It would be an understatement if someone thought Daichi was worried. He had spent his entire lunch roaming around the school trying to find Suga. He knew it was hopeless, Suga hadn't been in class so why would he be here now? The image from this morning haunted Daichi's mind, Suga covered in his own blood. There was no way that was caused by a simple volleyball. Hinata and Kageyama were acting odd during practice, yet they had performed some of their most powerful quicks. Even if Suga were to have been hit by one of those, it wouldn't have caused that much blood.
Daichi sat in class, not bothering to try and pay attention. Suga had looked so sure that he was okay, so why wasn't he at school? Something else had happened, Daichi was sure. He decided he would ask Hinata and Kageyama about it at practice after school. Even if Suga had told them not to say anything, he knew he could convince them. What concerned Daichi the most was that Suga wasn't being honest, he was just shrugging it off. He was clearly in pain, yet he simply smiled and played it off as though it was nothing.
When he was finally dismissed from class, Daichi had to restrain himself from sprinting out the door. He quickly walked through the building and out to the club room, were he was changed and in the gym before anyone else had left the main building. Every time someone entered the gym, Daichi's head shot up, hoping it was one of the two first years he was searching for. To Daichi's displeasure, Hinata and Kageyama were the last ones to enter the gym, and before he had a chance to approach them, Takeda called the team together.
"I have a bit of bad news." Takeda said, his eyes shifting uncomfortably between the team. Everyone stared, waiting for him to continue. Daichi wasn't sure why, but something gnawed at the back of his mind, something bad.
"The nurse recently informed me that Sugawara's nose is pretty badly broken. She said he probably will be out for a week or so, but we won't know for sure until he's out of the hospital." Takeda continued, nervously looking around. Silence echoed around the large gym, nobody moved or said anything. Out of the corner of his eye, Daichi saw Kageyama stiffen and Hinata looked like he was about to cry.
"If that happened this morning then why is he still in the hospital?" Tanaka asked, curiosity in his eyes. Others murmured in agreement, and Daichi was one of them. Sure, it was bad, but there was no need for someone to be in the hospital all day for a broken nose.
"As of 20 minutes ago Sugawara hasn't been there yet. The nurse told him to go this morning, but it seems like he didn't listen." Takeda replied.
'Damn Suga, always trying to fix things himself.' Daichi thought. He wished the slightly smaller boy would lean on him more, they were best friends, they were always supposed to be there for each other.
"Boys." Ukai said sternly from behind Takeda. Everyone's heads jerked up to look at their coach. "The story is that Sugawara was hit with a ball this morning, a story told by Sugawara himself. I don't believe this for a second. Nobody's going to get in trouble, but I need to know what actually happened." Daichi looked around, searching his teammates faces for a sign that someone knew something. When he got to the freak duo, he knew his original guess was correct. Kageyama was stiff and staring at the ground while Hinata looked as though one touch would cause him to shatter.
"Hinata..." Daichi said, putting his hand on the small boy's shoulder. Hinata flinched at the touch and broke down.
"I didn't mean to!" He wailed, falling into Daichi. Daichi put his arm around Hinata and rubbed small circles into his back, trying to help him calm down. Once his breathing steadied, Hinata took a deep breath and stood up.
"My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer yesterday," he started. A collective gasp could be heard in the large gym. This was not how anybody had pictured this conversation to go. Daichi was about to say something, but Kageyama caught his eye and shook his head. Daichi closed his mouth, Kageyama was right, he needed to let Hinata tell the whole story.
"I was a bit on edge I guess, it was a kinda sudden thing. Well, when we were practicing this morning I kept missing, I couldn't concentrate. The usual thing happened, Kags and I starting yelling and everything began to blur. Before I knew it my fist hurt and...and... Kags was still in front of me...and...Suga was..." He couldn't finish, collapsing onto the ground. Kageyama rushed over to comfort him. He looked up to finish the story.
"We were too heated. Suga tried to get us to calm down and he got hurt out of it. I don't know why he told us to lie about it." He finished.
"Suga has been acting kinda strange lately." Tanaka mentioned. After receiving nothing but blank looks, he continued. "He just seems really out of it, like he's here, but he's not really here."
"He does seem a bit distracted." Ukai agreed. "Did something happen within the last week or so?" He asked. Daichi shook his head, he hadn't noticed anything. Suga would have told him if something had happened anyway, and he didn't mention anything.
"Nothing?" Ukai asked, taking in all the shaking heads. He stopped when he got to Daichi. "Sugawara didn't mention anything to you?"
"No, he hasn't. When we're together he acts pretty normal, so I haven't noticed much either." Daichi responded, searching his mind for anything he may have missed.
"Okay, so after that he cleaned up and went to the nurse?" Takeda asked, bringing the conversation back to the events of this morning.
"Not exactly." Kageyama answered. Everyone looked at him, confused. What did that mean, not exactly? Daichi wasn't sure.
