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The sun was shining down much more intensely than previously assumed by any player on the court, and with Tobio and Sho being the two least compatible with temperatural extremes lasted much less than the previous matches. It had been only a few few dozen points, the score currently residing at a commendable 33-32 with the advantage going to Japan, and both players were already feeling much wearier than the typical expectation of them. Hinata was still, however, performing admirably and Kageyama was also setting with the internationally acclaimed pinpoint precision that the Japanese team had been rising in the ranks as a direct result of.
One more quick attack and Japan had now entered half time with a 1 set lead against Italy, with a score of 2-1, with the advantage going to Japan. The team quickly sped off to the cooler conditions of the changing rooms, leaving Tobi and his husband of three months, Sho, sat to the side of the court as they fumbled with their water bottles, downing the drink alarmingly fast, although to the rather limited cooling effect of said actions. While legally married however, they still needed to keep their affairs on the low, as many of their old schoolmates had warned them upon the scandal of which came about due to the media getting hold on Atsumu and Iwaizumi's relationship back when Hinata was over in Brazil. So Tobi kept scrolling through Twitter as Sho began refilling both bottles from his duffel bag provided by the staff.
"You know, Tobio, the others may get suspicious if we stay back much longer.. I just hope they'll be able to keep up for the remainder of the games, after all, Italy does have a few notorious powerhouses, not unlike back in our first year up against Ushijima~senpai." Hinata said softly, smiling a bit as he continued, making sure nothing would be left amiss if recorded by onlooking paparazzi or reporters. "I am also unsure if this heat will allow us to continue much longer, if I am to be completely honest with myself and you. Do you think they could hold on to the lead long enough for us to win?" He continued, handing Kageyama the newly refilled bottle to ensure he kept rehydrating himself accordingly.
Kageyama sighed softly, breathing slightly more rugged and agitated than usual, a clear indicator that in addition to feeling under the weather, he was also lacking the confidence in victory that had kept them going up until this point. If need be the two would take a time out and let the reserves shoot their shot at fame, however it would very much spell potential death to Japan's chances at making it to the semi finals, despite being closer than ever before, or atleast as far back that Hinata's grandfather could remember, which would have been around 75 years if Shoyo was doing the maths correctly, although he very likely wasn't, since said grandfather was only 79 last month and no three year old can remember Olympic volleyball statistics.
"I am aware that we likely won't see the team through to the finals...or even semi-finals. Maybe it is for the best however." Kageyama smiled faintly, trying his best to hide the abundance of pain in his voice.
"Giving up? That's absolutely not like you at all, Tobio. Are you alright? The heat isn't getting worse is it?" Hinata asked, looking around quickly before placing a gentle hand over his husband's cheek. "Your face feels too warm... you might be coming down with a fever. If you really want to stay we can use that timeout until the end. But seriously if you need to leave due to sunstroke beginning to emerge, we will go and take you to the nearest hospital. I will not let you play again until you're fully healed and rested, understand? You'll just end up hurting yourself beyond the ability needed to be a professional player... you remember how bad it got when I had that fever years ago right? If I hadn't listened and just continued... well I daredn't wish to think of what I'd be doing... I will not let you suffer that fate as long as I can help it." Hinata said, staring daggers into Kageyama's eyes, knowing Damn well that his stubborn soulmate wouldn't ever listen to such an order unless intimidated into listening, even if it did fill Sho with guilt to scare Tobio, regardless of intent behind such actions.
"I swear if I didn't love you so much...you'd be so dead right now" Tobio pouted, huffing as he picked up his bottle and Shoyo chuckled, just glad he didn't need to go too hard with his intimidation for once. "I won't need the hospital, but maybe we should head back to our hotel room, since if you're going to force me to rest then I would probably require a decent mattress instead of those cardboard ones the other players have been provided." He continued, adding his husband's things to the duffel bag and walking over to the umpire, explaining the situation and looking to both teams' coaches and other staff there to make sure they weren't overstepping with the umpire at all.
