8

Love. Hinata loved volleyball. He thought that would have been the only thing he would ever come to love. But then Kageyama kissed him, and Hinata kissed him back. How did that happen? There was always things that Hinata didn't understand, and love was indeed one of them. Did he love Kageyama?

That, he wasn't sure of.

He wasn't sure of it at all.

However... kissing him... made him feel as if there were real sparks flying around them. He just couldn't believe that he liked Kageyama out of everyone he knew.

But was he really shocked? Or did he know all along?

When the nurse had pushed him to talk to Kageyama, when his heart beat quicker everytime Kageyama was around, and when he had convinced him to stay and get better. The way he had influenced him and changed who Hinata was today... it truly was fascinating. Hinata was aware that he knew nothing about love but he sure knew that he would want Kageyama to be his first.

☆☆☆

All Kageyama was thinking about was Hinata, as he lied in his cold bed. He couldn't think of anything else. It was everything on his mind. Their kiss... did he do it right? He probably messed up big time, and Hinata was probably just regretting the decision.

Or he was thinking about more important things. Like his surgery, which was a life and death thing, was tomorrow morning. He didn't know how he'd face Hinata- he had ran away last night the moment they broke their kiss. He was gone in a flash, stumbling clumsily as he got away.

But a smile kept forming on his face, as he remembered what happened an hour ago. He tried to stop himself, but he just couldn't. It was as if the smile was permanently imprinted on him.

"Kageyama! He's smiling!" Tanaka had said when they met. He then ran and informed the entire team, and they all came rushing out and stared at Kageyama in utter amazement. But he didn't care. He couldn't give a single damn about it, because he was feeling good today.

As cliche as it was, the sun was bright and the birds were chirping. Today seemed almost too perfect. He didn't want to do anything but smile. He decided to take a walk outside after his volleyball practice.

"Tobio? Kageyama Tobio?" A middle-aged man walked approached Kageyama. He recognized him immediately, despite the fact that he hadn't seen him in years.

"Oh, Fujo-san!" Kageyama bowed down in respect.

"I see you're still playing volleyball," Fujo Asami, an old friend of Kageyama's father, said glancing at his outfit. "Good lad, your father would be proud."

"He would?" Kageyama asked. He stared at him in confusion.

"Of course he would. Why wouldnt he be?"

"I doubted it... all my life. I always thought that he would... be disappointed. I continued to play volleyball after... all that happened to him..."

"It was the smartest thing you could've done, and he would be very proud of you."

"But he's gone."

"Your dad's home now. The angels welcomed him back home, happy to see him again. He was an angel, your dad, he really was. Everyone loved him."

"I just don't think... I ever told him I loved him, while he was still alive. He never knew how much I loved him... and cared-"

"Every mistake... should be a lesson learned. Tell someone you love them, won't you?"

"Yeah... I will."

"Good. It's getting dark don't you think?"

"Uh, yes sir."

"Sir? You don't have to be so formal with me," He chuckled. "Your father taught you, isn't it? He was such a perfect person..."His expression turned serious, and he looked away.

"Fujo-san-"

"No it's nothing. I just miss him. My best friend, he was. We got each other so well, and it's just a pain...  knowing he's gone. But none can do, right now life is about you okay Tobio-kun? You don't have to dwell on the past. The present is what you need to focus on."

"Right." He waved goodbye, and started heading home. He thought about everything that happened today. It had been a long day, and he fell asleep immediately when he  on his bed.

☆☆☆

BEEP BEEP BEEP

"Ugh..." Kageyama used one hand to turn off his alarm. He laid in bed for a few minutes, as usual. Why was he up so early again? 5:30am... too early for volleyball and obviously not school... was it because of Hinata?

Hinata.

Kageyama bolted out of bed, and got dressed and ate breakfast quicker than he could say volleyball. He took his bike and headed towards the hospital he had been to, one too many times. He locked his bike to the nearest pole, and rushed through the doors, and searched the hallway until he found the room with the name 'Hinata' on the front. He entered quietly and waved awkwardly to the nurse, who seemed that she had already expected him to come. When he looked at the direction of the bed, to his surprise, Hinata was asleep.

