Chapter Text
The air was abuzz as the Karasuno team made their way into the gym for their match. It wasn’t anything special, nothing was on the line. Well, nothing other than pride, which to some, was everything. Despite that, the energy around the team was certainly on the higher side. A match was a match, stakes or not. It was bound to be an exciting day, no matter the results.
“They don’t look all that intimidating,” Nishinoya commented almost disappointedly, glancing over at the opposing team. Warming up on the other side of the gym were the Kitsunewa players, their maroon and gold uniforms catching the team’s eyes. While it was true that they didn't look intimidating in regards to opponents, what they lacked in physical presence they made up for in energy. Their physique and general make-up seemed average, but their energy was ominous, to say the least. They certainly didn’t look like a pleasant bunch, that much was obvious. There was something off about them.
“Aren’t they like a nothing team?” Tanaka muttered with a smirk, earning pointed glare from Daichi, Suga, and Ukai. “What? It’s true! I mean, had any of you heard of them before we found out about this match?”
“Well, no, they’re a pretty small school,” Suga hesitated, “but we shouldn’t underestimate our opponents.”
“We also shouldn’t talk poorly about them when in the same vicinity, if at all,” Daichi chided, but Tanaka merely shrugged off his comment and continued to whisper with Nishinoya, leaving the tired captain at a loss. It wasn’t worth it to try to get through to them, it would just be a waste of his own energy and sanity.
“I dunno, I’m excited,” Hinata, on the other hand, was practically vibrating in place, “since we don’t know much about them, who knows what’ll happen! Maybe they’ll be like, extra super awesome!”
“Or maybe you’ll waste all of your energy before we even start,” Kageyama huffed, grabbing the back of Hinata’s jacket, “you don’t wanna be benched, do you, dumbass?”
“What? No!”
“Then chill.”
“I am chill!”
“You’re obviously not.”
“Says you!”
“That’s enough, you two,” Daichi sighed in exasperation, pulling the two apart. A sigh fell from Kageyama as a pout overtook Hinata’s face, but Daichi paid them little mind. It was just another day.
“Uh, is it just me,” Yamaguchi spoke up, eyeing the Kitsunewa players nervously, “or are a couple of them looking at us funny?” Frowning, the team turned their attention back to the opposing side. Just as Yamaguchi had said, two of the players were eyeing them weirdly: three and twelve. Number three looked like he was sizing up a new plaything, his brown eyes shimmering in excitement behind his dark bangs as an unsettling smile stretched across freckled cheeks. On the other hand, number twelve, despite his innocent face, looked like he was contemplating the best form of murder. There was no emotion behind his wide gray eyes, thinly veiled by his messy mop of ragged, dark hair.
“And I thought we had weirdos on our team,” Tsukishima snickered, earning several twisted scowls and a laugh or two from the rest of the team, but he paid them little mind as several shouts of protest rose into the air, particularly from Hinata, Nishinoya, and Tanaka.
“Alright, enough goofing around,” Ukai sighed, “start warming up.” A few grumbles rose into the air, but the boys did as they were told, and gradually, their energy began to build even more.
It was game time.
“Damn, Captain Pretty-Boy, for real,” Nishinoya scoffed as Daichi went up to shake hands with Kitsunewa’s captain. His perfectly combed brown hair fell loosely across his forehead, brushing softly against the lashes that veiled his blue eyes. There wasn’t a single wrinkle or blemish to be seen on his skin; the only mark in sight was a seemingly perfectly placed mole on his chin. It was almost infuriating how pristine he looked.
“Woah,” Hinata gawked, stars in his eyes, “what’s he doing here? He should be on a stage or something, not a court!”
“He’ll have to be careful that all the sweat doesn’t mess up his perfect look,” Tanaka snickered, earning chuckles from the other two, “that is, if he even plays.”
And so, the match began.
