Archive of Our Own

“Are you leaving as well?” Kageyama asked.

The pale lady looked at him. Her eyes were sunken and dark, her skin almost transparent. She didn’t say anything but nodded her head once. She looked back down the long, misty hospital corridor.

She pushed open the front doors stepping outside, barefoot, into an infinity of light. He watched as her body contorted and shifted as if she was going through some kind of metamorphosis.

Finally her body ascended into the infinite plain of light. a flurry of butterflies escaping her chest as she vanished.

There was a faint echoing of a flat lining heart monitor and two weeping children. The door to the abyss remained wide open welcoming Kageyama into it’s vast depths.

As he was about to make his way into the next plain of existence he heard a voice.

“Don’t go.”

He turned around, a small ginger boy looked up at him. His eyes tear filled, he looked scared.

Just then an ambulance pulled up to the door wheeling in the body of the ginger boy. His heart monitors alerting them of his alarmingly low blood pressure.

“He’s going into Hypovolemic shock!” One of the nurses exclaimed.

“I’m scared.” He looked up at the raven haired boy again as he watched his own body being wheeled up the hall as he fought for his life.

“Get away from the door.” Kageyama pushed him as the doors to the other side of life slammed shut. With that both of their heart monitors slowed.

They walked towards his bed, the label read ‘Shoyo Hinata, sixteen.’

The boy seemed startled and rightfully so. At the moment his body was in a deep state of resting. A coma. His soul had left his body leaving behind only a shell.

Kageyama and Hinata were on the edge of infinity.

They could either cross over to the other side or find a reason to live. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Some souls had wandered the hospital hallways for years before they watched as their own bodies got disregarded by family members.

If that happened you would fade away, an automatic metamorphosis as your soul takes it’s true aura.

“Am I dead?” The boy questioned.

“Not exactly. You’re in the in between. You could wake up, if you find out how.” Kageyama spoke nonchalantly.

If his new found companion hadn’t shown up, he would have found peace by crossing over the barrier by now. But now he couldn’t leave, he had another reason to stay with these other ‘ghosts.’

“What happened to you?” Kageyama asked.

“I think it was a car crash.” Immediately his tone changed.

“My sister! My mum!” He frantically ran through the hospital corridors finding his way to a basement. A morgue. Kageyama found this quite an unpleasant place. It’s not the first time he’s chased a person down those stairs.

Hinata looked at the table in horror, terror filled his eyes. He sprinted over to Kageyama shaking his shoulders.

“Her spirit, where is it? Where can I find her?”

Kageyama stiffened at the boys pleas. He sighed heavily.

‘This conversation again.’ He thought.

“She’s gone. She crossed over.”

The ginger boy stood in front of him. His eyes swelling with tears. He ran over to the body touching it, but that was all he could do. Nobody in the mortal world would be able to see him or hear his desperate pleas.

He slumped to the floor as he wailed cursing at any God who could hear him for taking his family.

Kageyama had seen this situation a few times before, this was the point most people would give in and cross over. But some were persistent in finding a meaning to live. He couldn’t help but feel this boy was one of them.

However, watching him heart broken on the ground, he didn’t know if this boy had the strength to continue. Kageyama knelt beside him and leaned against a metal pole.

“You could cross over too.”

Hinata looked over at him, his eyes still tear filled. When your soul is crying out, it hurts so much more. He wasn’t in his physical body, but his spirit form. It was kind of like astral projection except you couldn’t just return to your body as you pleased.

“I can?” He sniffled. Kageyama nodded helping Hinata up to his feet.

He lead him to the door leading to the abyss as he peered out the window seemingly in fear. A breeze blew the door open slightly as if it was calling him. Hinata was about to step in before Kageyama rested a hand on his shoulder.

“If you go through, you’ll start your metamorphosis, and then you can’t return.”

He looked back at him with questioning eyes.

“Metamorphosis is a process of transformation. Like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. Your soul will transform into it’s true form and you’ll move onto the next stage of life. Unfortunately, I don’t know what’s beyond that.”

Hinata stepped away from the door.

“What if I don’t want to go through metamorphosis?”

Kageyama smiled.

“Then find a reason to live.”

-x-

The hospital corridors were filled with a light fog that settled just below their feet, a real indicator that they were not on the human plain of existence.