Hinata then walked Kags to the locker rooms where the players had already left for the next stretch of the match, the married couple taking solace in the ability to be themselves now, as there were no longer any onlookers who may catch on to the hidden relationship between them and out them to the press. Tobi tossed his shirt to the side and slumped down on the bench, while Sho rummaged in their bags for a clean T-shirt for him to change into, as either of them staying in sweat-soaked clothes was the last thing he wanted to suffer through.
"There's only one right now so go and have this one, ok? I'll just deal with my current top. Now go take a cool shower so you get over the potential heatstroke easier, then we will definitely be dropping by the clinic on the way to our room. I will not spare any effort in ensuring that you're both physically and mentally okay." Hinata sighed, sitting down and waiting for Tobio, while going ahead and pulling up the live-streamed match for them both to keep watching on the move, mostly for Tobio's sake as Hinata was the only one able to drive in the moment considering how Kageyama seemed to be facing a rather sickly situation as a direct result of the weather and lack of sufficient cooling on the court.
A few dozen minutes passed, hot water hitting the floor the whole time as Kageyama tended to take much longer showers than even Hinata, who took showers of up to twenty whole minutes, couldn't comprehend. Sho continued to watch the match anxiously the whole while, seeing some of his most reliable teammates finally get the chance to shine through, and actually godly their own against Italy, albeit only by a slight margin. One that would likely very quickly dissipate upon the next set or even substitution. One point after another lost, the score was beginning to show a gradual shift in favour to that of Italy's national team, with them scoring the fourth set, the scores now 2-2 and onto the final set. Kageyama soon emerged from the shower and began changing into the clean and relatively cooled clothing Hinata had packed for him, though Tobio could tell something was up.
"Did you manage to see the game from here, love?" Kags asked, sitting beside Sho carefully, taking the phone from his husband and setting it to the side, asking softly once more and also asking what was wrong.
"The score is currently residing at 2-2.... Looks like we will indeed lose this game, even with our near-perfect run." He said quietly, looking over at Kageyama with a vaguely guilty smile.
"You know we still have more games after this olympics right? There is so much time to win the next olympics is there not?" Kags reassured Hinata, ruffling his hair affectionately, though his eyes had gotten a little heavy already, eliciting an extremely quick shove of his water bottle to his chest from Hinata and a stern Order to drink lots of water since he was clearly still severely dehydrated from the heat.
Tobi began chugging, much to Hinata's mild frustration at just how little Kags knew about keeping himself properly cared for during such intense weathers.
"You do realise you have to drink it relatively slowly, NOT chug it, right dear?" Sho whined, facepalming hard enough for the sound to echo around the lockerroom, causing Tobi to jump a little before grinning at how adorable he found Hinata even when severely annoyed.
"Anyways I'm feeling much better Sho, do we have to go to the clinic? I hate it there and you know it. Pharmacies and walk-in clinics always require the paperwork I don't have so why do I have to go through it?" Kags pouted, fed up with the general lack of professionalism that occurred any time he'd go anywhere serious, such as insurance companies, dentists and even some chain coffee shops, even if it wasn't always intentional, consciously or subconsciously.
"You're going to the clinic wether you like it or not. You were showing signs of a rather serious condition if left untreated and allowed to worsen. I will not stand by and let that happen to you. Ever. Understand, love?" Sho said before packing everything up, picking up all the bags and then holding out his hand for his husband to take as the married couple left the back door, wandering out into the back-streets of Paris and quickly going over to the nearest small walk-in clinic to ask about getting a minor checkup to see if either of them were ill in any capacity.
