"Kenma! Lev! Can anyone hear me?!" Hinata Shouyou yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth so the sound would travel further. "Where did you guys go?"
The only reply was the startled crow that shot out of the tree next to him, frightened out of his perch by the loud outburst. Hinata tossed his head around frantically, searching for any sign of the group he'd been hiking with. He found nothing but endless trees in every direction, gently sloping to his left off into a deep plunge into a ravine nearby. His long distance vision was cut off heavily by the thick underbrush and shrubs of the forest.
About fifteen minutes earlier, he'd stopped for a few quick moments to pee behind a tree. He thought Lev had heard him when he said where he was going, but, in hindsight, maybe he should have told Kenma instead, considering that he was the responsible one of the group. By the time he'd finished and returned to the spot where he last saw his group, there was no one in sight.
And that is how Hinata Shouyou found himself lost and alone in the largest national park in Japan. According to his phone, he'd been yelling and wandering around for close to twenty minutes now with no sign of any people nearby. At first, he had been relatively calm despite his situation but now the silence was definitely starting to get to him. Panic was rising in his chest with every frantic glance around him and he felt it grow every time there was no response to his shouting.
Was this all just a joke? Did Tanaka and Nishinoya come up with some dumb prank and were they just following him around with a camera to catch his reaction? If not, where was everyone? Surely he must bump into a different group soon even if this was the biggest park in Japan.
"Come on guys, this isn't funny! Just come out already!" He whined, frantic for an answer from someone. Something rustled in the bushes behind him, and he whipped around towards the noise. "TANAKA-SEMPAI, IS THAT YOU?" He all but screamed, relief washing over him for a moment. Hinata rushed towards the noise, popping his head through a particularly thick set of shrubbery but he could find no one. He couldn't stop the disappointment that followed, slumping forwards to rest his head on a tree trunk. "I knew I shouldn't have come." pouted the tiny, redheaded high schooler, his brow scrunching up and he sighed dejectedly at his problem. "I don't even like nature!"
Something moved behind him again, disturbing the nearly silent quiet of the forest. This rustle in the bushes was much closer than the last one, jolting Hinata back into a standing position. "W-what was that? Who's there?!"
If that wasn't Tanaka or Nishinoya, what was it? A bear? A hungry pack of wolves? Did bears and wolves even exist in Japan?! These woods were huge, who knows what lurked in them? It seemed like the perfect place for a serial killer looking for his next victim to kill! What if he accidentally stumbled into the territory of a bloodthirsty gang of cannibals? What if this was the secret rendezvous point for the yakuza to exchange drug money?!
Whatever it was stirred the bushes again, and this time, Hinata ran away screaming in the opposite direction. "DON'T KILL ME PLEEEASSSSE!" He shrieked, sprinting as fast as possible and barely able to dodge the dense forest around him. Little did he notice that he was slowly making his way down the slope of the forest towards the deep ravine nearby.
His foot suddenly snagged on something hard, sending him flying forward with a yelp. Hinata's momentum kept him rolling down the slope, sticks and other debris leaving scratches all over his body as he rolled. Hinata tried to brace himself on something to stop the rolling, but he was moving too fast to get a good grip on anything. All thoughts stopped abruptly as his head slammed into something hard and he dropped almost instantly into unconsciousness, vaguely registering the feeling of falling before his vision went black.
—
A particularly vicious throb in his head jolted Hinata into consciousness. He was laying flat on his stomach, his face straight in the dirt with small specks of dirt and rocks stuck to his cheeks. His entire body hurt, he realized with an audible groan. When he tried to shift to his side, a stabbing throb of pain in his ribs had him curling back onto his stomach with an arm clutched to his chest.
"What the hell happened?" He groaned to himself. The stinging in his ribs slowly abated when he stayed still, the intense throbbing in his head was ever present. To his dismay, when he lifted his hand up to his head to relieve the pressure in his temples, his forehead was slick with blood. He slid his hand further up his scalp to find a deep gash running from his hairline nearly down to his ear.
Great. He couldn't move and was bleeding heavily from his head. He shifted his head to the side, noting the darkness around him with a growing sense of alarm. At first he thought he'd actually been unconscious for long enough that it was already nighttime outside, but further searching showed a large hole above him with light shining through.
Where was he? Did he fall into a cave or something? The dirt underneath his fingers was soft and loamy and it seemed to have broken his fall quite a bit. The pain in his ribs was probably a cracked rib or two, but if he'd actually fallen through the hole in the ceiling above him he should have been much injured than he currently was.
