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Daichi rubbed the side of his face. It still ached from running into Tanaka at full speed, direct impact, and part of his mouth still throbbed soreness. He compressed his hand into his face and tested the injury.
"Are you okay?" Nishinoya asked. He flapped his arms in a small leap to catch up to him in the hallway. "It looks kind of bad."
"Don't worry. The pain's mostly gone."
"Is it?" Nishinoya rose on his toes and poked him.
"Oww." Daichi held his face again, his eyes squinting with the pained flinch. "Was that really necessary, Noya?"
"It still hurts you. Liar." Nishinoya eyed him over.
"I can't do anything about the bruise. Touching it like that will make it hurt again, and the painkillers don't work miracles."
"You should have an ice pack. Why don't you have an ice pack?" Nishinoya turned. "I'm gonna go get Suga. He'll know what to do."
"Suga punched me."
"He'll know what to do," Nishinoya repeated. He disappeared down the hall around the corner, moving with swift purpose.
Daichi sighed. The end of the Datekou and Seijou match sent everyone in a burst of activity again, including Nishinoya and Hinata. They were roaming the halls, and Daichi didn't have the heart to stop them. He told Asahi to do it and left that to him.
Asahi wasn't doing a good job.
Daichi continued walking and passed a few volleyball players on his way to the bathroom. Most of them were from teams he barely knew, but he recognized a Shiratorizawa uniform wandering in the distance.
"Sawamura?" Ushijima asked.
Daichi startled away to the wall. He let out a breath and calmed himself with a hand on his head. "Ushijima, you scared me."
"I did? I apologize, I didn't mean to."
"No, it's alright. I saw, uh." Daichi pointed down one side of the hallway, and then switched to gesture to the other direction. "I saw someone else from your team around here."
"It might be one of our first years. Goshiki doesn't like sitting still for long."
"Sounds like one of ours," Daichi mumbled.
"Hinata. I've met him." Ushijima's head tilted, and his eyes fixed on Daichi's face. "When did you get hurt?"
Daichi pressed his hand over his bruise. "This? I ran into someone in a match against Wakutani."
Ushijima stepped a little closer. "Did you get it checked?"
"Are you kidding? Our coach wouldn't let me play until I rested."
"That was wise of him. You could develop a concussion from an injury to the head." Ushijima's eyes lingered on the side of his face, his gaze deepening alongside Daichi's growing awareness of it. Ushijima wasn't directly staring at his eyes, and the slight eye contact was off-center enough to give Daichi a feeling of lost gravity.
Daichi scratched the back of his head. "I didn't expect to hear that from you. That's...considerate."
"I'm being honest." Ushijima moved his hand and swept away stray strands of hair from Daichi's face. "This is a large bruise," he said, his voice lowering in disapproval. He frowned.
"I collided with someone's shoulder pretty hard."
"Did it hurt?" Ushijima asked, edging the question with a bit more softness.
"A lot," Daichi said with a grimace.
"Oh. I hope you feel better." Ushijima's hand hesitated closer to the injury. "May I?"
"Uh, sure," Daichi said, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think you'd jab me the way Noya did."
Ushijima swiped his thumb over the side of his face, grazing his cheek and stopping in the middle of the discoloration. "This is a severe bruise. It goes all the way to your forehead." His eyes refocused on him, taking him in completely. "Someone did what?"
"My libero. He just poked me. It doesn't mean anything." Daichi waved his hand.
"You shouldn't let him do that."
"I trust him."
"And you trust me too?" Ushijima's thumb slid down.
"You have good judgment and...calmness..." Daichi said, slowing and trailing off. He didn't notice the height difference between them before, the head tilt up had been automatic, but looking at him now, his throat dried and forced him quiet.
Ushijima's eyes flitted down his face, serious but serene, his eyebrows drawing together with concentrated attention mirroring the care in his fingers.
He relinquished his grip. "I don't know that much about the rest of your team, but I admire you greatly, Sawamura. I'm glad you recovered, and are moving on to another match."
Daichi replaced Ushijima's hand with his own to feel the bruise. "O-oh. Thanks."
"I've seen you in a multitude of matches over the years. You make an admirable captain figure, and your team seems to find you dependable. I think I regret not asking for your number in the past."
Daichi glanced at him and severed it to glance again. "Excuse me, what?"
"I used to keep in contact with volleyball players I thought would become captains one day, for leadership support."
"Oh, oh." Daichi laughed. "Well, if you still want my number, I'd be happy to give you my number after the next match. I can get my phone by then."
Ushijima's eyes studied Daichi for a moment, attached to his shaking shoulders and his openmouthed laugh-smile. He returned to his face. "Are you sure?"
"I'd love your number, Ushijima. And you can call me Daichi, you know." Daichi gave him a brief clap on the shoulder. "I've spent a lot of time away from my team, so this is it. I should probably go now."
Ushijima nodded. "I wish you luck against Seijou."
Daichi turned and continued on his way to the bathroom. He pulled the door open, and he choked on his breath and jolted at the sudden blur jumping in front of him.
"Captain!" Hinata settled on his feet and leaned to the side, eyeing him. "Huh? You look shaked."
Daichi exhaled a controlled breath in recovery and shook his head. "You mean shaken."
"No, something else. Shake? Shaky." Hinata extended his hand and made it wobble. "Like when you're really excited to do a spike so you're smiling, but you have to serve first."
"This has nothing to do with that."
"But you're smiling, too."
Daichi covered his mouth with his hand and drew it over his chin to disguise the movement.
"You know it too, right? The heart pounding thump-thump from something good-scary."
"This really isn't like that at all." Daichi stepped aside and nudged him out the door. "Go get ready for the next match."
"Fine." Hinata left and headed back to the gym.
Daichi stood still in the bathroom and thought for a long moment. He pressed his fingers into the corners of his mouth. His smile was making his mouth sore now, too.