Where was Takeda-sensei? As the minutes ticked by and the adults who could take care of this did not appear, Kageyama tensed up more and more. He could no longer stand to look at those thugs, preferring to let the senpai deal with them. Daichi had taken Tanaka off somewhere slightly removed to cool down, and Suga still knelt next to Hinata, talking softly, occasionally eliciting a "hmm" or an "oh" from the injured boy.
As time wore on and Kageyama's agitation rose, so did Hinata's. His breathing became ragged, coming in soft little panting moans. His fingers clenched and unclenched in Kageyama's sleeve.
"I don't..." His weary voice interrupted whatever Suga was saying, and Suga shut up, listening intently. "What..."
"You had an accident," Suga said. "Don't worry. You'll be fine."
It wasn't an accident, Kageyama thought, but he said nothing.
Hinata painted weakly, chest heaving under Kageyama's arm. "I don't... understand..."
"Just stay calm, all right?" Suga had been holding a cloth to Hinata's forehead, trying to stop the bleeding without putting too much pressure on the wound. Now he raised his other hand and started petting Hinata's head, slender fingers carefully sifting through the messy orange. These fingers, Kageyama didn't mind. "We will take care of everything. Be still and relax."
But the pain had fully kicked in now, previously buried under a thick layer of shock and confusion. Hinata's legs moved restlessly as he struggled to deal with the waves pouring over him. "Suga-san... Where's Kageyama? I thought he was here earlier..."
A shadow of worry crept over Suga's face, and he opened his mouth to respond. But Kageyama growled. "Oi," he said, more gruffly than he'd intended. He squeezed Hinata's chest, making his breath hitch. "I'm right here, dumbass."
Suga tsked, but Hinata puffed out a sigh of relief, melting back into Kageyama's side. "Oh, right. I forgot."
"Dumbass," Kageyama said again, and he bit his tongue to keep from saying more.
Hinata chuckled, then went still. "Ouch."
Kageyama glanced guiltily at Suga, expecting a scolding look, but Suga smiled at him. His eyes were soft and relieved. "Thank you," he murmured.
Kageyama blinked. He hadn't done anything worthy of thanks. Calling Hinata a dumbass was completely natural.
Suga went back to talking to Hinata, and Kageyama quit paying attention. This conversation repeated itself several times. Hinata would get agitated or distracted by the pain in his head and forget where he was and who he was with, and Suga would remind him, sometimes backed up by Kageyama.
Suga's patience seemed infinite, but by the fourth or fifth reiteration, Kageyama was just done. He had long ago passed through the trembling limbs and swirling stomach of an adrenaline let-down, his butt hurt from sitting on the floor, and Hinata's head was cutting off the circulation to his arm. He wanted to get Hinata to a doctor already and get this fixed so they could go back to playing volleyball. He wanted to never, ever think again about that horrible, sickening moment when Hinata's head hit the wall.
When the adults finally showed up, it was all at once. The security patrol-a couple of volunteer parents with batons-came jogging to the scene, followed by the vice-principal, puffing and blowing. Immediately behind them were Takeda-sensei and Coach Ukai. Takeda was flushed and overwhelmed, and Coach Ukai looked about ready to blow his top and scream at everything and everyone. Kageyama even caught a glimpse of Tsukishima and Yamaguchi in the back of the thundering herd. Yamaguchi seemed to be near tears, and even Tsukishima was atypically concerned.
It got very noisy. The vice-principal demanded to know what was going on, obviously ready to blame the volleyball club for everything, and Tanaka tried to explain what he'd witnessed, still dashing away tears. It didn't go very well. In fact, it went pretty badly. Both voices escalated to screams in mere seconds, and Daichi ended up holding on to Tanaka again while Coach Ukai tried to intervene on their behalf.
