Chapter Text
"Got it?"
"Yep."
The key turned with a bit of effort, the lock giving muffled groan in protest, a byproduct from its years of use. The cold wasn't friendly to the rusting metal, but luckily Sugawara was able to retrieve the key in one piece and push open the gym doors. The warm air that met him and brushed his cheeks made him eager to get inside, Daichi matched his steps and went to flick on the lights.
Sugawara and Daichi performed their usual practice day routine: meet up after class, walk down to the gym together, get ready before the others came and wait for them to get ready. It was easier that way since if all of them squished into the changing room at once it could get crowded. They would get their head start on getting the gym ready in this time while the others got changed, they would get their help as they came out.
Even after a rocky start, the school year was going great. The snow had yet to leave, but the big gym left them with plenty of room and time to practice. Outside of practice had been going well for Sugawara, too. His grades were steady and his workload was manageable, he could hardly complain.
Sugawara knocked the snow off the bottoms of his sneakers at the door, Daichi doing the same before the two of them wandered off towards the changing rooms with echoing footsteps, the door squealing shut behind them. Their wet sneaker steps squeaked on the clean floor, Daichi spoke up over them.
"Coach Ukai should be around this Thursday."
"Oh?"
"He says he wants to do some reassessing and other stuff before our next match."
"Sounds interesting," Sugawara pulled the wool hat off his head and stuffed it into his coat pocket, leading way into the changing room. It was warmer since it was closer to the school and kept isolated from the gym. They set down their bags on the nearby benches and started to strip from their coats.
"What I think will be interesting is when he tells them that we're going to be trying a different set up."
"A different set up? Like what?"
"He wants to get Kageyama and Hinata used to working apart, as well as us working with them."
"Good luck with that," Sugawara chuckled, pulling the zipper of his gym bag and fetching his uniform "It would be a good skill, but if we're putting Tsukishima and Kageyama together, we'll need a...uh..." Sugawara stopped a moment, tapping his chin as he held his uniforms shirt in his free hand. Daichi looked up at him curiously.
"...Good luck?"
"Yeah! That! Kinda?" Sugawara snapped his fingers and smiled, Daichi dimpled back with a light laugh. Sugawara found his shorts and gave them a quick whip to unfold them. "And high spirits!"
"Yup, you said it," Daichi grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it up over his head. Sugawara stopped a moment to stare, blinking curiously.
"Don't you usually go in the stall?"
"The stalls are too cold, especially when you bump them," He grunted, tossing the shirt on to his bag while he picked up the other. For a seventeen year old, he was pretty toned. Sugawara guessed it was from his passion of playing volleyball, so it did require you to be in pretty good shape. Sugawara's eyes flicked back up to Daichi's face, meeting his gaze with a smile.
"Oh, yeah yeah! I get it. We should hurry anyways," Sugawara encouraged. Daichi smirked back and the two changed without much further word, Sugawara avoided watching him to not be awkward.
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"Get out here, you little turd!"
"Hey! No jabs at my height!" Noya stuck his tongue out, his hands rested on Asahi's back while Tanaka crouched at his other side, ready to spring. Asahi could only stand in the middle, on edge while Tanaka and Noya ran circles around him. They were horsing around again, Asahi was stuck in between them after they had gotten changed and came out booming with energy for practice. Goofing off while waiting for the others was a usual occurrence, sadly. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were stationed near the back wall, muttering amongst themselves while tiredly scrutinizing their other teammates from afar.
Sugawara stood next to the changing room door, peeking in with his hands folded in front of him. Daichi's head poked out, making him jump.
"They're not in there."
"They're not?"
Daichi shook his head again as he stepped out. "It's empty."
"Maybe they're sick...?"
“I’m not sure if I saw them go in,” Daichi scratched the back of his neck, taking another look back skeptically.
"Hey, uh, are we starting soon?" Asahi spoke up, grabbing their attention. Noya and Tanaka were too preoccupied to look into what was taking so long, but Daichi and Sugawara started towards them.
"Have any of you seen Hinata and Kageyama?"
"Huh? Yeah, just this morning," Noya finally looked their way, Tanaka immediately took advantage of this and flicked him in the temple. The teen hissed and swatted a hand at the other, Tanaka bellowing a laugh while Noya fought to compose himself.
"They're not here?" Asahi picked the conversation back up while he managed to stumble away from the situation.
"No, we haven't seen them show up."
"It's unlike the two of them to skip practice without a good reason," Daichi pointed out and Noya stepped away from Asahi, ushering Tanaka to buzz off while Yamaguchi and Tsukishima finally approached.
"I didn't see them at lunch though, maybe they left?"
"I saw them," Tsukishima butted in, the rest turned to look and he stopped a few feet away with Yamaguchi, "They both said they were sick and left."
"Sick?" Tanaka gave a skeptical look.
"I hope they're alright," Sugawara put the knuckle of his index finger to his lip. "It's not very like them to be sick, either."
“Maybe they got lost again.”
“Or they got in trouble for fighting. Again,” Tanaka added on to Noya’s speculations with a shrug. “Really puts a damper on practice, though!”
“Come on now, a teams not a team when we’re not all here, but we can still prepare for when they get back,” Sugawara stepped in again, waving a hand. “I’m sure they had a good reason for not being here, we’ll ask them tomorrow.”
