Chapter Text
It was a normal practice for Karasuno High. Nationals were only a couple of months away, and they needed to be on their game.
"Alright," Coach Ukai started. "Since you all haven't fully mastered your serves, we'll be working on that first. Do your stretches, then meet back here."
Everyone started doing their own thing when Sugawara noticed something. He was observant, and Kageyama hated that fact.
"Hey," he said to Daichi. "Did you notice how Kageyama and Hinata didn't walk in together? They haven't even talked, and they're not stretching together either."
Daichi looked over, and sure enough, they weren't close at all.
He frowned. "Yeah, something seems off with them."
Practice continued, and Daichi and Sugawara made it their mission to figure out what was wrong.
During serving practice, the two didn't even bat an eye at each other. Eventually, Coach Ukai caught on.
"Hey, why don't you two go practice your offensive attacks upstairs in the girls' volleyball gym?"
They seemed tense and skeptical about it, but they went anyway. Kageyama took the key and headed upstairs. Hinata followed shortly after, shooting a significant glance over at Daichi.
Practice went smoothly downstairs, but upstairs was a different story. They were barely talking, and Hinata kept missing the sloppy sets Kageyama was throwing his way.
Hinata let out a frustrated sigh.
"Can't you toss anything better?"
All Kageyama did was stare at him.
"Maybe if you told me where you were, it would be easier," Kageyama said.
"What?" Hinata snapped, turning around sharply.
"Yeah. If I knew the spiker was just going to get blocked, I wouldn't set to them."
"Well, it's the spiker's decision what they want to do, Kageyama," Hinata shot back.
Deep down, they both knew this wasn't really about volleyball.
"Yeah? Well, why would I set to someone who's getting blocked?" Kageyama replied in a snarky tone.
"BECAUSE ONCE YOU MAKE THE DECISION, IT'S THEIR BALL NOW!" Hinata shouted as he stormed up to Kageyama.
"WHY TRUST SOMEONE IF THEY WON'T CARE, SHOYO?"
Eventually, the team downstairs heard the commotion.
"Hey, Yachi, can you go check on that noise?" Daichi asked.
"Yeah, of course!" Yachi replied as she headed upstairs.
She couldn't see the boys at first, but the moment she walked into the gym, her expression changed from confusion to pure terror.
The two were latched onto each other in a fight. Hinata was on top, shoving his hands into Kageyama's face, while Kageyama punched Hinata in the stomach, trying to get him off.
Eventually, he managed to throw Hinata off with a grunt. Hinata landed hard on his back.
"BOYS, STOP! NOT AGAIN!" Yachi exclaimed before racing downstairs to get Daichi.
The two hurried back upstairs, but it was already too late.
Hinata charged at Kageyama and landed an uppercut squarely on his nose. Using his speed and agility, he managed to land two more punches—one to his lip and another to his ear—before Tobio finally took control.
Kageyama grabbed Hinata by the shirt and forcefully threw him into the wall. Hinata hit it with a loud thud and a groan before slumping motionless against it.
Everything went silent.
Yachi was in tears at this point, but Daichi, being the captain, stayed calm and composed.
"Yachi, I need you to go downstairs and get Coach Ukai. And Suga too. After you get them, don't say anything to the others and stay downstairs, okay?"
Yachi nodded and hurried away.
Daichi slowly approached Hinata.
"Kageyama, mind sitting against that wall over there?"
Kageyama nodded. Daichi could see tears beginning to form in his eyes. His nose was bleeding heavily, and his lip and ear weren't looking much better.
Daichi crouched beside Hinata's body and checked for a pulse. Relief washed over him when he felt a heartbeat.
Footsteps thundered up the stairs as Daichi stood.
"Bloody he— what the f— what kind of gang are you guys running up here? Holy cra—"
Coach Ukai started several sentences but couldn't seem to finish a single one.
"Hey! Are you okay, Daichi?" Sugawara asked as he rushed over and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Flustered, Daichi said, "Thankfully yes, I wasn't in this fight but the other two are different stories."
Sugawara's eyes immediately darted toward Hinata.
The orange-haired boy hadn't moved, not even a little. His face paled.
Daichi felt Sugawara's hand tighten on his shoulder for a split second before he quickly pulled it away. If anyone else noticed, they didn't say anything.
Coach Ukai stepped forward, looking between the two first years.
"What the hell happened?"
Nobody answered.
The coach crouched beside Hinata and gently shook his shoulder.
"Hinata."
Nothing.
"Hinata."
Still nothing. A knot formed in Daichi's stomach.
Across the room, Kageyama sat exactly where Daichi had told him to. Blood continued dripping from his nose onto the floor. His lip was split badly and dried blood stained the side of his neck from where his ear had been bleeding.
Nobody seemed to notice.
Not even him.
His eyes never left Hinata.
"How long has he been out?" Ukai asked.