"It was so scary." Hinata piped up, wiping his face with the back of his hand. "It's like he wasn't even here anymore."
Daichi froze. What were they talking about? Suga wasn't even there, what did that mean?
"What do you mean?" Noya asked, voicing Daichi's thoughts.
"He didn't respond to anything. We kept asking if he was okay and what we needed to do to help, but he didn't even move. He was just staring at the ground. He snapped back after I put a towel against his nose, and he just acted like nothing had happened." Kageyama answered.
Something was obviously wrong with Suga, Daichi had gathered that much. What had he missed? When the two of them were together everything seemed normal, so what changed? The more he thought about it, the more small things began to stand out. Suga was always very punctual, so why was he early this morning? Kageyama had said that everything was set up when they arrived at 6:30, so just how early was Suga? Tanaka was right, during practice Suga had seemed a bit out of it. Sure, he was physically there, but he wasn't really there mentally.
"Do you know where he is now?" Daichi heard Asahi ask. He was pulled out of his thoughts and back to reality.
"He was told to contact his parents and go to the hospital, but all we know is that he never made it. We tried to contact his parents but never got an answer." He replied.
"You probably won't hear from his parents." Daichi told Takeda. In response, he received a questioning look. "They're both lawyers in Tokyo, they're really busy and aren't around a lot."
"Suga lives alone?" Hinata asked, sniffling.
"For the most part. When his parents get a break they come back, but being a lawyer is a demanding job." Daichi responded, wondering if he'd shared too much. He didn't think Suga would mind, but he also wasn't sure what Suga's relationship with his parents was. All Suga had ever shared was that they spent most of their time in Tokyo for work.
"I'll go to his house and check on him." Daichi said, already heading towards the door. Before he got there, however, a large hand held him back.
"You stay here and run practice, I'll go." Asahi said gently. Daichi knew that he was being selfish, trying to ditch practice, but he also knew he was going to explode if he didn't hear from Suga.
"But-" Daichi started, only to get interrupted.
"We can't have both of our captains gone Daichi. Anyway, Suga would be mad if you skipped practice for him." Asahi said, looking at Daichi. Daichi sighed, nodding at the other third year. He hated to admit it, but he was a tad bit protective over Suga, they had been through so much together after all. But, he realized, so had Asahi. The three of them had been together throughout their time at Karasuno, so if he could trust anyone around Suga, it was definitely Asahi.
"I'm worried." He said quietly.
"I know, I am too." Asahi responded, putting a hand on Daichi's shoulder.
"Let me know how things are." He told Asahi, turning away from the door and heading back towards the court. He heard Asahi leave, closing the door behind him. Daichi took a deep breath and looked at the rest of the team, still standing around Takeda and Ukai.
"Well," he said, "don't we have nationals to prepare for?" And with that, everyone was on their feet.
Practice didn't go well. Kageyama and Hinata weren't able to match for their freak quick, Noya's receives were sub-par, Tanaka didn't jump with as much enthusiasm as normal, even Tsukishima was affected. By the time practice ended, the team hadn't done anything productive. They were slow to clean up, moving as if they were stuck in molasses. Slowly, players began to trickle out of the gym, until only two remained.
"Daichi-san." Kageyama said, walking over to the older boy. Daichi turned to look at him.
"What do you need Kageyama?" Daichi asked, not quite sure what the answer would be. Normally it would be something about more individual practice, but given the events of today Daichi was sure that wasn't it.
"It's about the National Youth Training Camp." He said, looking at the ground.
"What about it?" Daichi asked, still not sure where Kageyama was going.
"I haven't accepted the invitation yet, and I was wondering if I should deny it." He asked, his voice quiet.
"Why would you give up such a great opportunity?" Daichi asked, startled that Kageyama would even consider not going.
"Well the team needs a setter, and if something's wrong with Sugawara I don't think I should leave." He answered.
"Kageyama, I'm glad you're worried about your team, but you can't turn this down. If you get better then the team gets better, and that's what we need to win nationals. Not to mention, Suga would get mad if you didn't go because you were worried about him." Daichi smiled.
"I guess you're right. It's only a week after all. I better go let Takeda-sensei know my decision. Goodbye Daichi-san!" Kageyama called, running over to the door.
'I better figure out what's going on with Suga soon.' Daichi thought to himself. 'Kageyama is right, it's going to be difficult for the team if we lose both of our setters.'
Daichi made his way to the club room to change before class. It was a nice day out, the sky was blue and the birds were singing, but Daichi wasn't able to enjoy it. He got to the club room and opened the door, not surprised that it was empty. He changed slowly, trying to fight the feeling of loneliness creeping up on him. He had never actually been in the club room alone, Suga was always with him.
A soft vibration from his bag brought Daichi away from his thoughts. He reached in and pulled out his phone, looking at caller ID before answering it.
"Asahi."