The doors opened to a quaint waiting room, some swan themed decor adorning the walls, and seven singular chairs already sporting soon to be patients. The front desk was cluttered and rather hectic since there were still three or four people in the line to get seen to, not including Sho and Tobi, though the people already there did step aside and urge the two to be seen first due to their celebrity reputation and guest status from being on one of the many Japanese Olympic teams competing in the current Olympics. Of course Kageyama was about to politely decline, as he wasn't really wanting to deal with the whole checkup ordeal at all, but Hinata beat him to the decision and quickly thanked the others waiting in the line for their generosity and ensured that Tobio was check in at the desk immediately, followed by himself. They did book a joint checkup, however it was rather easy to bluff their way through the reasoning as to their request, simply requiring a mere statement of how they were on the same team and also they were already skipping the line so it made sense to be seen to together to save time, and also have the other patients seen to faster than if the slots were booked for separate times.
Unsure of wether the public believed the lies, Sho shrugged it off and lead Tobio to the designated room, since even those sat waiting said that the duo could have their slot before them, which made Tobio extremely shy and awkward, nearly reverting back to his newly first-year self, as he was once more unable to think of any phrasing or remarks to spout out at the kind strangers, on top of him not even wanting to be there, and only suffering through the experience for his husband's sake and peace of mind. The doors opened one after another as they finally reached the GPs office, Kageyama sitting down first so that Hinata had to be checked up on first, which although a little annoying to Shoyo, was still adorable as Tobio was still able to show that he was feeling vulnerable even in public, albeit in an enclosed and private space.
"So, what brings you two into my office today, especially considering that your Olympic match is still going on this very moment?" The doctor asked gently, pulling up a checklist and notational document on her computer monitor's screen while Hinata went ahead and cleared his throat, about to explain.
Kageyama spoke up.
"I was feeling...under the weather and my teammate, having gone through this before, made me sit the rest of the game out, and instead of remaining on the premises, he decided we come here to make sure it's nothing serious..." he said relatively hurriedly, trying to get all the information out and onto the table before his nerves kicked back in, all while Hinata watched with a warm and loving smile at his husband's persistence in doing things himself.
"It's because if I hadn't stopped playing that match all those years ago, I probably wouldn't be able to play anymore... so I didn't want Kageyama here to surge through that, since both our livelihoods revolve around our shared passion for volleyball...and if that were to be stripped away, then life wouldn't really be that interesting, would it?" Sho continued, glancing at his husband to let him know that he didn't have to push himself if he was feeling socially uncomfortable in the present moment in this locked room.
"I see, I see. Well how about we start with a simple blood pressure test first, before we go over what symptoms you seem to be experiencing currently hmm?" The doctor proceeded to suggest, earning a satisfied nod from Shoyo and a slightly nervous agreeing smile from Tobio, as she fastened the pump band around Hinata's arm, turning the machine on as soon as the band was firmly secured to his arm. "You might feel a little pain but it is just the pump measuring the blood pressure as it travels through your veins okay?" She said softly as the pump started tightening slowly around the upper arm where it was attached to Sho.
This procedure, alongside the other few tests and surveys, only took an hour for both lovers, the results affirming that overall, there was no serious danger or illness on either of their part, though Kageyama did show some signs of minor heatstroke and should absolutely rest, preferably in a cooler, quiet location as to allow for maximum recovery during his resting periods. While he wasn't too fond of not being able to do anything at all, but more importantly not being able to play volleyball, Hinata was ecstatic that there wasn't any real danger facing either of them and that his call was the right one to make sure that Kags didn't end up pushing himself far too much to the point of irreversible damage.
"Thank you for seeing us today, Doc" Hinata smiled as he got up and began walking his husband to the exit, immediately calling a cab for the two to make their way back to the hotel as soon as possible, in order to give Tobi the longest time to recuperate before returning to their home in Tokyo.
In the back seat of the cab, Kageyama had began to feel a tad bit light headed, as well as drowsy, culminating in him dozing off on Sho's lap, peacefully sleeping off the fever as his husband stroked his hair gently, comforting Kags to a deeper, proper sleep as opposed to the generally lighter and less refreshing naps he used to take whenever in the Karasuno bus back in his and Hinata's heyday. The countryside was actually pretty serene around the outskirts of Paris, and much more so the closer they got to the hotel on the furthest edge of the Parisian banlieue, arriving, eventually, at the entrance to the hotel booked for them, although Kageyama's sleep was still rather deep and very much a bad idea to disrupt at this point, so Hinata decided to just buckle up and carry Kags bridal style up to their suite, asking the cab driver to drop the bags off at the front desk and requesting that room service bring them up to the married couple. If needed, Sho was also very willing to pay the driver upwards of 50% as a tip ontop of the 10% expected of him while in France.