Near the end of the first set, Kitsunewa called a timeout. The score sat at seventeen to nine with Karasuno pulling the lead. To put it simply, the foxes looked on edge. No, they looked pissed. If they didn’t get their shit together, the game would be over before they knew it. Even Karasuno was a bit bummed by the turnout thus far. It was still only the first set, but truthfully, it didn’t look promising. It was starting to look like a sweep.
“See, I told you they were a nothing team,” Tanaka smirked, taking a swig of his water bottle. Once again, the third years all sent him pointed looks, but even they couldn’t deny that there was some truth to his words. Kitsunewa wasn’t bad, per say, but they were overwhelmingly average.
“No kidding, this is boring,” Nishinoya groaned, running a hand through his hair, “where’s the action, y’know? I’m pretty sure these guys are worse than Shoyo was during his first week.”
“Hey!” Hinata’s face turned red as it scrunched into an angry scowl. “Don’t compare me to these guys, I wasn’t that bad!” Behind him, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Kageyama all fought to hold back their laughter.
“Keep telling yourself that,” Kageyama scoffed, only adding to Hinata’s growing anguish as he let out a groan of defeat.
“Okay, but like, their number six? Why is he so cool?” Tanaka complained loudly. “He’s so cool looking, it’s not even fair. Like, save some for the rest of us, man. That, and he may be one of the only good players they have.”
“His hair,” Nishinoya nodded aggressively, “that’s what it is. He’s got that split-tone look going. One side black, one side blonde, complete bad-boy. Like, you can’t have that and not be cool. And when you look cool, you play cool. I mean, I’m a perfect example of that. Their libero, though…”
“I can’t tell if that guy is gonna laugh or cry at any given moment,” Yamaguchi joined in with a wry smile, “he looks like he’s one minor inconvenience away from completely breaking.”
“He and Ashai would be besties,” Tanaka nudged Asahi playfully, “long hair, tall, constantly on the verge of falling apart. Only difference is that their guy looks like a weird beanpole.”
“I dunno, I’m a bit worried,” Asahi muttered, glancing over at the tight Kitsunewa huddle, “I feel like there’s more to them than meets the eye.”
“What, you think they’re like, trying to lure us into a false sense of security before striking back?” Nishinoya laughed. “I know they’re the foxes and all, but after what we’ve seen so far, I don’t think they could pull something like that off, even if they wanted to.”
“No, I can see what Asahi’s saying,” Suga frowned, “there’s something about these guys. I don’t like the look they have in their eyes. It feels like they’re constantly up to something, like there’s some kind of joke we’re not in on.”
“Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter,” Daichi joined in, ever the voice of reason, “we’ll play just as we always do. If they pull something new, we’ll adapt. That’s what we do. Don’t settle into negligence just because we have the lead.”
“He’s right,” Ukai confirmed with a firm nod, “we can’t slack just because we think we’ve got this in the bag. For all we know, they could be betting on that. Remember, we know almost nothing about this team aside from what we’ve seen thus far. So, we keep playing and we treat this like a match against any other team. You all wouldn’t start slacking off against Aoba Johsai or Shiratorizawa, would you?” Glances were exchanged amongst the team and slowly, everyone shook their heads as a glumness came to rest over them following the lecture.
“We don’t have to be so down,” Tanaka grinned, attempting to break the energy that had settled over the team, “it’s not like we’re losing or anything, no need to be so serious! We can still have some fun and stay on our game!”
“Watch it,” Daichi warned while Suga chuckled at his side. As another wave of nonsense broke out amongst the team, Hinata found himself slowly pulling away from it all. A strange sense of dread had washed over him. It felt as though someone were watching him from afar, silently praying on his downfall and cursing his name. With a frown, he glanced across the court at the Kitsunewa huddle, eyes widening as they met with a pair of sharp, cold, gray eyes.
Kitsunewa’s number seven had pulled away from the group ever so slightly and was watching Hinata like a hawk. As he removed his pink headband, blonde hair tumbled forward as an almost sinister smile pulled at his lips. Upon noticing he had caught Hinata’s attention, that smile only widened as a wink was thrown boldly Hinata’s way. Before Hinata could fully process what had happened, number seven rejoined the huddle, pulling his greasy hair back as he returned the headband to its place.