They weren’t the only spirits wandering the corridors aimlessly, there were others. Hinata took note of a few faces he saw. One was a little girl, maybe a few years old than Natsu. She wore a pink band with a ribbon covering her head. Most likely a cancer patient.

One old mans sad soul remained seated next to his wife. He had an arm around her watching as she weeped over his comatose body. It was a sad sight, the elderly woman would have no idea her husband was right there with her.

A suited man walked past them swiftly adjusting his tie and tucking in his shirt. He was headed for the doors.

Kageyama looked over at him accompanied by Hinata’s melancholy gaze. The man swiftly opened the doors stretching out his arms as the white abyss consumed him.

“Are you not going to stop him?” Hinata said in a concerned tone.

Kageyama shook his head. “It’s impossible to reason with someone that confident about death.”

Hinata seemed dejected at that statement. His eyes lowering in sadness.

The suited mans body morphed into invisibility leaving behind a trail of red lady bugs which eventually traveled into the endless void of light.

Souls take many different forms, sometimes they can just be colours or animals. Other times they can be plants or even a new person, but that was rare to see.

“His name was Kota, he was in a coma for nine years. He was a professional pianist as far as I know, I don’t know a lot about his accident though.”

The two faced away from the doors and headed to Hinata’s lonesome body. Kageyama hoped they wouldn’t unhook him before he could find his reason to live.

“Are you sure we aren’t dreaming?” Hinata asked.

Kageyama hummed in response. He squeezed the others hand tight in an attempt to show him this was in fact reality as they knew it.

If they stood in a bright enough light they would appear transparent, as they didn’t actually have a physical body. But, to Hinata’s dismay, he could not pass through walls.

“What happened to you Kageyama?” Hinata asked seemingly intrigued.

“I’ll show you.” Kageyama took Hinata by the wrist, trudging upstairs to a secluded room at the end of the top floor hall way.

Kageyama’s physical body was completely surrounded by tubes and monitors. Nobody who wasn’t a nurse could even get close to him. There was a long blue tube sticking out of his mouth ensuring he was breathing. The only indication that he was alive was the beeping of his heart monitor.

“I tried to kill myself.”

Hinata looked to the side with wide eyes, he wasn’t expecting that answer from the boy who had convinced him to try and find a reason to live.

“At the time I wanted to die so badly, I felt so alone in the world. It’s been like this for nine months now. I don’t want to die anymore, but now I’m stuck here until I find a reason to live.”

Kageyama sighed at the state of his body, consumed by countless tubes and wires.

“But weren’t you about to cross over earlier?” Hinata pointed out.

Kageyama had forgotten about that scenario. Curiosity almost got the best of him, he just wanted to see if there really was an afterlife. Or if you just cease to be.

“I was intrigued. The only way I’ll know what’s beyond the void is if I decide to cross over.”

“So why didn’t you?” Hinata tilted his head to the side slightly. His light brown eyes glimmering.

“I have to help you find a reason to live.” Kageyama didn’t smile. But he looked up at the ceiling exiting his dull room with a sigh, Hinata followed close behind him.

Time was different for them, it seemed to move in slow motion. It felt like weeks had passed since he met Kageyama, when in fact it had only been a day.

Next to Hinata’s bed sat a lonesome boy cooped up in the corner of a chair playing his video games.

“Kenma?” Hinata questioned. The blonde looked around, but then continued back on his game.

“Did he just hear me?” He looked over at Kageyama, hope present in his eyes. But the other shook his head in response explaining that maybe he sensed him.

Sometimes when Kageyama’s spirit would enter the room his sister, Miwa, would start talking to his lifeless shell of a body. As if she knew he was there.

Kenma eventually turned off his switch as a few others arrived. Hinata immediately recognised them as his volleyball team. The entirety of his club was there. But none of them smiled or laughed. The usual buzz of the lively team had died.

“Who are they?” Kageyama questioned.

“My friends.” Hinata sighed. He wanted to wake up so badly. But clearly his current friends weren’t his reason to live. Otherwise he would have awakened from this never ending slumber.

“You’re popular.” Kageyama smiled. He happened to be the only one smiling in the room. Everyone else was so dejected it almost irritated Hinata. He wanted Noya to crack a joke or Tanaka to pick a fight with a doctor.

