29

Matthew looked between the two new appearances.

"Who the f*ck are you guys?"

"I said, I think you should screw off now." Iwaizumi took a step towards him, and Matthew quickly stumbled back.

"You guys are so weird." Matthew and Nori ran off, stumbling and tripping over their feet.

The girls looked at each other unsure what to do.

"Woah, handsome," a brunnete said marveling at Oikawa.

Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow at the outburst.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" The girl asked. Karen nudged the brunette and she shrugged.

"Nope," Oikawa responded with a smile. "I have a boyfriend."

The girl hid her face in embarrassment. "I'm sorry for asking."

Iwaizumi frowned at the former captain. "Who is it this time?"

Hinata and Kageyama exchanged confused glances.

"Ah Iwa-chan, I forgot to tell you..I'm dating Nakajima Susumu."

"The transfer student?" Iwaizumi asked.

"Yep." Oikawa grinned. "He's hella cute and he's actually going to the same university as me!"

"And also a huge trouble maker." Iwaizumi groaned.

Oikawa shot him a look.

"And how could you forget to tell me a**hole?"

"Haha sorry Iwa-chan," Oikawa apologized sheepishly.

"I'm already setting the timer to see how long this one lasts."

"I like this guy though!" Oikawa held his hands up defensively.

Iwaizumi shook his head. "That's what you said about Maeda, a.k.a random guy number twenty-five too."

Oikawa grinned but said nothing.

This only seemed to make the girls even more uncomfortable for having to witness something personal to the boys.

"My name is Ikeda, I'm sorry about Matthew and Nori," the brunnette finally said. "They kinda follow us around."

"Yeah I'm sorry for interrupting you guys." Karen said, head bowed.

"It's alright," Hinata said with a reassuring smile.

"We'll get going." The girls walked away, and immediately started talking about their upcoming math test.

"Wait I'm confused I thought you two were a thing?" Kageyama whispered to Iwaizumi.

A look flashed on Iwaizumi's face but quickly disappeared.

"Nah," He replied simply.

"But why?" Kageyama felt bad for trying to pry.

Iwaizumi shrugged. "Things didn't really work out, and we're not going to the same Uni."

"But... why?" Kageyama repeated in a hushed tone.

"Why we're not going to the same university?"

"Why didn't things work out?"

"I guess we just didn't like each other like that."

Kageyama frowned at the obvious lie.

"What are you guys doing here in Tokyo?" Hinata asked Oikawa.

"We were just here by coincidence." Oikawa rolled his eyes. "No we came to watch you guys duh, sorry about your loss. There seems to be a problem though, but they wont say whats going on."

Hinata frowned at Oikawa's comment on their loss but let it go.

Iwaizumi holds the umbrella over their head. "It's good you guys are still wearing your jerseys, you guys need to get changed or else you're gonna get sick."

The four of them headed inside, but the combination of them was strange and the air was tense.

"Hey what happened to OIkawa? He's... different."

"A little while ago, he started focusing on other stuff when volleyball was over. They're mostly bad habits, to be honest. Going out late, drinking, hooking up with people. He's getting into all sorts of trouble."

"He what? That does not sound like Oikawa at all!"

"Believe it or not, Oikawa was never that popular at school. Sure among girls, they always flocked around him, but he didn't really actually have many real friends. After volleyball practices ended, he started hanging out with the popular kids from the school. It wasn't hard for him cuz he just naturally has that kind of personality."

"What should we do?"

Iwaizumi shrugged in an attempt to seem like he didn't care but Kageyama could tell that he was very worried.

"Hinata? Kageyama?" Suga exclaimed.

He ran over, in a way in which it looked like he was going to embrace the two but ended up lightly knocking them both over. "You first-years seriously need to learn that you can't just run off!"

Tanaka sighed in relief. "Jeez, we were so worried for you guys!"

"But what are you two doing here?" Yamaguchi nervously gestured at the two players from Aoba Johsai.

Oikawa opened his mouth but Iwaizumi quickly covered it and wordlessly pulled him away.

Daichi, albeit confused by all the randomness, had an unreadable expression on his face. "We have good news and bad news."

"Gimme the bad news first," Hinata coaxed.

"You're in huge trouble Hinata, and some people from the hospital are here to get you."

Hinata's face fell. "Is there even good news?"

"Remember jersey number three? The really tall and strong guy? His name is Isamu Itou, the guy the official called out."

"Oh yeah he was scary as heck," Hinata recalled. "Is he even the same age as us?"

"Well that's exactly the thing. He was too old to be on the team. He's a graduated student helping out the team, not sure why exactly though."

"So... they're disqualified?" Kageyama hesitated.

"Yep." A small smile grew on Daichi but his expression stayed solemn.

"So we get another chance?" Hinata asked.

"Yep."

"So why is everyone so grim?"

Everyone's face was generally neutral, and nobody seemed happy at all. Exhaustion lingered in them but they were mostly sad as well.

"It just doesn't seem like an honorable way to go to the next stage."

"We get another chance to step on the court, what more could you ask for?" Hinata practically shouted.

"Hey keep it down over there!" someone shouted from the other side of the hall.

Hinata apologized quickly, and his cheeks turned red.

The team's expressions lightened up a little bit.

Asahi gave a small smile and put his hand on the redhead's shoulder. "It's sweet sentiment, but you're literally going to get dragged away in a minute, this is actually our farewell."

"Farewell?" Hinata exclaimed.

"We're not allowed to visit you in the next while anymore," Yamaguchi explained. "Your family can still go but trouble always follows when we visit you apparently."

"Thank god," Tsukishima mumbled under his breath. "I really need to study."

Yamaguchi shot him a glare, which was a bit terrifying as the pinch server is never usually scary.

Hinata took a few deep breaths.

"Okay."

"Oh, that's it?" Tsukishima said out of surprise.

"What do you mean?" Hinata blinked.

Nishinoya rubbed his hands together nervously. "Well we were kinda preparing you to put up more of a fight."

"Why?"

"Uh hello?" Tanaka said. "The last while has been crazy with you putting up fights."

"And I'm sorry about that," Hinata apologized. "I've put you guys through enough. You guys better beat Nekoma! I'll be watching you on TV!"

The team was in shock at his reaction, Kageyama especially.

"You... sure?" Kageyama vacillated.

"Definitely." Hinata smiled, and hesitated before pulling Kageyama into a hug.

"So are y'all dating or something now?" Kageyama heard Tsukishima grunt.

But he felt Hinata slip something cold and hard into his palm before pulling away.

A woman walked up to them with two police officers following her. "Hinata Shouyou? We will be taking you to get treated now."

One of the police officers proceeded to handcuff him.

"What!? Why am I being handcuffed?" Hinata jumped back, with the team just as shocked.

"You have a reputation of escaping and not following orders. Don't worry, you didn't break any laws, but this is just to ensure your safety."

"You saying I can't trust myself?" Hinata mumbled, as he held his wrists out.

"You said that, not me." The officer tightened the cuffs around his wrists and gently lead him out the door.

Hinata looked back and mouthed his farewell, while the team silently waved. Kageyama felt his heart clench as he watched Hinata leave until he was out of sight.

He looked down at his hand and opened it. He realized he was bleeding a bit because he was gripping the object so hard, and he carefully held the object in the light to see what it was.

A scalpel.

A/N: Where are my readers from? I'm from Canada, and it's snowed in April? And May was a whole tornado of random super hot days and super cold days? Will June finally give me consistent weather? Find out next in Author Note #30.