The thugs being taken into custody snickered and sneered. Kageyama had to bite his lip to keep from adding to the cacophony. Dammit, he just wanted to punch them all. Every last one of them. The punks for doing this, his team for not fixing it instantly, the teachers for not being there to stop it, and even Hinata for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It wasn't fair, but that was how he felt, and it was damn hard to keep it all inside. Hinata grunted when Kageyama's grip around his chest tightened again.
Then Takeda appeared beside them, crouching down and holding out his hand. His eyes were moist, but his face was set and determined. "Let's get out of here. Can you get him on his feet? My car is right outside."
Suga and Kageyama worked together to get Hinata up, swaying and gulping down nausea, and supported him between them as they escaped with all haste. Takeda led the way through the crowd, somehow managing to slice a path even with his small frame and normally gentle presence. In that moment he was a tower of authority, and the students who had gathered to stare and gossip let him through without a word.
Hinata bobbed and wobbled between Kageyama and Suga, barely supporting any of his own weight, groaning in pain when they jostled him too much. "Sorry, sorry," Suga murmured, but he didn't seem to be paying as much attention as Kageyama would have expected. His head kept swiveling back to look at the shouting mass behind them.
They reached Takeda's little car, and Kageyama got into the backseat first, reaching out for Hinata to draw him inside while Takeda hurried around to the driver's door. Suga carefully lowered Hinata down onto the seat, practically into Kageyama's arms. They propped Hinata up against the backrest, but he immediately started to slide sideways, so Kageyama put an arm around his shoulders again to hold him up.
Suga was bent over with his head inside the car, looking at the two of them. He made no move to get inside, himself. He glanced back at the school again.
"Come on," Kageyama said. "We gotta go."
Suga smiled apologetically. "I really...I really ought to go talk to the vice-principal. I was standing right behind you and Tanaka-I saw what happened. He might believe me."
Kageyama didn't doubt that that was true. Suga was eminently trustworthy and believable, and everyone knew it. Still, panic pulsed in his throat and made his arm tighten around Hinata in reflexive alarm. "No, please, I really need you to come with us. Hinata is so confused and...you're good at talking to him."
Suga waved a hand. "You'll be all right. He trusts you too, you know. Just remind him that he's safe and you're with him, and everything will be fine."
"Suga-san, please..." Don't leave me alone with this.
Another shout from the school-audible even from here-had Suga looking back again. Kageyama wasn't sure, but he thought maybe that was Coach Ukai's voice. And that would mean that things had gotten even worse, though that didn't seem possible.
Suga gave him one more encouraging smile. "I'm sorry. We'll come to the hospital as soon as possible, all right? Just do your best to keep him calm and awake. I'll see you soon."
"Suga..."
But Suga had already shut the door and was hurrying away. Takeda glanced at him in the rear-view mirror. "Are you all right, Kageyama-kun?"
Kageyama realized that he was sweating. He bent his head to wipe his temple on his shoulder. "I'll be fine." He had to be. Takeda put the car in drive and pulled out, driving as quickly and carefully as he could.
Do your best. Kageyama didn't really know what those words meant outside the context of volleyball. He did his best on the court. He did his best when serving, when blocking and receiving, when making a perfect toss so one of his teammates could score. None of that was worth anything right now.
But once again, when it came to relating with other people, Suga had shown him the way. If Kageyama couldn't follow the excellent example he'd been observing just minutes ago, he really was an idiot.
Kageyama looked at Hinata and caught him in the middle of a slow blink, his head lolling back on the seat. "Oi." He started to shake him by the shoulders, but thought better of it. "Don't fall asleep, dumbass."
"But I'm tired," Hinata said, soft and pleading. "I want to sleep."
"No. Don't you dare."
This wasn't working. He couldn't keep a close enough eye on Hinata like this. Kageyama considered for a moment, then tugged on Hinata's shoulders, levering him away from the seat. At least the wound on his forehead had stopped bleeding, though the entire area seemed to be turning a disturbing shade of purple.
"What...what are you doing..."