‘Just do something, anything!’ He pleaded with the Gods but was unheard. A mere moment after his plea the team left leaving Hinata with seemingly pointless gifts as he couldn’t open them.

The last person to leave was Yamaguchi. He placed a hand on Hinata’s head and frowned.
“Wake up soon.” He left beckoning for Kenma to follow him out of the room leaving his hollow body alone in the dim lit hospital room.

“We’re different.” Kageyama spoke immediately gaining the attention of his companion.

“You’re soul is full of happiness, it’s probably a ray of light or a ball of sun shine I don’t know.” He sighed at his ‘cheesy’ words. “Don’t let the darkness eat away at it.”

Kageyama expected a response which he didn’t receive so he carried on talking.

“When I first wound up here I was convinced I didn’t have a soul. But then again i’m here so I do. If I ever step into the void I’m sure my soul would take the form of something solitary and isolated. Or maybe I’ll just fade into complete nothingness. My soul is probably blackened with loneliness so much so that not even Satan himself would take it.”

Kageyama just scoffed after his little tangent.

“Is that why you wanted to die? Because you were lonely?”

Kageyama immediately looked up. Yes that was the exact reason. He felt as if he had nobody, it only became apparent to him that his perception of his own life had been deceiving him when he began bleeding out on a dampened, tarmac sidewalk.

Now he was stuck in some mysterious void trying to find a reason to live.

“Yeah.” He almost forgot to answer the question.

“Well you aren’t alone now. I’m here.” Hinata flashed a smile coated with sadness. Of course he was still grieving for his lost family members, Kageyama had almost disregarded that. It was a scene he had witnessed so many times that he became accustomed to it.

When Hinata awoke, he would be an orphan.

One morning as they traced the hospital corridors the pair noticed the floor wasn’t completely covered with mist. But today it was coated with a blanket of roses which led to the door of the abyss making it seem more appealing.

Many other wandering souls gazed towards the door and froze like a dear in the headlights.

The little girl with the flowery headband walked towards the door. It was large in comparison with her small, frail frame. With a nudge the door opened, and it was held in position by a winters breeze gently accompanying the girl inside.

She continued to clutch her teddy bear which fell the the floor as she stepped into the endless plain of light. A small fawn was what became of her soul as it ran around aimlessly in circles. The gates to the void closed as the little fawn vanished.

Many of the ghostly figures walked away after witnessing another soul move on. The red roses continued to bloom as if they were guiding the lost spirits towards the doors.

It was hard to resist the urge to be set free.

The pair intertwined their fingers making sure one another stayed side by side.

Kageyama didn’t have to be so lonesome anymore, not now that he had a sunshine to take care of. He would do anything he could to prevent his sun from becoming eclipsed.

“What was your life like?” Kageyama asked out of the blue.

“Don’t talk like that.” Hinata responded in a monotonous voice.

“Talk like what?” He immediately felt regret. Had he worded something wrong?

“Like I’m already gone.” He repeated the same tone as before. Kageyama placed an arm round his shoulder. He refused to be the one to cast a shadow over his own sun.

After a minute or two of pondering with his thoughts Hinata spoke.

“Life’s pretty good. I have good friends and a nice family. Pretty average I guess. I play volleyball. At one point I thought maybe that was my meaning in life, but I didn’t wake up so I guess not.”

Hinata sighed a long tired sigh before asking Kageyama the same question.

“Mine was pretty average too. Except I didn’t really have friends. People tend not to take a liking to me. I’m hard to communicate with, and i’m self centred and cold hearted.”

Hinata shook his head vigorously.

“Not true.”

Kageyama seemed surprised. Had the boy already warmed up to him?

“You’re just sad that’s all, and you need someone. I can tell.” Hinata stared directly into his ocean like eyes. The hall around them began to fill with cold winter air as the doors to the void suddenly flew open, but nobody had entered. It seemed as if it was signalling for the pair to enter, but they resisted with whatever trace of faith they had left.

They walked to a window near Hinata’s bed and gazed out into an endless meadow. The view from where they were was different from conscious people. It was as if they were in an entirely different reality in which when you stepped outside you’d vanish.