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"Alright, go get changed!" Daichi's voice rang over the noise, their volleyball bouncing to the floor while a collective yes answered him. The gym had heated up significantly since they had started practice. Even without Hinata and Kageyama around to help get everyone fired up, or even just each other, this practice had been a successful one.
Their teammates pulled themselves off towards the changing room, Noya still bounced around energetically while Tanaka dragged his feet behind him. Sugawara made his way towards Daichi with a few quick steps and gave him a tap on the shoulder.
"Hey!"
"Hiya."
"What are you doing after this?"
"Uh," Daichi shrugged with a little grin. "Don't we always walk home?"
"I was thinking of going to get coffee, if you wanted to come," Sugawara offered with a smile. It was cold and getting a bit late, but he wasn't ready to go home just yet. The coffee shop wasn't far from either of their houses too, it was their usual spot if they chose to hang out.
"Sure, sounds fun," Daichi nodded after a moment's thought while Sugawara kept pace at his side, feeling the excitement bloom in his chest.
"Great! We'll just get changed and..." Sugawara cut himself off when movement at the edge of his vision caught his attention, he stopped walking and looked back. Daichi stopped as well, following his gaze to the open gymnasium door where Takeda stood. The teacher was bundled up in a sweater and looking about the gym, leaning in through the doorway. As soon as he caught Sugawara and Daichi's eyes, he stepped in.
"Hey there! Could I get a word with the two of you for a minute?"
"Takeda?" The two came strolling over, the door swung shut behind the teacher and he met them halfway. He looked chilled, even from just his short walk from the outside into the gym his nose and cheeks had reddened. "What brings you here?"
"I've been looking for Hinata and Kageyama, have any of you heard word from them?"
"We were wondering where they were too," Daichi gave a flick of his head towards the changing room. "They didn't show up to practice today, but Noya says he saw them this morning, and Tsukishima saw them at lunch."
"We haven't been able to find them all day," Takeda looked confused, Daichi and Sugawara stole a quick look to one another before looking back.
"What do you mean?"
"They were marked as absent for attendance in all of their classes today," Takeda explained, glancing to the clipboard in his red fingertips. "But you say Noya and Tsukishima saw them?"
"Yes," Sugawara nodded firmly. "Maybe they were missed?"
"We'll have to check again, but thank you. Do you think I can talk to the others when they come out?"
"Of course," Sugawara nodded, glancing towards the changing room. "They should be out any minute now-"
A hard bounce caught him off guard, he stumbled backwards.
Sugawara was unsure of where they got the volleyball, or how they had smuggled it into the changing room, but it came flying out pretty fast when it hit him right in the forehead. It then proceeded to ricochet off of Takeda's clipboard and then bounce off the top of Daichi's head, completing its course by rolling to the floor with a last few futile bounces. Sugawara's hands flew up to his face while he stumbled another step back, a chorus of confusing noises came from the changing room.
"Holy shit!"
"You hit all of them!"
"I was trying to hit you, dumbass-"
"Guys!" Hands took Sugawara's shoulders to keep him from tripping further, Daichi yelled over his shoulder. "What did I say about throwing stuff outside of practice?"
"Sorry!" Apologies were quickly tossed from the two boys- Noya and Tanaka, obviously- and Daichi turned back to him.
"I'm okay," Sugawara confirmed with a light chuckle, rubbing the bridge of his nose while he peeked his eyes open over his hands. "It wasn't too hard."
Takeda peeked over Daichi's shoulder who looked relieved. He helped him straighten back up while he looked to Takeda who was eyeing the changing room. An idea flashed in Sugawara's head, though he was hoping it wasn't from getting hit.
"Don't you guys call parents when you can't find someone?"
Takeda looked back his way, Sugawara could see guilt flicker in his eyes, exchanging for a bit more surprise in Sugawara.
"Uh, well, we did, but we couldn't find them either."
"They weren't at home or work?" Daichi took one hand away, but left the other behind on Sugawara's shoulder. It was warm, and just a bit distracting. Sugawara would've addressed it if it didn't look like Takeda was going to blow up.
"Well...um... we called, and nobody was on the other end. We sent someone, there was no one home."
"Nobody home...? At either houses?"
Takeda shook his head. Sugawara felt his stomach tighten. Nobody home?
"Maybe they went on a vacation or something," Daichi's reasoning came out in a faltering tone, he could tell he was as nervous and uncertain as himself. "Just keep looking, I'm sure they'll turn up."
"Yes, you're right," Takeda nodded, pushing at his glasses. "It’s nothing too bad to worry about now. Have a good afternoon, I'll be sure to keep you updated."
"Thanks."
“Oh- and one last thing!” Takeda caught them just as the two began to turn, they stopped to look back. “There’s going to be a blizzard Thursday afternoon, if it’s too difficult, your practice might be postponed to the day after.”
“We’ve been getting quite a lot of snow lately,” Daichi commented while Sugawara hummed in agreement. Though snow should be the least of their worries now, it would be best to not ignore it. Driving or walking home after practice in a blizzard was dangerous, postponing it would probably be best, even if it would just deepen their worries if they didn’t see Kageyama and Hinata soon.