"Maybe five minutes," Daichi answered.
Ukai cursed under his breath.
Downstairs, the sounds of practice continued.
Volleyballs hitting the floor.
Shoes squeaking.
Normal.
Meanwhile upstairs it felt like the world had stopped.
Sugawara slowly knelt beside Hinata.
"Come on, buddy," he whispered.
No response.
Kageyama swallowed hard.
His chest hurt, his head hurt, Everything hurt. He remembered Hinata running toward him.
Remembered grabbing his shirt.
Remembered throwing him.
The sound of Hinata hitting the wall replayed over and over inside his head.
"I didn't..."
His voice cracked.
Nobody heard him.
Or maybe they pretended not to.
Coach Ukai stood abruptly.
"Suga."
Sugawara looked up.
"Go downstairs and tell everyone practice is ending early."
"What?"
"Just do it."
The third year hesitated.
His eyes flickered toward Daichi.
Just for a second.
Daichi gave him the smallest nod.
Go.
Sugawara stood.
"Okay."
As he passed Daichi, their hands brushed.
Neither reacted.
Neither looked at each other.
But Daichi's shoulders seemed to relax slightly afterward.
Sugawara started heading downstairs.
Meanwhile upstairs, Coach Ukai pulled his phone from his pocket.
Daichi looked at him.
"Coach?"
Ukai stared at Hinata's unmoving form.
Then at Kageyama.
Then back at Hinata.
"I'm calling an ambulance."
The room fell silent.
Kageyama's head snapped up.
For the first time since the fight, genuine fear crossed his face.
An ambulance?
For Hinata?
No.
No, no, no please.
It wasn't supposed to be this bad.
His stomach twisted violently.
A drop of blood fell from his nose onto the floor.
Nobody noticed. Not even him
The second Sugawara reached the bottom of the stairs, he plastered his usual smile back onto his face.
"Alright everyone, practice is ending early today."
Nobody moved.
Tanaka blinked.
"...What?"
"You heard me."
"But why?"
Sugawara laughed.
"Coach's orders."
The laugh sounded wrong.
Even he knew it.
Nishinoya immediately narrowed his eyes.
"What happened upstairs?"
"Nothing."
"Liar."
"I am not lying."
Yachi made a choking noise from across the gym.
Everyone turned toward her.
"Yachi."
"I'm fine!"
Nobody believed her.
Sugawara clapped his hands together.
"Come on! Let's start cleaning up."
Still nobody moved.
Asahi looked toward the staircase.
"Is Hinata okay?"
The question hit harder than Sugawara expected.
His smile nearly slipped.
Nearly.
"He's fine."
Another lie.
Not because Hinata was dying.
But because nobody knew if he was fine atleast not yet.
Upstairs, Kageyama couldn't hear what was happening downstairs.
All he could hear was his own heartbeat. Too fast. Way too fast.
Coach Ukai was speaking into his phone. Daichi was standing over Hinata.
Nobody was looking at him.
Nobody noticed the blood on his jersey.
Nobody noticed his hands shaking.
Nobody noticed he couldn't seem to get enough air into his lungs.
Kageyama stared at Hinata.
Wake up. Please. Wake up.
The thought repeated over and over.
His chest tightened.
He tried taking a breath.
It didn't work. Another.
Nothing.
His fingers dug into his sleeves.
The room suddenly felt too small, too loud yet Too quiet.
His vision blurred.
No. No. No. No.
He hadn't meant to throw him that hard, He hadn't meant to hurt him.
He hadn't meant—
"Hinata."
The whisper left his mouth without permission.
No response.
The silence crushed him.
Downstairs, Sugawara was losing control of the situation.
"Okay," Ennoshita said slowly. "If everything's fine, then why are Daichi and Coach still upstairs?"
Sugawara opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Because he didn't have an answer. Or at least not one he could tell them.
Across the gym, Yachi was seconds away from crying again.
Tanaka immediately noticed.
"Oh my god."
Nishinoya looked upstairs.
"No."
Asahi looked upstairs too.
"No way."
Nobody said it.
Nobody wanted to say it.
But they were all thinking the same thing.
Something was seriously wrong.
Eventually, Sugawara couldn't take it anymore.
The team wasn't leaving.
No matter how many times he insisted everything was under control. Nobody believed him.
"Just stay down here," he finally sighed.
Before anyone could protest, he turned and headed back upstairs.
The gym somehow felt even quieter when he returned.
Coach Ukai was still on the phone. Daichi was still beside Hinata.
And Kageyama...
Sugawara stopped.
The first-year was still sitting against the wall exactly where Daichi had told him to sit.
Blood stained the front of his jersey.
His nose was bleeding again.
A streak of dried blood ran down from his ear. His lip looked swollen.
Sugawara glanced at Daichi. He hadn't noticed.
Quietly, Sugawara walked across the gym. Kageyama didn't react.