The meadow was filled with swaying flowers and endless fields of roses and long grass. A slight mist settled above the fields, the sky was a clear blue with only a few clouds.

-x-

“I am not!” Hinata crossed his arms in protest facing away from Kageyama.

“Yes you are, you follow me around everywhere!” Kageyama had told Hinata he was ever so slightly annoying, which was true, but he didn’t at all mind.

“You like it really.” Hinata scoffed punching Kageyama’s arm lightly. He smiled, he did like it. He enjoyed having somebody around to keep him company.

“Let’s stick together.” Hinata looked up at him with a smile. Kageyama agreed, he took his hand in his as they gazed out across the meadow.

The two had grown so close in the space of just a couple days. Maybe it was this weird spiritual plain bringing them closer together. Or maybe it was the natural chemistry between them, but Kageyama doubted that, he didn’t exactly do well with people.

He just knew when he made a friend it would be a strange kind of relationship, and of course it was. Meeting his first friend in purgatory like realm wasn’t what he had anticipated.

Apart from that, Shoyo was interesting. He liked to talk about his life and his volleyball team. Usually complaining about a tall blonde with glasses.

Kageyama couldn’t help but be slightly envious. He wanted friends to visit him whilst he was unconscious, but nobody ever came. That excluded his sister of course who was a frequent visitor. His mum and dad would sometimes drop by as well.

The next morning as they wandered the quiet hospital halls they entered Hinata’s room to an almost heart breaking sight. His friend Kenma, who wasn’t exactly fluent in the language of emotion, was weeping into his friends limp hand begging him to wake up.

“Kenma.” Hinata laid his hand across his friends shoulder, tears escaping his eyes. The blonde seemed to look around every time his name was mentioned, although Hinata knew full well he couldn’t see him.

Although his spirit form was invisible to Kenma, he remained by his side still attempting to comfort him. Kageyama stayed near by remembering their promise to stick together.

“I wanna wake up.”

Hinata allowed sobs to escape his throat.

“But I don’t know how.”

He continued to weep next to his friend who was blissfully unaware of his presence. Kageyama moved to comfort Hinata, but none of his efforts calmed his sorrow.

In the end the two boys ended up comforting each other sat next to a small balcony. Kageyama decided it wasn’t healthy for Hinata’s mental state if he stayed with Kenma any longer. The boy looked as if he would break any second.

No physical damage could be done to you in this realm, but the mental strain was the toughest part. It was mix of sorrow, grief and regret. In order to wake back up you may have to over come those heavy burdens.

Hinata had a habit of checking up on his friend every night. Kenma seemed to sleep there a lot. But this particular night, he began stirring in his sleep. Everytime Shoyo would lay a hand on him he would calm down.

“I hope he isn’t having a nightmare.” Hinata frowned, Kageyama placed a hand on his shoulder signalling for Hinata to leave, but he didn’t. Instead he clung to his chair in order to stay close to his sleeping friend.

It was weird, where ever the two were they never needed sleep. They weren’t dead, but they weren’t alive? Hinata often found himself questioning if any of this was real. It all seemed so dream like and surreal, maybe a delusion of his unconscious mind.

There was a chance his physical body had permanent brain damage which may be causing him to dream about this reality. But it all felt so lucid, Hinata began overstepping a boundary between real life and fiction, he could no longer decipher between the two.

-x-

“Hinata I promise you this is all real! I’m really here and talking to you!” Kageyama shook the panicked boys shoulders.

“Get away from me!” Hinata pushed Kageyama away trying to shut him out, brushing him off as a figment of his imagination. He missed his mum and his sister, if this was all a dream he would awaken and they would be there by his side right?

“I- I can’t wake up.” He sniffled and gritted his teeth in frustration. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes. Kageyama didn’t know what to do, the shaking boy wouldn’t allow him to comfort him. It was agonising watching someone grieve so heavily.

With that a gust of wind swayed past them as a voice of a young girl called out Hinata’s name. His eyes averted their gaze to the left as he began trudging down the white corridors. Kageyama followed him as he traced his hand across the wall.

“Hinata please.”

“You aren’t really here.” Hinata continued attempting to brush him off and rationalise his situation.