He lifted himself up from the ground very slowly on shaky arms this time and somehow managed to get into a sitting position despite his sore ribs. The change in height sent a wave of lightheadedness through him and he barely fought off the urge to pass out again.
Shit. He really needed help. There was no way he could walk to the other side of the cave let alone climb the wall to get to the surface in his current condition. His backpack was nowhere in sight. Gone with it was his phone and any supplies he had with him. The only thing he could do was try and stop the bleeding in his head and hope his group found him again.
He heard a twig snap from above him somewhere, jolting him out of his thoughts. He let out a hiss as the startled jump agitated his ribs again. "H-hello? Is anyone there?" It even hurt to talk. His question came out much raspier and quieter than he would have liked, so he braced himself and repeated the question at his loudest.
There was a second burst of rustling leaves after his question for a little bit but it quieted down to the typical silence after a few seconds.
"Must have just been a squirrel." He mumbled to himself, brushing some of the dirt off his face with the back of his hand.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted movement. Hinata whipped his head to the top of the cave fast enough to catch a face burst out of the bushes to peer at him from the forest above him. Whoever it was had a handsome face set in a scowl, angry blue eyes intensifying the stranger's fierce expression.
Hinata gaped at the person, honestly surprised at his unexpected appearance and by the boy's scary expression. Hinata's previous thoughts about the kinds of creatures and people who could lurk in these woods came flooding back to him. What if he was an angry ax murderer, coming to dismember him and put him through a woodchipper? What if he'd interrupted a cult ritual and the members were coming to catch him as their latest sacrifice? WAS HE A PART OF THE YAKUZA?
Hinata screamed, managing to get up and take a few steps before the pain in his ribs kicked back in, making him collapse in the dirt once again.
"Oi, what the hell are you doing down there?" The new boy yelled, his scowl deepening. "Stop screaming!"
"ARE YOU THE YAKUZA?" Hinata shrieked pathetically, his voice cracking. "I PROMISE I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING AND I WON'T TELL ANYONE ABOUT YOUR SECRET HIDEOUT I SWEAR!"
"Stop freaking out, you weirdo! Why the hell would I be in the yakuza?!" The other boy's expression only got angrier, his frown so deep it nearly touched the bottom of his chin.
"ARE YOU A CANNIBAL THEN? PLEASE DON'T EAT ME!" Hinata's panic rose to a new high, waving his arms around frantically to try and get away.
"DO I LOOK LIKE A CANNIBAL TO YOU, YOU DUMBASS?" The stranger yelled, clenching his fist in the air and shaking it at the boy in the cave. "I found an open backpack and a bunch of stuff strewn down the hill so I followed it here and heard your screaming! Why are you down there?!"
Hinata's rising panic fizzed out almost immediately at those words, replaced by relief at finally being found. "Oh, really?" he replied softly.
"You never answered my question!"
Hinata looked away with a sheepish expression, prompting his would-be rescuer to shake his clenched fist at him again.
"What kind of cannibal looks like a high schooler, you dumbass?!"
"You talk about cannibals like only people who look a certain way have the capability to eat other people!" Hinata yelled back, his anger rising at being yelled at. "And stop calling me a dumbass, you asshole!"
"If you're acting like a dumbass, I'm going to call you a dumbass!" He retorted, voice rising. "You dumbass!"
Incensed, Hinata stood up and charged towards the hole in the ceiling of the cave where the other person was. "I'm not a dumbass, you-" He started, but he fell to the ground again, the movement too sudden for his probably concussed head. Darkness creeped in on the edges of his vision and he swayed from the sudden lightheadedness. He clutched the sides of his head, wincing as his left hand brushed his wound and opened the wound a little more. The pain was a blessing in this case though, because he was absolutely certain he would have passed out if the throb hadn't jerked him back into consciousness. Panting, he vaguely registered someone's voice from somewhere, the buzzing in his ears making the words incoherent.
After a few seconds, the buzzing died down, making way for the yelling from above him. Whoever he was, the stranger's yelling was loud enough to make his head throb even worse. However, the man's voice had changed in tone from angry and annoyed to obviously concerned.
"-YOU JUST PASS OUT? ARE YOU ALRIGHT? WAKE THE HELL UP!"
"I'm up now! Stop yelling, you're making my head hurt more!" He finally responded, waving his hand towards the ceiling as if to wave off the stranger's concern.
"You're hurt down there, aren't you?" Thankfully for his head, the stranger stopped shouting. "Did you fall down into this cave or something?"