The hotel staff looked on in mild surprise and confusion, but mostly with glints of gossiping and fangirling over the married couple, immediately clocking the matching wedding bands on both Hinata and Kageyama's ring finger. Hinata knew damn well he'd get an excruciatingly painfully long lecture from Iwaizumi upon the beginning of media circulations concerning the exposing of 'famed volleyball superstars Hinata Shoyo and Kageyama Tobio' during an impromptu departure from the Olympic stadium after what seemed like a brief conversation over Kageyama's health. He absolutely didn't care however, since his only focus in the moment was getting the sleeping love of his life to bed properly and comfortably without waking him from this much needed slumber.
Now in their room, kageyama may still, snoring softly on the bed as Hinata got into his PJs and slid into bed bedside his husband and clung to him affectionately, nuzzling his chest softly as he too began to drift off to sleep.
"Goddnight, my love" Sho said under his breath as he drifted fully into sleep, snoring faintly as Kags' chest rose and fell, heart beating steadily, providing safety and comfort to Hinata as the afternoon dragged on to evening and evening dragged on further until morning came.
The sun soon began to stream through the mesh curtains, dousing the married couple in some rather intense light, much to Hinata's annoyance. The light would definitely be waking Tobio soon, even though he needs to sleep as much as possible to fully recover, causing Sho to get up and draw the opaque fabric curtains shut, allowing Kags to sleep better.
As soon as Hinata looked back at the love of his live laying there, fast asleep, he grabbed a hot plate and two small pans to heat through some cream of mushroom soup and chicken soup, wanting Kageyama to have a choice of food but only choices that would help him recover, so that no matter what the outcome of said choice, it would be positive for them both.
Turning the hot plate on, and pouring the soup cans into separate pans, Hinata began scrolling through his phone to see the aftermath of his more reckless abandonment of saving face for the sake of the camera, only to be bimbarded by texts from Iwaizumi instead as he had specifically advised against it, though his was the only... less positive reaction to the paparazzi as several people came forward stating how the married couple had been in the doctors office and Kageyaam wasn't looking too well, so Sho would've just been helping him home. Thankfully, this was the story that the actual fans seemed to accept as they had already seen both Hinata and Kageyama act like that, with the roles being reversed back when it was Shoyo with the fever.
A second phone call came through and Hinata left the room to take said call on the balcony overlooking the Parisian streets across the river below him.
"Hello? Is this a bad time Shoyo?"
Hinata grinned softly as he heard the familiar voice he'd grown used to barraging him constantly over Tobio's health during any competition.
"Hello, Miwa~nii. It's alright, though I do need to keep an eye on the soup being prepped for Tobio's breakfast. He's very much out of it right now and needs a lot of rest so I've made sure he's still sleeping, and he'll have a choice of soup to better his recuperation period. How have you been recently while we've been abroad?" He chuckled, enjoying talking to his sister in law after all this time away from home. "Oh and how's Natsu? she hasn't been a pain in the ass to take to school has she?"
Miwa's laughter could be heard from the speaker, mixed with what seemed to be a much younger girl's cackling. Definitely Natsu.