His voice was hoarse and his face tear stained as he continued to let out staggered cries. A light mist settled around him as he crashed to the floor on his knees. Peering over at him, Kageyama noticed the dreaded door had re opened, casting a white light across Hinata’s face.

In the conscious world, his heart monitor had begun beeping at a rapid rate. Nurses and doctors flooded in, his blonde friend began to panic as he stood in the hallway biting his nails.

They hooked his body up to oxygen and countless different wires, it was a horrible state to see someone in. Even in the waking world he continued to suffer.

A little girls voice called out for him again. Somewhere within that endless pool of light echoing voices could be heard. It may have just been an illusion of the void, convincing him to step in.

Whether the light was capable of deception Kageyama didn’t know, but it seemed sinister.

“Natsu?” Hinata whispered, his voice breaking slightly. Kageyama’s body immediately filled with worry as he watched the boys hand disappear into the light.

“Please don’t leave me alone!”

Kageyama choked on his words and the other halted in his actions.

“I don’t wanna be alone again.” Tears pricked his eyes as the latter looked back towards him, his face glistening in the pure light of the void.

“I need to go to her.”

“Hinata you’re dying!”

Immediately the boys body language changed, he was still staring through the door contemplating following the eerie voices of his lost loved ones. But again, he couldn’t tell if they were really there or not.

“Please Hinata.” Kenma spoke grasping his hand as tight as humanly possible. Even his spirit body could feel the touch and desperation of his friend.

“I know you want to leave, but please stay. For me, for the others, for everyone!” Kenma was practically screaming at his motionless body ensuring the other could hear him.

“Kageyama, you have to wake up with him right? You have too! You have to find your purpose, your meaning. Please don’t go through the door Shoyo. I don’t know what I’ll do if you’re gone. Stay beside me, wake up!”

Kenma continued to let out loud sobs as the doctors tried to pry him away.

How did he know about Kageyama?

“I dreamt about you Hinata, you’re beside me all the time even when you’re asleep. So please, don’t leave me now!” Kenma fell to the floor clutching the cold metal bars of his bed

The voice continued to call out to Hinata as his eyes focused on the fog below him. At this point he couldn’t tell if the fog was actually there or if it was his watery eyes clouding his vision.

“Hinata, please.” Kageyama reluctantly stretched out a hand, unknowing if Hinata would be willing to take it.

“It’s not really them, is it.” His eyelids fluttered as the voices of his loved ones seemed to calm. Shakily, he rose from his knees taking the latters hand.

Kageyama enveloped him in a tight embrace. He held him against his chest, glad he still had the smaller boy with him. If he had crossed over, Kageyama wouldn’t see the point in continuing to live.

He continued to hold him like a lifeline, afraid he would slip away from life’s grasp.

The commotion in the conscious world had ended. However, Hinata’s body remained hooked up on life support. Kenma sat lonesome on a bench outside of his hospital room. It was a sorrowful sight, he looked so fragile as if a single touch would cause him to shatter.

“Do you think he really saw us?” Hinata crouched infront of Kenma placing a hand in his, although the other wouldn’t have a clue he was there.

Kageyama nodded. “The dream world may work in a similar way to this one, seeing as you aren’t conscious.”

There are so many things left unknown and undiscovered about the universe. We know so little about space and other possible galaxies. Not to mention that eighty percent of the earths oceans remain unexplored. But here these two boys are, existing at the same time in an unknown, unconscious reality.

-x-

“What? You shouldn’t have stopped! When we wake up I’m gonna teach you all about volleyball, ya know what, we can even play with my friends!” Hinata smiled at the idea, closing his eyes as if he was imagining the scenario.

Kageyama could even envision the idea in his minds eye, despite his prominent aphantasia, the scenario seemed so familiar.

In his daydream he was alive and well. It was set in a large gymnasium with many other teams. Hinata and Kageyama wore jerseys reading 9 and 10. Everything looked so clear, almost as if it was reality.

He wondered if maybe that was them in another life. The theory of different universes existing all at once seemed very plausible in that moment.

Just before he could snap out of his thoughts he felt a tug on his hospital robe. When he peered down he found himself looking at a younger version of himself. The boy looked up at him, teary eyed and visibly startled.

