favorite kohai, he'd expected him to ask for help on his homework or plan some kind of hang out for over the weekend.
He was not expecting to hear that Shouyou got hit by a car.
Yeah, that was a great way to spend his evening. His parents were out of the house for the weekend, so he was just planning on laying low. Maybe make some onigiri, play some video games. But now, he was involved in a race against the clock to make sure Shouyou didn't die. Which, by the way, why had he called him about that? He was singlehandedly one of the most immature people on the team, to the point where even he could admit it. He'd have to ask later.
Nishinoya started up his car, racing to the mountain peak where Shouyou lived. Yeah, he was speeding, but his friend was in trouble. He had to make it there. Plus, it was pretty late and was pouring down rain, would anybody really blame him? He still had to be careful, however, because the rain made it hard to see.
Arriving at the bottom of the mountain, he drove up more slowly and carefully, as to search for Shouyou. He didn't want to speed by and accidentally miss him.
"Hey, Shouyou? You still doing okay?" He asked, trying to keep his cool but miserably failing. This was scary, after all. But he had to be there for Shouyou. He was his kohai, and he wouldn't let anything happen to him. Shouyou was the sun. He made everybody feel better and always helped people. Now, it was his turn to help.
"Yeah...I'm tired, though. I feel like sleeping." He responded, clearly out of it. Nishinoya felt the panic rise in him by the second, considering the thought that Shouyou might just have a concussion. Would he, though? He seemed to be functioning just fine. Nishinoya didn't really know enough about concussions to tell, just that he shouldn't fall asleep if he had one.
"I'll be there soon, try your best to stay awake. You've gotta stay strong, okay? Be as tough as you are on the court." He said, trying to reassure both Hinata and himself.
"Okay...but once you get here, can I sleep?"
Nishinoya smiled a bit. Leave it to Hinata to be persistent. Once he had his mind set to something, it'd be very hard to change action.
"Don't worry, Shouyou, you can sleep as soon as I say so. But I've gotta get there first, okay? Can you tell me how far you are up the mountain?"
"Uhm...maybe like, around halfway up? A little closer to the top half? I'm not really sure, but there's one of those wire post thingies over there..." Hinata spoke drearily, trying his best to stay awake but also just wanted to sleep so badly.
"Gotcha."
"Oh, my phone's gonna-" and just like that, the call was cut off. Shit, Nishinoya thought. That was not good. Now, Nishinoya was left to find him with only the information that he was next to a "wire post thingy." Damn it, Shouyou, why couldn't you be more specific?
Nishinoya paled as he came to the realization that Shouyou might just fall asleep now that his phone was dead. And he had no idea how bad of a state he was in. Yeah, you could say this was bad.
Honestly, he was impressed that he found him. It was really just luck that his lights angled just the way to where he could see a silhouette on the side of the road. One that, despite the rain, had a head of orange hair that stood out like the sun. Seeing him, he abruptly slammed his breaks and threw open his car door. He ran up to who he could now definitely confirm was Hinata Shouyou and almost cried as he took in the sight.
Hinata's eyes lay dull and clenched, not asleep, but as to force him into staying awake, his right leg in front of him and hands clutching it in pain. His bike lay crumpled and tossed to the side, seemingly forgotten. He was shivering in the cold, his hair matted down and dripping from the rain. His skin as white as paper, Nishinoya could confirm that Shouyou looked like shit.
"Shouyou!" He ran toward him before falling onto his knees, enwrapping him in a tight hold to warm him up. As he checked over his injuries, Hinata's eyes cracked open and he stared up to the figure holding him.
"Nishinoya-senpai?" he asked, eyes opening more as they regained their sparkle. His face broke into one of his cheery smiles, making Nishinoya sigh in relief as he finished checking him over. By the looks of it, he did not have a concussion, and was simply delirious from the cold.
"Yeah, it's me buddy. Can you stand if I help you? I'm gonna get you to my house." Nishinoya asked, setting him down and lifting up from his knees. He dusted off his pants before holding a hand out to help Hinata. The latter only nodded in return to his question as he took his hand, faltering a bit but eventually getting a hold around Nishinoya. With coordination, they walked back to Nishinoya's car. Nishinoya placed Hinata into the passenger seat and jogged around to the driver's. He hesitated, however, and instead asked a question.
"Should we, uh, bring your bike?"
Hinata snickered a bit. "Nah, it's completely totaled, I can just save up to buy a new one."
Nishinoya nodded in return, now hopping in his car and driving back down the mountain. Hinata yawned before drearily asking, "Can I sleep now?" Nishinoya giggled and said yes, as there was no need to worry about a concussion anymore.