“Oi, dumbass,” Kageyama’s rough hand shook Hinata’s shoulder, pulling him back into the moment, “were you even listening?”
“Listening? To what?” Hinata blinked, a deep knot of unease twisting into his stomach. Laughs broke out amongst the team while Kageyama groaned in exasperation, but Hinata couldn’t bring himself to try to figure out what he had missed or even complain at what would typically be an embarrassment. He was far too distracted by whatever the hell had just happened with number seven. Maybe it was like Asahi and Suga had said, maybe the foxes were up to something. Maybe they were trying to play mind games, to get into Karasuno’s heads and throw them off their game.
“Hey, Suga,” Hinata frowned as they made their way back onto the court, the timeout having ended, “do you know anything about Kitsunewa’s number seven?”
“Oh, their ace?” Immediately, Hinata shuddered. Of course he was their ace, just Hinata’s luck. Granted, he probably should have known that, there was no doubt it had been mentioned at some point, but he either forgot or had been too distracted by something or another. “Ueno, I think his name is. Why do you ask? You’ve played against him more than I have,” Suga laughed lightheartedly, completely oblivious to Hinata’s plight, “this is my first time on the court today.”
“Oh, uh, no reason,” Hinata replied quickly, “he just, uh, he seems interesting! So I was wondering if you had heard coach or sensei say anything about him, that’s all!”
And so, the match resumed. All of the Kitsunewa players continued to eye Karasuno like hungry dogs, their faces shining with some unknown scheme. It was unnerving and everyone on and off the court could feel it. Hinata, though, was much too preoccupied with Ueno. The ace rarely took his eyes off of Hinata and it was such a horrible, horrible gaze. Hinata would have gladly taken one of Kageyama’s furious murder glares over what Ueno was giving him. Whatever it was, it felt genuine, even though there was no anger behind it. It just felt cold and all-knowing. There was intent there. Horrible, nasty, intent. And then there was that smile…
Doing his best to shake off the unease, Hinata turned his attention back to the match. Kageyama had swapped out with Suga and now towered at Hinata’s side. Somehow, a small part of Hinata felt safer. For a brief moment, their eyes met and Hinata wondered if the setter had noticed his discomfort. Kageyama’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but then his attention fell back to the match at hand. If he had noticed something, he wasn’t going to say anything. He probably just thought that Hinata was being stupid, truthfully. Even Hinata was starting to feel stupid. What if he was just overthinking things? He sighed. If Kitsunewa was trying to get into their heads, he was certainly falling for it. Ueno had Hinata more on edge than he had been in a while.
And there, on the other side of the net, stood Ueno, that nasty smirk seemingly growing the second Hinata looked at him. Hinata felt like he was going insane. That had to be the only answer, because why was no one else seeing what he was? Maybe Ueno was actually trying to be friendly, but Hinata was too freaked out to see it that way. Yeah, that had to be it. And so, he shoved the smoldering anxiety down.
Locking his attention back onto the game, Hinata’s eyes zeroed in on the ball. Kitsunewa’s libero- Amano, Hinata heard someone call him- had received Asahi’s spike. While most would have normally been happy to stop by ball, Amano looked like he was on the verge of some sort of overwhelming breakdown. The ball moved to Kitsunewa’s number two, who, despite his passive disposition and frankly ridiculous bowl-cut, appeared to have the knowledge of generations in his eyes as he set the ball. And then Ueno moved, that nasty grin still dancing on his lips as his eyes locked onto Hinata.
For a brief moment, time stopped around Hinata as questions raced through his head. Why was Ueno looking at him like that? Was there actually malice there, or was he just overthinking things? Why was that twisted knot of anxiety still tying itself tighter within his stomach?
With a frown, Hinata pushed the dwelling storm of thoughts aside. He had a job to do, he could freak out about the weird ace later. He had to stop that ball. Just as quickly as Ueno had moved, Hinata and Kageyama came together, rising into the air to block the ball’s trajectory, fingers stretching towards the ceiling.