"It's okay." Kageyama rearranged the way Hinata sat, for once grateful that the other boy was so small. It made him much easier to handle. He finally got Hinata sitting sideways on the bench seat, leaning against the back cushion on his shoulder. Kageyama sat sideways, too, facing him, still holding his shoulders to keep him still. There. Now he could watch Hinata's face and make sure he didn't close his eyes.
He was pretty sure that he'd heard that you weren't supposed to let people with concussions fall asleep, and Suga had acted like that was important, too. But really...he just couldn't quite push away the idea that if Hinata fell asleep, he might never wake up again.
He couldn't let that happen.
Another too-slow blink. "Oi, Hinata." Kageyama squeezed his shoulders, and Hinata opened his eyes wide again, staring back at him. His face was slack and drawn with pain and...his pupils didn't look right. Kageyama drew in a sharp breath and did his best to not freak out.
What would Suga say?
"You're going to be all right," Kageyama said firmly, giving a decisive nod.
"You keep saying that." Hinata waved a hand lazily in the air between them. "Hey, what's going on? Why are you being so nice to me?"
Dammit, how far was it to the hospital? Kageyama couldn't do this, he couldn't, he didn't know how...
Kageyama closed his eyes for a moment, screwing up his courage, and looked at Hinata again. "You had an accident. Suga told you, remember?"
He wasn't going to tell him that someone had done this to him. He wasn't an idiot. He knew why Suga hadn't told Hinata-over and over again as he kept forgetting-that a greasy-fingered piece-of-shit punk had slammed his head into a wall. He was doing his best to keep Hinata calm, not scare him with a horror story.
"Suga-san was here?" Hinata glanced around, but didn't try to lift his head from the back cushion. It must be hurting him pretty badly.
"Yes. He'll come see you later, too. Everyone will come."
"Oh." Hinata's voice was tiny, almost impossible to hear over the rumble of the car. "Everyone was upset."
"Yes. We didn't like it when you got hurt."
"I'm sorry."
Kageyama's vision blurred and he had to look away. Dammit. Dammit. He felt the muscles of his jaw bunch up as he clenched his teeth, trying to hold it all in. Why... Why? The reason the punk had given was no reason at all. How could a thing like this happen?
"Kageyama?" Again that tiny voice. Hinata's voice had never been so small, never.
Kageyama made himself look back to him. Hinata's eyes were wide and worried. Dammit, he wasn't doing a great job of keeping him calm.
He pulled in a breath. "Yeah?"
"Are you mad at me? Did I screw up?"
Kageyama's fingers tightened on Hinata's shoulders, tighter and tighter, and he struggled for breath, for words. His vision was blurring again and... Dammit, it was all so awful.
"No," he choked out at last. "You didn't do anything wrong. It was just an accident."
"Oh. I'm glad."
Hinata's shoulders relaxed under Kageyama's hands. He even smiled, the little dumbass. A gross, wet chuckle ripped out of Kageyama's throat.
"You're going to be all right," he said.
It had to be true. It just had to be.
And Hinata just kept smiling, small but full, lighting up his whole face. "Because you're here."
Kageyama's brain halted. "...What?"
"I'll be all right because as long as you're here, I'm invincible."
Kageyama couldn't breathe.
Hinata blinked, leaning a little harder against the cushion. He was confused and dazed and utterly out of it, yet completely certain and sincere at the same time. There was no doubt on his face, no fear, no hesitation. "That's right, isn't it? That's what you said."
Another thousand thoughts sped through Kageyama's mind. That was in volleyball, you dumbass. It was about hitting spikes and dodging blockers. It had nothing to do with getting your head slammed into a wall by the king of all dirtbags. I don't know why you trust me so much, so much that even with your brain shorting out on you and your body refusing to work, still you somehow believe that I can fix everything just by being here. That's ridiculous and stupid and I can't believe it's happening. You're the dumbest dumbass ever to dumb your way into my life, and I don't get you and I don't get this and I hate it, I hate it so much.
All that came out of his mouth was, "Right. That's what I said."
And Hinata smiled.
