Chapter Text
“Yachi” Hinata whined, “I swear I’m gonna fail this math test.” Slamming his math textbook shut, Hinata let out a dramatic groan. Yachi rolled her eyes and reopened the math book.
“Shhhh, the librarian’s gonna get upset again and besides, you know you’re gonna ace this test, just like every other test you’ve taken. Do we really need to go through this every time?”
Hinata pouted as she slid the obnoxiously large book towards him. Yachi had a point. School was something that came easily to him. He had passed the most advanced science, math, English, and history classes with flying colors and never in his life had Shoyo tried to hide a report card from his mom. In fact, each time he received one in the mail, his mother put it on display for his entire family to see.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Yachi gave Hinata a knowing smile and went back to her math homework, enjoying the quiet silence that had settled between them.
“Trigonometry hates meeeeeeuhhhhh!” Yachi jumped at the sudden interruption.
“Jesus Shoyo! Relax.” Yachi checked her watch. “Oh shoot, we should pack up, the bell’s about to ring.” she said, placing her colorful gel pens back into her pencil case. To Hinata, the school library had become a second home. He, Yachi, Yamaguchi, and Yamaguchi's annoyingly sarcastic best “friend” Tsukishima would spend everyday at Karasuno’s library during lunch - studying or finishing homework. Tsuki wasn’t actually too bad - not that Hinata would ever tell him that. When he first joined the trio, it took everything in Hinata’s willpower to not punch him in the fucking face. Constantly reminding Hinata about his height - 5’4 was average! - or pointing out how he received a higher test score. Honestly, the only thing that prevented the murder of Tsukishima Kei were the apologetic looks that Yamaguchi shot Hinata’s way. “That’s his way of being friendly.” If Yamaguchi - for reasons unknown to Hinata - thought Tsukki was okay, then Hinata guessed Tsukki’s life should be spared. For now. Over time, Hinata realized that all the sarcastic, albeit hurtful, comments were how he showed his love. It was sweet, in a sort of weird and sadistic way.
Hinata haphazardly started putting his study materials into his backpack when the bell rang. Normally, when Yamaguchi and Tsukki weren’t there, Yachi and Hinata would put their things away as slowly as possible, trying to avoid the crowded hallways. Without their outrageously tall friends, Yachi and Hinata would be trampled by the parade of sleep deprived teenagers going to fifth period. Today however, Hinata would have to face the stampede alone. Instead of going to AP Chem, Hinata was supposed to head down to his counselor’s office. He wasn't in trouble or anything, he was just going to discuss his plans for after high school. Any other teenager would’ve been anxious at the thought of going to college and becoming an adult (Yamaguchi would throw up anytime the word college was mentioned), but Hinata was actually excited. His entire junior high and high school career, he had worked his ass off doing anything and everything he could to make him look more appealing on college applications. Hinata was born to go to college. He was currently on step five of his “Becoming a world renowned scientist” plan he made when he was in eighth grade. While he had tweaked a few steps since the list’s creation, he was still on the right path.
“Be safe out there Shoyo.” Yachi whispered as she pulled Hinata into a bear hug.
“Yachi, I’ll be fine. Jeez, you’re acting as if I’m going to war or something. I’m literally just going to the office.”
“Shoyo. Promise me that you’ll be safe.” Hinata swore he heard Yachi sniffling.
“Okay, okay. I’ll be safe. I promise. Now please let go of me, I’m starting to lose feeling in both my arms.” Yachi let go and ruffled his already messy hair. Giving her a reassuring nod and an army salute, Hinata exited the library.
~~~~~~~~~
His expedition to the office had been traumatizing to say the least. Hinata was used to being ignored, in fact he opted to stay in the shadows of his beanstalk friends, but he’d never been treated like he was downright invisible. During the minute and a half walk to the office, everyone had looked right over his head, knocking into his shoulders. He felt like a mouse walking amongst giraffes. Not wanting to stay in the sea of savage giants, he pushed open the doors labeled “Karasuno’s School Office”.