The drive back was silent, ignoring the light snoring coming from Hinata. Nishinoya had taken this time to wind down a bit. The rush of adrenaline he had before was starting to die out, as he could now accept that Hinata would be okay. It seemed like getting "hit by a car" was not the right wording. Nishinoya absently wondered if Shouyou had realized how he worded it, and if that's what he really meant. By the looks of it, only his foot had been injured, and it seemed to just be a bit of a nasty sprain.
Nishinoya gave a small glance to Hinata, who was sleeping at quite the angle. He gave a small smile before returning his eyes to the road.
After they'd returned to his house, Hinata had woken up. The solid twenty minutes of sleep he got seemed to provide him enough to be awake. After helping Hinata up the stairs, Nishinoya took Hinata's bag and placed it down into his room. Sitting him down on the bed, Nishinoya tended to Hinata's ankle, wrapping it and getting his old boot, which had fit the orange-haired boy perfectly. After making sure his foot was treated, he plopped down on the bed himself.
The two sat there in comfortable silence for a while, before Nishinoya decided to speak, "Soo...why did you call me out of everybody else? Not that I mind, but weren't there better options?"
Hinata seemed to think about it for a moment before responding. "Well, my phone was almost dead, so I really just called the first person I could think of. Sugawara-san lives a little far from here, and I feel like Daichi would reprimand me for not getting a ride. Asahi-san would freak out too much, and I think Tanaka would only try to attack the driver. Kageyama would probably be pissed, Yamaguchi would probably worry too much...and I don't think Tsukishima would care." he answered, slightly pouting on the last one, "I knew that you lived close and could handle it...so I thought you'd be the best option."
Nishinoya looked a little taken aback, but nodded. It did make sense, after all.
"O-Oh! But, uhm, sorry if I had interrupted you sleeping or something...I really don't mean to be a bother or anything-" Hinata was cut off from his rambling by Nishinoya simply smiling and shaking his head. Leave it to Hinata to overthink things.
"It's fine, Shouyou. I'm glad you decided to call! I've gotta make sure my kohai is always in great shape, right?" he grinned, pointing a thumb to himself as he boasted about being 'the best senpai'. Hinata only further boosted his ego, calling him Senpai and relaying just how cool he was.
Eventually, the chatter died down, exhaustion taking over. Now, they both lay with their backs against the bed, just staring toward the ceiling. A conversation wasn't needed for them to bond by now. After this experience, they'd grown closer than they ever had before. Because Nishinoya would always be there for his kohai, and Hinata would always be there for him and the team.
The two dozed off, their worries gone. By now, Shouyou had warmed up, managing to avoid getting sick. How he pulled that off, they'll never know. His hair had dried off and had now fluffed up back to its normal volume, and he was no longer pale. The rain had died down into a lighter sprinkle, the sound almost soothing to them as they drifted into a deep sleep.
OMAKE:
Arriving at practice the next day went just about as well as you could expect it to. Which was not very.
The first sign of chaos was that Hinata did not come early, and he didn't race Kageyama. By the time Sugawara and Daichi had come to unlock the gym, only Kageyama sat on the stairs, scrolling through something on his phone. It was even weirder when, as the team trickled into the gym, Hinata still wasn't present. He'd never missed a day of practice, and being late to him was coming on time.
The second sign of chaos was that Nishinoya also hadn't arrived. This one was slightly more normal, as he usually came a bit late, but it was weirder to see both of them gone. Or maybe it was just a coincidence that everybody else had made it by then except for the two of them. Who knew.
The third sign of chaos was when shit hit the fan. When Nishinoya had swung open the door with Hinata...on his back? Nishinoya looked a little exhausted but was insanely proud of himself. Hinata, meanwhile, just sent a bubbly smile and a wave. It was only Sugawara, bless his heart, who had immediately noticed the brace around Hinata's foot. He called out to them, jogging over and lifting Hinata from Nishinoya's back, much to the libero's relief.
As the team swarmed them with questions about why Hinata's foot was, well, sprained, Hinata couldn't help but inhale sharply when he realized there was no easy way to explain he got hit by a car. You couldn't just say 'Oh, well I almost died but I didn't.' Yeah, there was no way out of this. So, well, he just said it.
A terrible idea, really.
Hearing that their number 10 had gotten hit by a car on the way home had definitely scarred the team. Like he predicted, Asahi looked terrified. Daichi began to yap at him about how bad of an idea it was to ride a bike out in the storm, Tanaka was attempting to form a murder pact toward the driver, the pact that Sugawara couldn't decide if he wanted to decline or join. Tsukishima simply turned away with a scowl, though you could see the worry in his eyes. As expected, Kageyama called him a dumbass, and Yamaguchi practically started crying.
With a...threatening order from Sugawara to not be on his ankle, Hinata sat on the bench watching the team. Nishinoya sent him one last grin before turning away, jogging off to join the rest of the team for practice.
Even though he wouldn't be able to play for a bit, Hinata couldn't help but smile.