Every time he had came, Hinata was awake and restless. But at this moment, he was unconscious and he looked so innocent and small, it melted Kageyama's heart.  He walked over and sat at the chair next to his bed. He finally realized how poor and hard it must had been for the middle blocker. As he laid expressionless, Kageyama noticed how... good he looked. He looked so much younger, and he was no longer the popular, strong-willed volleyball player, he was a 16-year-old who was scared of death.

Kageyama looked away. He couldn't stand these thoughts. There was no way anything could happen to Hinata. He alway broke through his obstacles, and nothing could stop him. Kageyama glanced back at him, and Hinata's eyes were wide open, startling the setter.

"Gah!"

"Kageyama, when did you get here?"

"A few minutes ago..." Kageyama replied, not meeting his eyes.

Hinata stared at him for a few moments before speaking again. "My surgery is in an hour."

"I know."

"What if... I don't come back alive? Do you have anything you wanna say to me right now? Like how much of a better volleyball player I am?" Hinata joked humorlessly. He knew there was no time to joke around.

"Hinata... please just come back alive."

"Alright, whatever you say Kageyama." At that moment, the doctor and a few other people entered the room and Kageyama stood up quickly.

"No, it's okay," Dr. Sukodu said, addressing Kageyama. "Thank you for visiting Hinata once more, it's important for him to feel good before his surgery."

"I'll get going then."

"You don't have to. Unless you really do feel uncomfortable." Kageyama sat back down. "Hinata... today's the big day aye? Again there's nothing to be scared-"

"It's okay. I trust you Sukodu-san."

"I'm glad, that always makes me feel better. As a surgeon, when the patient trusts me, my performance is always better. Now it's time for some preparations okay?" The way he spoke was like he was talking to a 5-year-old, but it did make Hinata feel better. After all the preparations, and things they had to do before the surgery, Dr. Sukodu turned to Kageyama.

"The surgery is approximately five and a half hours long, so I assume you'll be at school for the time being? It's quite a long surgery, it's gonna be tiring."

"Yeah... I'll be back after school."

"That's good to hear. See you later." Dr. Sukodu was a pretty chill guy, but also serious about his work. Deep down he was nervous and he didn't know how to feel. This surgery was pretty damn hard, and he knew he needed to do well... he had to.

The entire school day seemed to drag along, Kageyama found himself staring at the clock constantly. The team was also pretty nervous and they acted quite stiff, and all of them were deep in thought. Finally as the moment arrived when the bell rang, Kageyama sprinted outside and onto his bike, with the team following quickly behind. They burst into the hospital loudly, earning a glare from one of the people at the front desk, but none of them cared at the moment, as they all found themselves in the  hallways.

"Is the surgery over?" Tanaka asked.

"I think so, it's past 6 hours already." Daichi replied, nervously looking around.

"Where are we suppose to go?" Nishinoya exclaimed.

"Why is everyone so uneducated these days?" Tsukishima muttered to himself, as he walked towards the proper waiting area, with Yamaguchi following behind him. Kageyama noticed and walked towards him.

"Oh... Karasuno volleyball club..." it was Dr. Sukodu. His expression was solemn.

"Is Hinata alright?" Everyone cried out in unison (except for Tsukishima and Kageyama, they were both silently praying).

"He... it's uncertain. As you must have known, this was a special type of surgery-"

"Where is he?" Kageyama interrupted, desperate. He didn't want to hear all of the excuses, he needed answers.

"He's unconscious," the doctor finally replied. "In a coma perhaps, but also not really. We don't know if or when he'll wake up."

The team just stood there motionless for a few seconds before they all started looking at each other in fear. Kageyama ran to where he remembered the washroom was, and slowly fell to the ground. Suga quietly entered after him.

"Kageyama-kun..." Tears formed in both of the setter's eyes. They felt hopeless and it seemed that there were no options left.

"Sugawara-san... I never told him I loved him... I didn't... again... I lost someone once again... and I didn't tell them I loved them."

A/N: uh oh dkm

(my volleyball team won first place in the finals and stuff and idk how i feel I trained for 3 years, and we won, when I was on the court- and that just feels so important to me ;-;)

anyways, sorry for the once again slow update, I had a lot of volleyball stuff going on.