Hinata also seemed to be able to see the figure of the child. The more Kageyama looked into his eyes, the more he began to lose grasp on his reality. Before long he was swept into a long corridor filled with memories.

“What’s all this?” Hinata spun around taking in his surroundings. The pair had been transported into a world filled with only Kageyama’s memories.

Before they had a chance to process what was happening the corridors morphed into many different angular shapes, until they were confronted with a vivid memory.

A boy, Kageyama’s younger self, lay weeping on the ground as three children surrounded him. His knees were grazed and his eyes were filled with hurt.

“What are you crying about? wimp!” One of the boys poked Kageyama’s face causing him to fall to the side. He rubbed at his cheek which now had a bright red mark.

The other children chuckled at the sight of the injured boy, they were enjoying watching this pained child suffer. It agonised Hinata to watch, but Kageyama stood almost apathetically. Although Hinata was sure he was feeling many emotions, nobody could stand so still at the sight of this.

“Hey loser!” A few other children joined the group. One of them had spiked up hair and wore a green t-shirt, the other followed behind almost skipping.

At first it seemed as if the older children had also joined in to pick on Kageyama, but they didn’t. The boy with spiked up hair seemed intimidating enough, he picked up one of the boys who was picking on Kageyama by the collar.

“I called you a loser. What are you gonna do about it?” He got closer to his face.

“Kindaichi they look older than us!” The boy next to him whispered.

“Scram!” One of them suddenly shouted. The boy who was being held by the collar managed to peel himself loose and chase after the others, eventually catching up.

“Here.” Another child held out a hand, he had kind eyes. Kageyama gratefully accepted, although he was reluctant at first. When he got to his feet the two who had arrived to help him placed their arms around the injured boy to accompany him as they walked to the nurses office.

“I’m Oikawa by the way, and that’s Iwa-chan!” His eyes seemed so kind.

“It’s Iwaizumi to you.” The latter spoke. Oikawa stuck his tongue out at his partner causing Kageyama to chuckle.

“Did you guys become friends?” Hinata looked up at Kageyama, but he just shrugged.

“They were a few years older than me, I played volleyball with them for a while, but they graduated elementary before me so not really.”

Hinata could sense that wasn’t all there was too it, but he didn’t pry figuring he would most likely find out what actually happened soon.

They watched as the memory became clouded, and then it seemed to ripple like when you drop a pebble in a lake. Eventually the ripples turned into waves that washed away the memory replacing it with a new one.

It was set in a family dining room. There was a boy, girl, mother and father, Kageyama’s family. The scene didn’t look bad, if it was going to be a happy one. Just like a movie the memory began playing.

“I don’t know what you want me to do Himari! It’s not like I can quit my job and be home all the time.” Kageyama sat at the dining table too scared to move. His food had been left untouched and his eyes watery.

His sister was sat in a similar situation, they were both staring at the floor.

“I don’t know Haru! I thought maybe you would want to be there for your kids!” The woman slammed her hands on the table causing her glass of wine to spill.

“Great.” The man chuckled and clapped his hands sarcastically. “That’s fucking brilliant Himari, now look, look at what you just did. Do you know how much this table cloth cost me?”

The woman arose from the table frantically wiping at the cloth with a towel.

“That’s what you’re worried about! We’re talking about your kids here and all you worry about is a table cloth?” Kageyama’s mother threw the towel at the males face.

“Oi!” He stood up slamming his hands on the table.

“Don’t you dare disrespect me when I’m the one paying the bills.” Kageyama’s younger self flinched, but so did his present self.

“Hey, I’m here with you. It’s okay.” Hinata intertwined their fingers causing the latter to look at him for a second. Kageyama held his hand tighter as a form of comfort.

Why did he have to relive these memories he had tried so hard to push away?

“Look at our child! That’s not what I taught him to be! He can’t even stand up for himself, I had to ask the neighbours kids to look after him so he would stop getting beaten up!”

“He’s just a child Haru! He’s eight!”

With that the man glared at his son seemingly in disgust. The two were still standing hand in hand watching as this memory took place.

Eventually Miwa left the dining table in tears, leaving Kageyama alone in fear. The man picked his keys up off the counter and left. His mum sat in silence not saying a word to the poor boy who was still scared to move from his position.