Hinata made the mistake of nodding in response to the guy. He instantly regretted that, the lightheadedness returning with a wave of nausea. "Yeah. I hit my head on something while I was falling I think. Pretty sure I broke some ribs when I landed, too." The small redhead tried to sit up again, the slow movement still managing to jar his ribs despite his care in moving.
"Quit moving, you dumbass!" The scowl returned for a brief moment before the stranger moved from his spot. "I'm going to look for a way down there, so just stay there and wait for me!"
"I'm fine down here! Quit lecturing me!"
"You stood up too fast there and almost passed out like 30 seconds ago, dumbass! You're not fine!"
"I think I would know how I'm feeling better than you would, asshole! And stop calling me a dumbass!"
"If you quit doing stupid things like moving, I'll quit calling you a dumbass!"
"If you'd hurry up and get down here, I wouldn't have to be moving in the first place!"
"You're acting like I have to come down there and rescue you! I could just walk away right now so try being a little bit grateful you moron!"
"Stop calling me names! I'm really hurt down here and I don't need this shit from some random asshole with a stick up his butt!"
"You're injured, not dying!"
Suddenly, the stranger jumped down to the floor of the cave right in front of him, startling Hinata into falling over with a strangled yelp.
"Besides, you keep calling me an asshole! Why do you get to insult me when I can't?" The stranger yelled, a vein sticking out in the middle of his forehead from anger. He straightened up from his crouch, and Hinata was momentarily silenced by his height. Now that he was closer, he could really see the other boy clearly for the first time. He was tall and lean, with black hair that flopped into his blue eyes in the middle of his face. Normally, he'd call him handsome if his face wasn't ruined by his angry expression.
The boy must have also been able to see Hinata clearly for the first time as well, because the anger slowly slipped off his face and was replaced by something that looked vaguely like concern. (Hinata didn't think that the other boy's face was capable of showing something like that clearly to be honest.) He probably looked pretty pathetic down there, slumped on the floor, blood running down his face and dripping onto his t-shirt.
The stranger blinked at him for a few odd moments and Hinata tried his hardest to meet his gaze defiantly. Suddenly, his ribs twinged and he curled his arm around his middle with a hiss of pain. The other boy jerked forward at that, dropping down to his knees next to the redhead.
"… You're hurt much worse than I thought you were." He noted gruffly, breaking eye contact with Hinata to stare guiltily at the wall. "Can you walk?"
"Not very well." Hinata admitted, slightly ashamed to show this kind of weakness in front of someone he didn't know. "I can only take a few steps before I get lightheaded and have to sit down again."
"Right. I'll have to carry you back to the surface then." The black-haired boy made a motion towards him like he was about to pick him up, and Hinata jerked away instinctively with an offended-sounding noise.
"Ew no, don't touch me!" Hinata cried, glaring at the other boy once again.
The boy's angry frown returned. "How else do you expect to get up there? Just suck it up so we can get back to the surface again!" He growled, making a move towards Hinata again. "Besides, if you tried to get up that wall, you'd just pass out and probably hurt yourself again!"
Hinata grumbled at his words, not wanting the abrasive boy to touch him but recognizing the logic in his words. "… Fine." He pouted in response, refusing to meet the stranger's gaze.
Without further warning, the other boy sat in front of Hinata, helping him thread his arms around his neck before hoisting him onto his back. The lightheadedness hit him in full force when the other boy straightened, and Hinata gaped momentarily at the sudden change in height. Hinata felt a blush creep up his neck, suddenly embarrassed at his close proximity to the taller boy. The shoulders he clutched to were broad and thoroughly attractive, their solidness suggesting a fit, athletic physique underneath his shirt.
The boy's deeper voice snapped him out of his trance. "I'm going to try climbing the wall over there. Hold on tight, ok?" Hinata nodded in response, internally reveling at the way the taller man's voice rumbled through his own chest from how close they were.
The tall stranger made it seem like it was easy to climb up a 10 foot cave wall with another person clutching to their back like it was a lifeline. Hinata was a lot smaller than him, for sure, but it still must not have been easy for him to climb that and Hinata grumbled inwardly in envy at his athleticism. He stopped at the top to let the redhead clamber onto the surface first, helped immensely by the hand boosting him up from his lower back. He hoisted himself up after he made sure that Hinata was secure at the top, his intense blue eyes fixed on the still sluggishly bleeding wound staining Hinata's orange hair to a much darker hue.