Hinata wasn’t new to the office and its staff. He had been called in numerous times for academic awards, which totally wasn’t that big of a deal (he most definitely didn’t brag about his awards to Tsukki every chance he got).
“Hi Mrs. Suzumeda! You’re looking radiant as ever.. Is that a new blouse?” Hinata said sweetly, sliding his pink slip to Karasuno’s secretary. He heard a scoff come from someone behind him. Probably just a student.
“Oh, this old thing?” Mrs. Suzumeda said, a blush spreading across her face. She gave Hinata a warm smile and signed his slip. “Have a seat on one of the chairs behind you. Mr. Sawamura and Mr. Koushi will be with you in a minute.” Mr. Sawamura? Why is the principle involved?
“Thank you so much! Oh and tell your daughter that I wish her a happy sixth birthday!” Mrs. Suzumeda had told Hinata when her daughter’s birthday was months ago, but being the people loving person that Hinata prides himself on being, he made it a point to remember. Mrs. Suzumeda gave him a thumbs up and went back to doing whatever it is that school secretaries do. Satisfied, Hinata turned around to go sit on the chairs behind him. He had to admit that he was feeling a little nervous about this meeting. Had he done something wrong? Hinata noticed the clock hung above the entryway. The time was a little off, which really irked him for some reason. He tried to find something else to distract himself with, but that damn clock - that couldn’t tell the proper time - kept ticking and tocking. Where in the world is Mr. Koushi? The clock progressively got louder as the ticks and tocks went on. He felt himself getting more agitated by the second. The clock, the sounds of the office staff furiously typing, the rustling of papers, all started to swirl around in his head, poking and prodding at his brain. Fuck. The room was too hot, his clothes too restricting. Hinata tried to remember the tricks his therapist taught him, when he was overstimulated. Slowly inhale… wait three seconds … and slowly exhale. Even with his meds, ADHD was still a pain in the ass.
“Hinata?” A man peered from a doorway, and beckoned him inside. Oh sweet Jesus. Hinata was saved.
“Coming, Mr. Koushi!” Thankful to leave his seat partner, Hinata hurried to his counselor's office.
~~~~~~~
Mr. Koushi’s office was always comforting to be in. Unlike his coworker’s offices, his office had a calm and peaceful atmosphere. The walls were lined with selfies of Mr. Koushi and already graduated students, usually making silly faces. You could see the love that the students had for the silver haired counselor in their faces. String lights and a lava lamp gave the room the room soft lighting. Despite having the hair of someone quite older, Mr. Koushi was relatively young for a staff member. Hinata guessed that he couldn’t be more than 27. 25 if he was being generous.
“Please, take any seat Hinata.” Mr. Koushi motioned toward an array of seating, and softly closed the door. Being a young and hip counselor, Mr. Koushi had wanted alternatives to the usual chairs that schools often had. Hinata scanned the room and opted for the beanbag chair in the corner of the room. As Hinata settled into the bag, he noticed that both men were staring at him with an odd look on their face. Shifting uncomfortably in the chair, Hinata wondered if this meeting wasn’t about an award after all.
“So, uh- Hinata. Do you know why we called you in?” Mr. Sawamura’s voice broke the uncomfortable silence.
“No, not really sir. Did I do something wrong?” Fuck. What if he was in trouble? He didn’t do anything wrong, that he knew of. He began thinking back on the past few months. He had accidentally spilt his water in the library a few weeks ago. Oh no. What if he was being sued for ruining the carpet? The librarian had assured him that it was no big deal, but maybe she had been wrong. Noticing that Hinata was overthinking, Mr. Koushi cut in.
“No, you haven’t done anything wrong per say. It’s just that… Um. How do we put this?” Hinata was most definitely about to be sued. His family didn’t have enough money for a lawyer! What if he went to jail? He couldn’t conduct research from jail? Did jails even have research labs? Hinata’s heart rate began increasing.
“I don’t have enough money for a lawyer!” Hinata interjected, his voice cracking on the last syllable. Both his counselor and principal gave Hinata a questioning look.
“Um. We’ll unpack why you think you’d need a lawyer later... but that’s not the purpose of this meeting.” Hinata let out a sigh of relief at his principal’s words. He wasn’t being sued. Hallelujah.
“We’re here to talk about your graduation status.” Oh. Were they going to tell him that he could graduate early or that he was going to be valedictorian? It was still early in the school yearand they usually announce valedictorian in late spring, not late December.
“With your current credits, we’re afraid that you won’t be able to graduate this year.” Hinata felt his soul leave his body. Time had stopped. He felt every single one of his neurons firing at once. It was as though a million thoughts entered his head at once. This had to be some kind of joke?
“Haha. Nice one Mr. Sawamura. But actually though, why was I called in here?” Both adults gave him a weak smile.
“Unfortunately Hinata, we’re being serious. We don’t know how this happened, but the system failed to show us the credits you were missing.” Hinata couldn’t speak. He couldn’t feel anything. He didn’t even notice that he was crying until Mr. Sawamura handed him a tissue. How could this be happening? Hinata had done everything humanly possible to make sure that he had taken all the correct classes and received all the correct credits.
“So I-” sniff “I’m not going to graduate?”
“As of right now, no you won’t.” Hinata stiffened at the principal’s words. “But as we approach the new semester, there is a way for you to receive all the credits you need to.” Mr. Koushi explained to him softly, as he rubbed small circles on Hinata’s back and Mr. Sawamura handed Hinata a single sheet of paper with all sorts of percentages and words that he would’ve been able to make out if tears didn’t shroud his vision. Shaking - only slightly - he took the piece of paper and wiped his eyes to get a better look.
“Here you have all the classes you’ve taken and how many credits you’ve received.” Mr. Koushi pointed to the left side of the sheet. “And here you have all the credits that you need in order to graduate.” The room was silent with the exception of Hinata’s occasional sniffs, as he looked over the paper. Hinata had pretty much every credit covered. Math, Biology, Physics, Art, English, and Language were all completed. What could he be missing?
Sensing his confusion, Mr. Sawamura continued explaining, “While you have completed all the academic related credits, you have one semester worth of P.E credit to go.” P.E? Hinata had completed P.E though? Freshman year, both he and Yamaguchi took weight lifting - it was the shortest P.E class Karasuno had at the time. He can still smell the overwhelming aroma of sweat and testosterone, but at least it was air conditioned.
“But I thought I already had my P.E credit over with?” Hinata pointed to the tear stained paper. Mr. Koushi walked over to his computer and started scrolling. Furious clicks and clacks echoed in the room.
“Aha. Here it is.” the silver haired man said, “In Mr. Terushima’s report he said and I quote: While Hinata has proved his excellent work ethic academically, he failed to apply the same effort in weight lifting. Over the course of the semester he failed to show any form of improvement… You get the gist.”
“Hey! I tried my bestest in that class.” Mr. Koushi gave Hinata a I don’t believe you look. “Okay, well maybe I didn’t go to every class, but I was still at school. Studying in the library, I might add. And he can’t fail someone for missing the occasional class!” Mr. Sawamura grabbed a yoga ball - courtesy of Mr. Koushi - and sat down in front of Hinata. Mr. Koushi and Hinata were left in awkward silence as he tried - key word is tried - to sit on the ball. Eventually, he gave up and just kneeled on the ground in front of Hinata, trying his best to look professional.
“Hinata, you didn’t even go to your final.”
“I was at a Model UN convention. It was the semi-finals! I had to be there!” Mr. Koushi got up from his desk and sat down - easily to Mr. Sawamura’s dismay - on the second yoga ball. How many yoga balls does this guy have? If it weren't for the context of the situation, Hinata would’ve been extremely impressed by the balancing act that was going on in front of him.