Hinata lowered his head casting a shadow over his eyes. Kageyama really was as lonely as he said he was. It hurt his heart to know such a good person had to go through so much pain.

“My parents divorced after that. But my dad still visited sometimes.” Kageyama sighed a painful sigh.

“What’s the point in this.” His shoulders slumped causing his body to jolt backwards slightly. The memory contorted and shifted into a new one, Kageyama was slightly older.

“If you can’t hit my tosses we’re never gonna win!” He gritted his teeth in anger as his team stood behind him in disappointment. His present self watched as he became the person he hated, Kageyama was convinced Hinata would despise him after this.

“Kageyama, go sit in the bench.” The coach instructed. His eyes were that of the younger, beaten up boy as he walked shamefully over to the bench.

After that game he quit volleyball, he quit the one thing that made him feel as if he wasn’t entirely alone. But his egotistical ruling over the court had pushed away his team leaving him alone.

On graduation day he had nobody to leave school with. Whilst other members of his class talked excitedly about their future Kageyama left the school building hanging his head low.

His summer was a montage of lonely memories, mainly consisting of him struggling to get out of bed or even shower. He had to use every ounce of strength he had just to force himself to eat. Even walking around proved to be a strenuous activity for the exhausted boy.

He didn’t apply to any high school, he didn’t plan on getting there. The last memory had an obvious story line as the pair watched him walk up a long stair case.

“I don’t wanna watch anymore.” Kageyama attempted to turn away from the memory but it surrounded him. No matter if he looked up or down it would be there to confront him.

As he stepped on the ledge his present self screamed.

“I don’t wanna watch anymore!” Kageyama dropped to his knees as tears spilled down his face.

“Kageyama.” Hinata crouched down beside him placing a hand over his eyes.

“You don’t have to watch.” He smiled a warm smile as Kageyama place a hand on top of his. His body continued to shake. The last thing Hinata saw was the flashing of ambulance lights before the hall of memories faded and they were back within the hospital wards.

He removed his hand from Kageyama’s face who kept his eyes firmly shut. Hinata had to convince him it was safe to open his eyes.

Kageyama continued to stay gasping for air on the ground. His entire body ached, probably due to the strain on his physical body. Everytime something major happened within their dream world it would take a toll on their bodies.

“Why?” Kageyama grimaced at the the thought of Hinata seeing his pathetic life.

“What was the point? I know I’m lonely-.” As he was about to continue he looked in front of him. Hinata placed a hand on his shoulder, lending him a sympathetic smile.

“I’m here.” He spoke.

Of course. How could he be so stupid?

Kageyama cursed at himself under his breath. All his life he had been lonely, but now he had this new found companion. The only person who had ever listened to him and tried to understand him. The only person to ever console him. With Hinata around, he was starting to feel some sense of worth, something he had never experienced.

“Hinata, Thankyou.” Kageyama gave him a smile. The other seemed confused, but he grinned in return.

-x-

The next few days passed by agonisingly slowly. Kenma continued to show up everyday impatiently awaiting Hinata’s awakening. The days turned into weeks as the pair seemed to grow more hopeless.

Nobody had crossed the barrier for a while now, but still it’s sinister presence lingered. Seeing as nothing out of the ordinary had happened the pair was sure something was coming.

“When I wake up, I’m gonna show you how great life is.” Hinata tried to speak optimistically, but there were those times when he remembered he was an orphan. Life wouldn’t be what it was when he woke up, if he ever woke up.

Kageyama wasn’t even sure he could wake up. After almost ten months of wandering these dull hospital halls finding some sort of purpose in life seemed impossible.

There came a day where Kenma didn’t turn up to the hospital. Hinata brushed it off, but clearly he was disheartened by it. Of course he knew Kenma had to look after himself, but it’s not like he had family who could visit him.

“I’m sure he’s busy or something, he’ll be here tomorrow.” Kageyama assured him, but tomorrow came and he didn’t turn up.

“He’s given up on me.” Hinata slouched beside his bed, the heart monitor was the only sound alerting the hospital wardens that he was still there.

That was when the doubtful voices took shape as gloomy shadows. All of Kageyama’s insecurities became visible and they were speaking to him.

“What’s the point in waking up?”

“Do you really think he’s a friend?”

