Two months post surgery

It was the final week before Inter-High and Aoba Jousai was squeezing in as much time as they could. This year they were going to beat Shiratorizawa Academy; losing was not an option. For the past eight weeks, Oikawa did his best to help out the coaches; looking what needed to be worked on and what was fine; who were their strongest and weakest players.

But also for the past eight weeks, the captain had been attending physical therapy for his knee. His goal was to return to the court for the Inter-High Preliminaries and everyone knew that. Did they believe him? The first years had faith, second years had some faith but the third years and coaches didn't. It was too soon, just two months after his ACL surgery; his knee still needed time to heal. The captain had just gotten off his crutches a month ago and still needed help down the stairs.

Everyone knew just how bad Oikawa wanted to return to the court, they all wanted him back, but in reality, it was too soon.

It was a rather hot summer Wednesday morning; Oikawa was going in late to school because of his two-month post surgery appointment with his doctor. The captain hoped that the doctor would take his brace off and give him the okay to start training again.

"Oi Tooru, you need to take it slow." His brother said while driving him to his appointment. "I know you want to get back on the court ASAP, but I don't think Dr. Kasamatsu will let you start training."

"Onii-chan," Oikawa whined. "Have some faith!"

"I do have faith. Faith that it'll get through your thick skull that it's too early."

"So I guess that means you have a thick skull too then." The captain smirked.

"Tooru." His brother said in a tone that told the captain to stop.

"Well we'll see what the doctor says then."

"I'm telling you what he's going to say. It's too early!"

"Oh Iwa-chan sent me a text." Oikawa announced as he felt his phone vibrate, seeing Iwaizumi sent him a text.

'Good luck at the doctors. Better not get your hopes up. Tell me when you get back. –Iwaizumi'

"Tooru, please listen to me." His brother sighed as the captain texted the vice-captain back. They just pulled up to the hospital and his brother placed a hand on top of Oikawa's. "I know how much volleyball means to you. I really do. I mean I played it back when I was in high school, Takeru is starting to play volleyball; you're coaching him! But understand that you've only been in therapy for a little over five weeks. You just got off your crutches, which is great, but you still need help getting down the stairs. All I'm saying is don't get your hopes up."

Oikawa didn't say a word but looked away while looking down. Deep down he knew, his brother was right. It was too early, but he just wanted to return as soon as possible. Sitting on the sidelines was driving him insane and he couldn't keep trying to describe how to properly do something without showing the other plays how to do it. Letting out a sigh, he opened the car door. "I know."

After getting an x-ray of his knee, they were brought back to a room to wait for the doctor. Tooru ended up playing on his phone while his brother looked over some papers he brought with him.

Knock knock

"Good morning, Tooru-san." Dr. Kasamatsu entered the room, greeting Oikawa and giving a nod to his brother. "How are you doing this morning?"

"Good. Tired." Oikawa answered as he put his phone up as the doctor quickly read over his notes.

"So I talked to your physical therapist and he says things are going good with the therapy. He says he's adding to your menu for your therapy."

"Oh wonderful. Has he taken the massages off yet? Those are the worst."

"Nope."

"Damn it."

"Tooru."

"What? They are! It hurts when he bends it." Oikawa pouted.

"Stop whining. It can't be that bad."

"You try having surgery on your knee, keeping it straight for three weeks and having it bent for the first time since then."

"Nah I'm good. I'm also not careless and took care of my body when I played volleyball."

"So mean Onii-chan!" Oikawa pouted again as his brother stuck his tongue out at him. Dr. Kasamatsu blinked as he watched the two bicker before clearing his throat. The two stopped and looked over at the doctor as he opened his chart.

"As I was saying, you're over all progress is going excellent. If you could, please lay on the table, I want you to lift your leg as high as you can." He asked as the captain gave a nod and did so. He lay on the table as the doctor raised his hand up. Slowly, Oikawa lifted his leg and touched the doctor's hand. "Good!"

"Congratulations little bro. You can use your leg."

"Shush!" