13

"Takeda-sensei, please-"

The teacher raised his hand to stop him. "Hinata, you're good at convincing people and I know you really want to play, more than anything else in the world, but this is about your well-being."

"C'mon... guys..." Hinata looked around the room to find that everyone was staring at their feet. "Anyone?"

Daichi took a deep breathe and looked up. "We care about you, Hinata."

"We won't want you to get hurt." Suga chimed in.

"I won't!" Hinata exclaimed, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

"We don't know that for sure."

"You work hard, you play to your limits, it'll take a toll to your body."

"We'll see, okay? So don't complain at the moment." Tsukishima said, making everyone, especially Yamaguchi, look at him in awe. "What?"

"Well you are rarely so caring."

"That's not true!" said Yamaguchi, coming to his defense. "Tsukishima is one of the most conscientious and caring person I know."

"Shut up, Yamaguchi." Tsukishima mumbled, but deep on the inside he appreciated it.

"Just... rest well okay?" Kageyama finally said, after moments of debating in his head. He couldn't find the right words to say to him. There was so much he wanted to say but it just didn't feel right.

There was a knock on the door and Asahi opened it to reveal the medical team again.

"Five minutes is up."

"So fast?"

"Hinata needs his rest. His health is the most imporan-"

"Volleyball is the most important to me!" Hinata pleaded, and looked to the nurse for support.

The nurse shook her head. "I'm sorry Hinata, but Aoi is right."

"Alright team let's, uh, go." Coach Ukai declared awkwardly.

"See you later Keishin," Hisakawa said. "Go get some rest Karasuno."

"Okay." The team exited the room, saying their goodbyes to Hinata. Kageyama gulped, and turned towards the middle blocker.

"Rest... please." Kageyama cringed at himself realizing how dumb and weird that sounded.

"Alright Tiredyama," Hinata said with a smile that melted Kageyama's heart. "See ya later!"

How did Hinata stay so positive at a time like this? Kageyama was envious of him for his welcoming and lovable presence. Everyone wanted to be Hinata's friend. Nobody seemed to want to be Kageyama's.

☆☆☆

As the team made their way out of the hospital and headed home, Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei went back to the gym to check on a few things.

Takeda sighed and turned towards the stressed coach. "If Hinata can't gonna play, who's going to replace him?"

"I never really thought about it, honestly." Coach Ukai said, sighing as well. "Hinata always seemed so... invincible. I really don't know which of the subs can go in for him."

"We... can't win without him." Takeda whispered.

"It's possible, sensei... but unlikely."

"It's nationals we're talking about here. It'll be difficult."

"There's always a chance that he'll be okay."

"But can we risk that? It's his health we're talking about here."

"Always the wise teacher." Ukai said with a grin. As they finished cleaning up, he sat down obviously feeling stressed.

"Ukai-kun... I was wondering..." Takeda said, expression serious. "Why did you break up with Hisakawa-san? And she seems so comfortable with you but you seem awkward."

"Sensei, not you too." Ukai groaned.

Takeda held his hands up in defense, but grinned. "Sorry, I was curious."

"Please, I'd rather not say..."

"Yeah... personal things." Takeda said good-naturally, but Ukai noticed his face fall when he thought Ukai wasn't looking. He must have thought that Ukai didn't trust him. That wasn't true in any way.

"So, volleyball I guess-"

"I... broke up with her when I realized I was gay." Keishin Ukai interrupted.

"You are!?" Takeda said, a little bit too excitedly, but quickly dismissed it as if it was nothing. However, it did things to Ukai's heart that he never knew could happen.

"Y-yeah..." Keishin stuttered. He was at a loss of words, and his mind was going crazy.

"Well, um, we better get going, it's getting pretty late."

"Right."

☆☆☆

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Kageyama had gotten use to waking up at such an early time, and he no longer complained to his alarm. It was a regular thing now, and it was in his system. He got up and took a deep breath. He got ready for the day and ate cereal.

As he biked to the hospital he felt the cool wind brush his skin. He felt relaxed at that moment. For the past few weeks, so much happened. It was just... so much. Too much, maybe. Kageyama knew he was having too much stress lately, he wasn't that stupid.

He made his way around, inside the building with familiarity. It was almost like another home, now that he came here daily. He knocked on the door and waited. There were sounds of feet shuffling but it took a long while before he heard the doorknob turn.

"Kageyama!" He was greeted by a grinning Hinata, and he was taken back for a second. Usually, it would be the nurse who would let him in, obviously because Hinata couldn't move.

"Huh!?" Hinata had walked and opened the door, and he was standing. He was holding door for support, but he seemed pretty stable.

"Let's go for a walk on hospital grounds!" Hinata said excitedly. He glanced back at the nurse for permission and she nodded.

"Be careful though, you're still in recovery-"

"Okay okay, we'll be back soon enough!" Hinata interrupted, obviously ecstatic for finally being able to move around again.

The two walked out the hospital with Hinata holding on to Kageyama for support. They walked silently at first, but it was a comfortable silence. Hinata's smile was as bright as the sun and it lit up Kageyama's world. All the stress, worries, and fatigue was erased from his head.

"Kageyama I feel great! Do you think I can play in the upcoming game?"

"Yeah..."

"My legs feel a bit weak at the moment, but Dr. Sukodu said it's most likely temporary."

"Right..."

"But you never know, he did always mention that this was a strange kind of thing. There's going to be researchers coming to see what kind of disease or injury I have."

"Uhuh..."

"Wait, I dont think disease is the right word. It doesn't spread... so... I don't know. What do you think?"

"Me too..."

"I did survive the impossible though! The statistics for this surgery's success was very low, and I'm alive! At least I think I am." In all honesty, Kageyama wasn't paying attention to anything Hinata had blabbered about because there was only one thing on his mind.

"...What if I'm not alive? What if this is just a dream? Are you real? Am I real? Do I even exist? What is the meaning of life?"

"Hinata."

"Sorry sorry, I just got so excited-"

"I love you."

A/N: ;) <3

I'm staying at this place for a month and I have extremeeellly slow wifi and it takes like an hour to open Wattpad and to publish or save ;-; my apologies

I added the beginning of some Takeda and Ukai because a few of you said you ship it as well ;)

It'll kinda be an implied relationship like TsukkiYama and Iwaoi in this story