"Yeah we've been fine. Her school actually let her take the week off to watch your games. Cool isn't it? Anyways I'm glad to hear you're taking care of my Tobio while he's sick, though did you really throw all caution to the wind when bringing him to your room? Even the paparazzi saw you. I bet Iwaizumi wasn't too pleased." Miwa yapped as she continued to go on about how Natsu had still been doing her school projects from home even while on an early holiday. "Natsu has managed to not only complete all her homework and assignments, but also do some extra detailed hypotheses for both her physics and biology classes. Takeda was really impressed with her report card this month as she'd also made it to the top of the volleyball team in terms of academic scores, even surpassing Sugawara and Daichi. On top of this, Natsu's even started creating more tutoring materials for the kids she volunteers to teach on weekends! I am so proud of her, and I should hope you are too." She continued, her voice practically shining a smile through the phone.
"That sounds wonderful, Miwa. Tell her I'm extremely proud of my little girl and that I'll be sure to buy some souvenirs just for her as a reward for being so well behaved around you even when I'm gone." Hinata said, grinning ear to ear as he heard a groan from Natsu, who was now lazing about on the couch with her head in the cushions, trying to hide from the embarrassment of her 'big sis' openly praising her to her brother and him even agreeing and praising her more.
"She says she's not a little kid and doesn't need rewards. Oh and that she's grown up and not your little girl anymore." Miwa chuckled, rolling her eyes as Natsu gave her a death stare that would have even Iwaizumi terrified for his life. "She clearly doesn't mean it so get her some pins or something for her school bags. Natsu has ordered a few sets of flag ones but has yet to get any European ones, so those should be a good pick for gifts, right?" She continued, before Tobio began to stir in his sleep.
"I will make sure to do that nii~san, but Tobio is waking up now so I need to go and make sure he's okay. We will FaceTime you tomorrow alright? Then we will be on the plane home the day after since he's been feeling very sickly and I wouldn't want anyone on the team to get sick from us." Hinata sighed, before finally hanging up on his sister in law and actual sister in order to ensure that his husband was feeling better and that the soup was properly sealed in a thermos each.
Kageyama yawned as he stretched his arms, looking around with blurred vision before laying back down and whining for his sunshine to pay attention to him. Tobio was typically very clingy with Shoyo in the mornings, even more so when either was sick as Hinata never spent too much time with him when the Sho was sick, even though Tobi didn't care if he came down with the same illness as long as he was able to spend time with the love of his life.
"Shoyo??? You here?"
Hinata quickly turned to the hot plate and turned it off before sitting beside Kags on the bed, leaning down and planting a gentle kiss on his husband's forehead.
"Yes, love. I'm still here. I was just on the phone with Miwa and Natsu, but since you were sleeping I said we'd call together later, so you could sleep as much as you needed without being made to feel pressured into forcing yourself to keep going with your body needing more rest for such a fever." Shoyo said quietly, laying his husbands head on his lap and playing with Tobio's hair affectionately, making sure to give him the attention he was craving, since not doing so would not only be unnecessarily rude to him, but also potentially give him more stress which would very much hinder any chance at progressing with the recovery. "I won't ever leave you, got it? Now how about some soup yeah? I'm sure you're hungry after that long sleep." He spoke softly, almost carrying the words in a whisper smiling warmly as his husband raised his head a little, nodding at the suggestions, albeit rather sleepily still, indicating that Hinata may need to aid in the eating and drinking for Tobio for the next few hours or so, since food was a must there and relatively close to then.
"Yeah.. chicken?" Tobio said a little wearily, leaning up against his elbows as he noticed the thermoses full of soup. "Is one of them chicken?"
Sho nodded happily, speeding over to the soups and handing the chicken one to his husband while nabbing the cream of mushroom one for himself to have then alongside Tobi, as to make it feel less like a remedy for Kags' illness and more like a quick and easy breakfast for two, still relatively exhausted and sleepy, husbands and soulmates.
"Alright, here you go. Do you need any help drinking it, since you seem so sleepy still? I don't mind at all, especially since my soups also in a thermos and therefore will still be piping hot when you've gotten the nutrients you need for now. I can also help you to the balcony later to get you some extra dosage of fresh....well fresh-ish air." Hinata chuckled, awaiting Kageyama's answer, which ended up being a single nod and a glance to the thermos as if to say 'would you? I think I'd like that, love' even though he was a little tired to engage in such long sentences, for now at least, since his fever was still present despite its weakening grasp on Tobi's health.