“Hinata, you didn’t ask to retake it and even if you had, I think that Mr. Terushima was right to fail you. You need to learn to apply the same amount of effort to all your classes. Physical or not. And besides, sports are a great way to branch out and really be a teenager. I think over time, you’ll see that this is actually a good thing.” Hinata wanted to gag at the sugary smile that Mr. Koushi was giving him. He knew that his counselor meant well, but that didn’t make it any less infuriating. Hinata had no trouble making friends. Hell, he’d become friends with Tsukishima, aka one of the most unfriendly people on Earth. It wasn’t making friends that was an issue, it was the fact that friends were a waste of time. Hinata was happy with his small friend group that was just as focused on academics as he was. He didn’t have time to be distracted by sports or friends. He could be a teenager when he became a successful doctor. This entire situation was shitty. This is why he fucking hated the public education system. Why was P.E even important?
“I know this is a really difficult situation, especially during senior year. Just know that we’re really sorry.”
“Sorry? Sorry isn’t going to fix”, Hinata waved the paper furiously, “this! How am I supposed to accept an apology when I can’t fucking graduate?” Hinata felt his throat tighten, as more tears threatened to spill over for a second time. Mr. Koushi flinched at his sudden outburst. His entire life, Hinata had never even thought about raising his voice at a teacher, but then again he also used to think that he was going to graduate.
“Because this entire situation is stressful, Mr. Koushi and I will ignore that last comment, but rest assured that we have come up with a few solutions.” Seeing the way that his educators still looked at him with nothing but concern, even after his outburst, feelings of shame and guilt started replacing his anger. It’s not like they failed him with malicious intent. They still wanted the best for him in the end.
“I- I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking and I shouldn’t have gotten so upset. You said something about a solution?” Mr. Koushi seemed to relax at Hinata’s words as Mr. Sawamura began explaining the two options.
“So you’re telling me that I can either join a spring sport now and graduate on time with everyone, or retake weight lifting over the summer?”
“Yes.” Hinata began to weigh his options. He had always been athletic and would’ve pursued a sport if academics hadn’t taken over 99% of his life. Calculating the pros and cons, Hinata decided.
“I guess I’m doing a sport this spring. Which one? How about swimming? I can swim! Kind of. Or maybe volleyball? I know I’m short, but I can jump!”
“Yay! We’re so glad you chose to do a spring sport! Now that brings us to one teeny tiny condition…” Mr. Sawamura and Mr. Koushi exchanged glances as Mr. Koushi placed a box onto Hinata’s lap.
Hinata gave the two adults a dubious look, “What kind of condition?”
“You’ll be tutoring someone on the varsity track team in exchange for track training.” Tutoring someone? That wasn’t so bad. Hinata had done it plenty of times. Yeah, this might actually end up being okay. He could deal with this. He would still be able to graduate!
“Okay, I’ll do it. So who am I tutoring? Is she nice? I hope she’s-“
“Actually, it’s a he.” Mr. Koushi interrupted. A he? Hinata had been hoping for a girl, not because he liked girls - he’s been out since 7th grade after a rather embarrassing realization in the boys locker room -but because girls were easier to befriend than guys. Correction: Straight guys. If he really thought about it, his only “straight” guy friends were Yamaguchi and Stingyshima, though Hinata and Yachi weren’t convinced. Mr. Koushi must’ve sensed Hinata’s disappointment.
“Don’t worry, Kageyama is a lovely boy. A little rough around the edges, but I’m sure you two will become fast friends over time. Right Daichi?”
“Oh, uh yea sure.” Mr. Koushi elbowed Mr. Sawamura in the ribs, giving him a threatening smile. “Ow, um yes. Kageyama can be a very charming boy from what I’ve heard.” A worried look flashed across Hinata’s face. He didn’t like Mr. Sawamura’s tone. Who was this Kageyama guy? Did Mr. Sawamura not like him?
“So when am I meeting him?” Mr. Koushi checked his watch.
“He should be right outside, actually. I’ll go get him.” Butterflies flitted inside of Hinata’s stomach. He was getting nervous. Sticking his head outside the door, Mr. Koushi beckoned someone inside. Hinata gulped as a rather large shadow was getting closer.
“Ah, Kageyama! We’re so happy you could make it.” Mr. Sawamura smiled, as the door opened fully.