“You’ll be alone again.”

“You already tried to kill yourself, finish the job already.”

“Kageyama.” Hinata noticed his restlessness and took his hands. “I’m not leaving you and I want to be with you. If I didn’t want to stay with you, I wouldn’t.”

That’s it, Kageyama thought. The reason Hinata can’t wake up is because he’s holding him back. The voice agreed with him, if he were to cross over Hinata would awaken. He wouldn’t be burdened with the presence of such a solitary soul.

As Kageyama stood up he began walking down the white halls for the billionth time at a leisurely pace, he didn’t want to worry Hinata. But he was already following close behind.

The shadows of his darkest thoughts became even more prominent as he got closer to the door.

As the doors flew open a blissful light engulfed his figure, it was so warm and soft on his skin.

There was a tug at his wrist, Kageyama didn’t have to look to know who it was, the feeling was all too familiar. Except this time his hand encircled his wrist tighter, tugging him back.

“Stay.” Hinata’s voice ushered him to move away from the doors.

His brown eyes twinkled with moisture as their faces met each others glances. But Kageyama had to move on, for the sake of Hinata.

Although he so badly wanted to experience a better life which Hinata had promised him, he knew it was out of grasp. After being in a coma for so long he probably wouldn’t even be able to walk if he awoke.

The grip around his wrist loosened as his back faced the light of the door, revealing his pure white aura.

“Hinata, Thank you. For showing me life has worth. For accompanying me in the strange place. But now it’s time for you to wake up.”

He placed a hand on the latters cheek as he wiped away the stray tears that escaped his eyes.

“Please don’t cry, you’ll forget about me once you wake up. You can meet with your friends again and your memory will live on. As much as I’d like to stay with you, I’d just be holding you here like a prison.”

This time the others tears fell at an uncontrollable pace. Kageyama could no longer wipe them away. His tears formed a river on his face, a waterfall even.

His footsteps echoed as he steeped back into the light. Hinata did not move, he did not protest as the latter stretched out arms.

“Let me go.” Kageyama leant him a sorrowful smile.

A glance of betrayal consumed Hinata as Kageyama fell back into the void, a small smile plastered across his face.

His soul didn’t disperse like the others, yet he fell and it seemed there would be no ending to it.

It was peaceful.

Just then Kageyama felt another person enclose themselves around his body as he fell. A cold breeze accompanying him as he continued to drift into the now greyish colour.

When he opened his eyes he was met with his familiar light brown eyes, tears still flowing endlessly.

“Shoyo why?” Kageyama placed a hand against his face.

“Think you could just leave me?”

Their foreheads met as they fell even further into the depths of this auroral light.

“Tobio Kageyama, you are my reason for living.”

As Hinata spoke those wards a gust of wind separated their bodies, but not their hands. They held onto each other, intertwining their fingers as the air flailed them around.

A current caught them in its grasp and tore them apart. Their world faded into an endless black as they were separated. A faint hum echoed throughout their minds.

Hinata was slowly losing grasp on his world.

Was this death?

He awoke to a frantic beeping of heart monitors and nurses who rushed around his body, unhooking many different wires.

Instantaneously he ripped off his oxygen mask after they removed his tube and he began coughing out a name.

“Ka- Kageyama?”

His vision was still blurry and his body weak, but somehow this boy, who had been comatose for over a month miraculously stood.

Nurses continued to usher him to sit down, but he slipped out of their grasp and began stumbling through the hallways.

There was no mist, no bright doors and no roses. This was in fact reality. He was alive.

The faint footsteps coming from behind him only pushed him forward. Every fibre of his being wanted to see Kageyama, alive and breathing. If he could have that, that would be enough.

“Shoyo!”

A voice called out. It sent shockwaves throughout his body as the taller male stumbled towards him.

This was a miraculous series of events. It wasn’t often you see two only recently awoken, comatose patients embracing in a hospital corridor.

Tears streamed endlessly as the held each other as tight as they could. Wailing sobs continued to drown out any other noise surrounding them. In that moment, it was only them.

They were relived to have each other. Alive and breathing in the waking world.

Kageyama took Hinata’s face in his hands and pressed their foreheads together.

“Shoyo Hinata, you are my reason for living.”