It took about half an hour for Tobio to finally finish his soup, and for Hinata to down his own at a record pace, as to guarantee the most time focused on his husband's recuperation as opposed to his own, as Hinata's run in with the overwhelming climate and weather was nowhere near as bad as Tobio's deal with the sun. Kageyama was now fully dressed in some light and airy clothes to try combat the still lingering heat from the days prior, while Hinata was busy preparing some thicker sheets as it could end up being that Kageyama's temperature issues take a 180° and suddenly become freezing cold.
A minute or so passed and now the married couple were holding hands as they looked over the city streets, bustling with hundreds of people here to watch the Olympic Games in person, both tourists and locals alike. The world seemed so peaceful in spite of the chaos down below. Time seems to freeze and the lovers felt like they could stay in the moment for the rest of their lives, maybe even longer if they could.
"You know, I wasn't sure we'd ever make it a month, even a year back in our first year of high school... yet you still believed in us. I'm unsure of the exact reasoning, but whatever it was... I'm glad you stuck around, Tobio. You're the absolute best thing that's ever happened to me in all the years I've been here. If it wasn't for you being by my side from that first moment during the tryouts for Karasuno, I'd have never made it to being an international professional. I'm sure you would've though. You've always been naturally gifted in many things." Shoyo smiled softly as he gazed at a cloud in the distance that seemed to remind him of their shared home back in Japan, where their pet ferret the two named Nimbo, after his stormy grey, and devoid of contrast, coat was waiting for their return and months of fuss and praise to make up for the one spent aboard in Paris.
"Dumbass. You adorable dumbass, you know damn well that with literally any setter we've met, you'd easily make it here in a heartbeat. But yeah... I suppose if I had ent fallen so hard that day when we first played against each other, I would've never gotten to marry the best guy I know. Now stop putting yourself down and tell me. How are my sister and your demon doing?" Tobio grinned, glad to know that Hinata had moved on already from the crushing defeat of the day before, and was now getting all sentimental over their shared lives up until this point.
"Hm? Oh Miwa's fine, taking care of Natsu and Nimbo ya know. Also Natsu is doing so well in school I'm really proud of her. She's even smarter than ol' daichi and Suga were, if you can believe that." Hinata chuckled, eliciting a playful pinch to the side from Kags.
"She takes after her big brother after all. Sure you don't seem too academically bright, but your social and emotional skills are second to none and that's so great. I'm just glad she's all well rounded in her mental development and not stunted in either field, since we know how I turned out in middle school and you ended up in classes at Karasuno." Kags smirked, doing his best to embarrass Hinata after all the things he probably told Miwa while Tobio was fast asleep and dreaming about volleyball. "Anyways. The sky looks beautiful now. Almost as beautiful as you. Did Iwaizumi get mad at us for being out in public yesterday being nearly loving?"
"Hmm. It was more so me carrying you from the cab to the bed since you needed so much rest that he wasn't too fond of, since the paparazzi ran wild with the story. Some fans we saw over at the clinic managed to cover for us since they were believing our story there so much, so overall it seems to have died down. But who knows. Maybe soon we could make it public...once the others decide it wouldn't be damaging to our image that is, since we're still technically growing in popularity." Hinata began rambling once more, before Tobi rolled his eyes affectionately and shut him up with a kiss.
"Just shut up and enjoy this moment with me. It'll probably be the last peaceful moment we'll get to ourselves until we return to Japan." Kags said softy, nuzzling Sho's neck lovingly as the two stayed on the balcony, watching the world pass by, just enjoying the presence of each other, as getting to excited or going out too far may make the fever worse.
For now, at least, the symptoms had nearly vanished and the mere company of his husband seemed to have cured Kageyama of all his ails and woes. And that's how they intended it to be for the rest of the day, or until Tobio was fully recovered. Whichever came last.