It all started when his alarm hadn't go off. Hinata rolled over onto his side and faced the roll, his mouth opened and drooling onto his crumpled sheets. He slept, unaware that he had forgotten to set his alarm the night before.
After forty minutes of an absent Shoyo at the breakfast table, Natsu wobbled from her chair to her brother's room to check on him. She opened the door and the lights from the kitchen stirred the middle blocker awake, his eyes blinking rapidly. He was already running late for school.
After taking off with his bag in tow, he forced himself to skip breakfast and mounted his bike, taking off down the street and avoiding joggers that dodged to the side and voiced their complaints even after his rushed apology.
He skid to a stop and parked by the bike rack, not bothering to lock it into place as he dashed towards the school building in haste. There were hardly any students outside, the rest already in their classrooms.
Swinging the door open, Hinata ran to his class and saw it in sight, his feet clapping against the tile as he picked up speed. The sound of the late bell rang and Hinata's hopes stopped with his shoes, the volleyball player slowing down and dragging himself to his classroom. If he was late, he may as well enjoy the hallway while he could before he sat down at his desk.
After four class periods, lunch came around and Hinata could finally relax and enjoy his food in peace. Reaching into his bag, he dug around for his bento box that was usually packed between his math notebook and pencil pouch. After two minutes of searching, he realized that he had forgotten his lunch that was probably sitting at the breakfast table that he'd avoided this morning. Feeling around in his pockets, he lacked money to at least buy an energy bar from the vending machines in the court yard. Groaning, Hinata rested his head on his desk and went to sleep.
Sleeping earned him time in detention. Hinata had awoken with the snap of a ruler hitting his desk, his teacher glowering down at him with disapproving eyes after he failed to recite a passage of the textbook they were studying. Apparently, he'd slept through lunch ad more than half of his Japanese Literature class.
The final bell rang and he remained seated, refusing to use the bathroom before serving his punishment should his teacher believe he's ditching. Three others from different classes joined him, taking seats on different sides of the classroom to avoid the temptation of talking.
Detention dragged on for half an hour, cutting into the time he could have spent in volleyball practice in the gym. He wondered if the captain would be angry showing up late without a valid reason for his tardiness. Having detention was a good excuse, right?
It wasn't.
Daichi had uncovered the reason for Hinata missing warm-ups with a stern look and four extra laps around the gym. It was more for sleeping in class than it was for missing a part of practice, however. Either way, the decoy's fatigued body and mind did not appreciate the discipline.
Going to spike a few of Kageyama's tosses gave him an optimistic attitude, only to find that the setter was at the other part of the gym with Asahi today. He watched with frustration and a hint of jealousy as the Ace slammed the volleyball down onto the court with a powerful spike, Kageyama's eyes meeting Hinata's for a moment before they turned to Asahi for improvements.
The first year was sent to practice with Sugawara instead. It wasn't as though Hinata didn't want to be with the vice captain, but his day wasn't turning out well and his attitude was affecting his play. His setter noticed after a few missed hits, but he kept his questions to himself.
At the end of the day, Hinata was reduced to an unusually quiet decoy and it gained the attention of a few concerned teammates. "Hinata?" Suga had finally spoken up, the setter pulling his jacket on over his shoulder after getting changed.
Hinata looked up, his white T-shirt turned backwards without being noticed by the boy. He looked dazed, like he was tired or lost in thought, but the frown on his face was evident. "What?"
Daichi stepped forward from the group and addressed the elephant in the room. "Are you feeling okay? You've been acting strange since you made it to practice."
Hinata turned back to his chore at hand, deciding to wear his uniform jacket for once. He only gave a shake of his head, an indication that he wasn't willing to talk about his unlucky day.
After a silent response, the team went back to packing up, the locker room filled with a tense atmosphere. Everyone was sharing worried glances and even Kageyama was attentive to the mood.
The team cleared out once everyone had gotten their things, Diachi locking up before they left the school grounds.
Hinata had picked up his bike from the rack, thankful that it wasn't stolen, and shuffled to the back of the group with Kageyama, Nishinoya, and Tanaka. The second years were talking to each other in hushed voices, Kageyama lingering just behind the short blocker.
"Shoyo," Hinata perked at his name and turned around, his hands glued to his bike's handle bars. "We'll treat you to meat buns today since you're not feeling well." The response to Nishinoya's offer was a positive one, Hinata's eyes brightening somewhat.
Everyone went inside Ukai's store to purchase meat buns, the boy's all paying for their own except for Hinata. His upperclassmen came back with three meat buns in a bag, Tanaka handing him one to Hinata with a grin.
The gesture was kind enough, but after the first bite of his food, Hinata felt the sudden urge to cry, his voice lodged in his throat as he let out a sob.
The reaction startled a few of his teammates before Hinata really started to cry, his tears running down his chin and onto the road below. He swallowed the chunk of food in his mouth so he wouldn't choke, but by then the whole team was watching Hinata as he broke down from the bite of a meat bun.
His friends gathered around him, minus Tsukishima, all of them asking if he was okay. Hinata nodded hurriedly, the red head sniffling and whining a bit louder. He tried to push out his words into his rush of emotions, but it came out gargled and some parts weren't translatable.
"I-I slept late-" Hinata wiped his eyes, "...an' I didn't eat lunch..." He bit his trembling lip, his eyes squeezing shut. "I couldn't p-play right!"
Suga rushed in to console him, holding his shoulders that were shaking. Kageyama had leaned down to see his face, offering a tissue from his pocket, which Hinata took with some difficulty.
Nishinoya had waited until he had blown his nose, settling next to the vice captain and flashing Hinata a caring smile and a thumbs up. "Hey, everyone has bad days every once and a while, it happens to the best of us. When you go home today and you wake up in the morning, everything will be back to normal."
Hinata wiped his eyes again, his cheeks flushed red from his crying. He looked over at Nishinoya and gaped at him, his now drying eyes still puffy. "Really?"
Tanaka clapped him on the shoulder, joining Nishinoya with the same grin. "Of course, we wouldn't lie to you."
Hinata stared at them a little longer, shifting his hands and sniffed one last time before he cracked a smile, his teammates pulling him along as he ate the rest of his meat bun. Maybe his day wasn't as bad as he thought afte rall.