And then everything went horribly wrong.
As Hinata hung in the air, everything seemed to clear for a brief moment as the world slowed down. At his side was Kageyama, face drawn tight as he lurched forward to stop the ball. On the other side of the net was Ueno, the ball making its descent towards his readied hand seemingly in slow motion. There was a wild glint in the ace’s gray eyes and for a brief moment, that horrible smirk that had been haunting Hinata disappeared. And then, a wicked grin took its place, stretching across Ueno’s freckled cheeks.
As the ball met with the ace’s hand, Hinata saw Ueno’s eyes lock with his and a horrible chill ran down his body. He had made a mistake. There was no kindness to Ueno. He wasn’t trying and failing to be friendly, not at all. He had been scheming the entire time, luring Hinata into his little game until it was time for him to pull out his bag of tricks. He wasn’t friendly at all. He was a threat. He was a fox waiting to strike, and Hinata was his prey.
And then, time returned to normal.
The next thing Hinata knew was pain. Overwhelming pain. It exploded in his face first as he felt his body get thrown backwards, colliding harshly with the floor below. Then came another wave of pain, exploding from the back of his head. All he knew was pain. Terrible, shooting, horrible pain.
Somewhere Hinata heard muffled shouts, but they sounded so distant. Reason told him that they were probably right next to him, or at least close by, but he found that hard to believe. They sounded like they were coming from under water. Though, he hadn’t been anywhere near water, so that wouldn’t make sense. As the throbbing pain continued to grow, Hinata became acutely aware of how fuzzy everything had become in his mind. Even his body felt fuzzy. Something certainly wasn’t right.
There was more noise, so much noise. He couldn’t make much of it out, but he could tell that some of it was much closer. It seemed like it was directed at him, too. Someone was trying to get his attention. With a pained groan, Hinata peeled his eyes open, wincing at the harsh gym lights that had suddenly decided to accost his senses. After a moment, he tried again, and while he did manage to actually open his eyes, he hated just how fuzzy everything looked.
Above him was Ukai’s troubled face, the coach kneeling almost protectively at his side. Through the blur, Hinata thought he saw various other teammates, but it was hard to tell who they were.
“-nata. Hinata,” Ukai’s words cut through the buzz as Hinata blinked blearily up at the coach, “can you hear me, kid?” Hinata just groaned, unable to even think about forming any words, let alone try speaking. Ukai swore, his face wrinkling as he looked over his shoulder, calling for something Hinata couldn’t understand.
God, he felt sick.
Screwing his eyes shut, Hinata let out a low whimper. Almost immediately, there was a rough hand tapping against his cheek accompanied by a rough voice with an edge of fear to it. Right, coach. Hinata once again peeled his eyes open, hating how much effort it took. Had it always been that difficult to open his eyes?
“-ata, I need y– awake– you do that for me?” Ukai’s voice cut in and out through the dull buzz that had come to exist within Hinata’s head. Despite the jumble, Hinata got the jist of it: stay awake. That felt like a pretty big ask, especially given how shitty and tired he felt.
“You– concussion–” Ah, that explained it. A concussion. Yeah, that would make sense, he did hit his head pretty hard. Twice. Hinata’s face twisted. That didn’t make sense, though. That ball shouldn’t have gone anywhere near his face, especially not with that kind of force. He groaned. Thinking about it was just making everything hurt more. He’d figure it out later.
Things continued to blur around Hinata. There were several moments that he hadn’t even noticed he had closed his eyes, only to be brought back around by an anxious Ukai. As time continued to blur, two new figures joined his field of view: Takeda-sensei and Shimizu. Before he had time to question it, more people he didn’t recognize appeared behind them, slowly surrounding him as Ukai stepped back.
The next thing Hinata knew, several pairs of hands were moving him. Pain radiated from his head, pulling a low whine from him as he was moved onto a stretcher. As everything around him began to move, the world blurred.
Pinching his eyes closed, Hinata groaned. He really should have just said something about that weird ace.