Not until Sugawara crouched in front of him.
"Kageyama."
Nothing.
Sugawara frowned.
"Kageyama."
Slowly, Kageyama blinked.
His eyes finally focused.
For a second, Sugawara's heart dropped.
Kageyama didn’t look angry, upset or even annoyed. For once in this vulnerable moment, Kageyama looked terrified.
"Hey," Sugawara said softly.
Kageyama swallowed.
"You're bleeding."
Kageyama didn’t know how to respond, he didn’t even know if he should. His mind was full of other things he forgot how too.
"Can I see your nose?"
His breathing looked wrong. Short. Quick. Uneven.
Sugawara reached forward carefully and wiped some blood away with the sleeve of his jacket.
Kageyama flinched, like he'd forgotten other people existed.
"Kageyama."
His eyes were glued to Hinata.
And sugawara finally understood, he understood the shaking hands, the distant stare and how he was an empty clone.
Kageyama wasn't ignoring his injuries. He genuinely didn't care about them. Because as far as he was concerned, there was only one thing in the room that mattered.
Hinata.
"Hey kageyama," Sugawara said again, gentler this time.
Kageyama felt his throat burn as his vision was blurry, his jaw trembled it was barely noticeable but, sugawara still saw it.
And for the first time since he'd come upstairs...Kageyama finally said something.
"...Is he going to wake up?"
The question came out so quietly Sugawara almost missed it.
And suddenly the panic wasn't invisible anymore. Even kageyama himself can feel it. For once he wasn’t embarrassed because that was his friend. This was his fault, he caused this.
Sugawara's heart ached.
"...Is he going to wake up?"
For a moment suga didn't know what to say because the truth was he didn't know.
But judging by the way Kageyama's breathing was speeding up, that wasn't the answer he needed right now.
"Hey."
Sugawara shifted so he was sitting against the wall beside him.
"Kageyama."
Kageyama didn't look away from Hinata.
Sugawara followed his line of sight.
"Hinata's stubborn."
"He jumped headfirst into a wall trying to save a ball."
A tiny flicker crossed Kageyama's face. Not pain note relief just hope
"There he is."
The first-year immediately looked away.
Sugawara sighed.
"You know what I think?"
Kageyama didn’t know what to say not at all not like he wanted to say anything, he would only
Make stuff worse.
"I think he's going to be really annoyed when he wakes up and realizes practice got cancelled."
A shaky breath escaped Kageyama. Not quite a laugh.
But close. Sugawara took the small victory.
Then he noticed something.
"Kageyama."
No response.
"You're shaking."
Immediately Kageyama crossed his arms tighter.
"I'm not." He said defensively
"You are."
"I'm fine."
Sugawara gave him a look.
A look everyone knew. The one that meant:
Don't lie to me.
Kageyama's shoulders finally sagged. Just a little.
"...I threw him."
The words barely came out. Kageyama couldn’t even fully process what he said.
Sugawara's chest tightened.
"I know."
"I threw him."
This time it sounded less like a statement. More like a confession.
Across the room, Daichi glanced over. His eyes met Sugawara's.
Just for a second. And immediately Daichi understood.
Kageyama wasn't okay. Not even close.
"Tobio," Sugawara said softly.
The first-year's breathing hitched again.
"I didn't mean to."
And there it was. The thing he'd been holding in ever since Hinata hit the wall.
Not anger, frustration nor acceptance
Fear
Pure fear.
Kageyama could feel sugawara staring at him then he got up ran downstairs and came back with a towel. He pressed it against kageyama hand and said
“Let’s clean up okay? Hinata would want a messy court” suga said as he nudged the first year.
For the first time since the fight started... Kageyama nodded.
"Yeah," he said softly.
Kageyama immediately looked up. The desperation in his eyes almost hurt to look at.
“ Hey, Hinatas going to be okay.” "Really?"
Kageyama said, even doubting that he needed to hear a response to change his answer.
"I think so."
Think. Not know. Think. But it seemed to be enough.
Across the room, Daichi let out a quiet sigh of relief. Kageyama's breathing had finally slowed down. Not much. But enough.
Then Sugawara noticed it.
Again. A fresh line of blood trailing from Kageyama's ear.
His expression immediately changed.
"Kageyama."
No response
"Tobio."
Kageyama blinked. Not really knowing if someone said something or not.
"What?"
Sugawara pointed toward his ear.
Immediately Kageyama reached up. His fingertips came away red.
For a moment he just stared at them. Like he genuinely hadn't realized he was bleeding.
Daichi noticed.
Then Coach Ukai.
The room suddenly felt tense all over again.
"Coach..." Sugawara started.
"I see it."
Kageyama looked annoyed.
"It's nothing."
"Tobio."
"It's nothing."
His voice sounded weaker this time.
Coach Ukai pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Great."
"What?"
"Now I have two idiots to worry about."