"You stay here. I'm going to go get my backpack so we can bandage that up and call for help." The taller boy shot back up to his feet, brushing dirt and leaves off his legs. He glanced back at Hinata and seemed to reconsider when he saw how close he was to the hole in the ground still. Hinata yelped when the other boy suddenly scooped him back into his arms, supporting him with an arm around his chest and one underneath his knees. The blush on Hinata's face intensified and he found himself uncharacteristically speechless. The black-haired boy smelled like shampoo, evergreens, and something musky and unidentifiable, probably his own unique scent. He nodded mutely in response, clutching onto the front of the other man's sweater like he was afraid the taller boy would leave him.
As the stranger started walking, his lightheadedness returned and intensified with each step. Hinata's head lolled forward, tucked under the other boy's chin as pressed closer into the warm chest in front of him. The boy carrying him made a strange noise, looking down as he felt the weight slump in his arms.
"Are you alright?" He asked quietly, stopping to peer at the other boy. Hinata let out a sleepy "Mmhmm" in response, finally succumbing to the darkness creeping in from the outside of his vision, passing out in the other boy's arms.
—
When Hinata woke up next, he was in just as much pain as before, just on a much more comfortable surface with something bound tightly to his forehead. He pawed at whatever it was with a groan, the ceiling above him spinning too fast to be recognizable.
A hand caught his before he could take the bandage off, setting it back down near his side. "Oi, don't touch that." A familiar gruff voice rumbled next to him, much closer than he thought it would be. Hinata turned slightly on his side to see his rescuer perched on the padded bench beside him. "And quit moving, dumbass." He added, unable to stop the smirk moulding to his lips.
Hinata laughed weakly at that. "Don't call me a dumbass, asshole." The stranger scowled next to him. "Where am I?" he added, his vision still swimming as he struggled to keep his eyes open.
"You're in an ambulance." A completely different and decidedly female voice chimed from the other side of him, nearly startling him off his stretcher. A blonde woman in scrubs laughed good-naturedly as she helped steady him from the other side of the stretcher in the ambulance. "Sorry for scaring you! We're waiting for park ranger to open the gates back up, since it's past the park's closing time. Your friends are in their car behind us, by the way. They were very upset about leaving you behind on accident. Especially the tall foreigner!"
"He nearly started crying and kept trying to hug me for "saving you," whatever the hell that means." His rescuer added in a deadpan.
Hinata laughed at that. "Oh, that sounds like something Lev would do. He was probably in hysterics the whole time I was missing."
"Haha, that he was!" The friendly blonde woman, presumably an EMT, agreed with a nod. Someone yelled something from outside, and the woman excused herself from the ambulance with a bow to answer the yell, leaving Hinata and the stranger alone.
An awkward silence settled over the two for a few moments.
"Thank you for all your help!" Hinata blurted, desperate for anything to break the silence. The smaller boy looked anywhere but at the person beside him, noticing with a nervous swallow that the stranger's knees nearly bumped against the stretcher he was laid across.
"… It was nothing." The stranger replied after a moment, his voice sounding strained. "Anyone else would have done the same." He added as an afterthought. Hinata peeked at the other boy through his lashes, noting the embarrassed gaze fixed on the bottom of the stretcher and a slight hint of a blush high on his cheekbones.
"It wasn't nothing, though. I could have died down there if you hadn't found me." The taller boy's blush darkened at Hinata's words. "I basically owe you my life now. Can I have your phone quick?"
"For what?" His black-haired companion asked confusedly, though he still fished the phone out from his jean pocket and handed it to the redhead.
Hinata quickly added a new contact for himself and entered his number into the stranger's phone before he could lose his nerve. "I'm Hinata Shouyou." he introduced himself cheekily, grinning at the other boy and trying not to blush as he did so. "Call me if you need help with anything."
The other boy made eye contact with Hinata briefly as he handed his phone back to him, and slid his gaze back to staring at his feet in embarrassment. "… Kageyama Tobio." He responded grumpily, the blush spreading from his cheeks to his entire face as the tiny redhead grinned even wider at the response. "It's nice to meet you."
—
It took Kageyama three days to gather up the courage to send his first text to Hinata. They had been texting nonstop for weeks after that and Hinata couldn't help but to grow attached to his dorky new friend, even if he tried to cover up his embarrassing personality with that dumb serious act of his.
Despite the shitty concussion and the broken ribs that made it hard to even breathe, Hinata definitely didn't regret falling down that hole that day. He felt weird and masochistic for thinking that way, but if he hadn't gotten himself into that situation, he would have never met Kageyama, and that would have been a fate worse than a concussion and a pair of broken ribs.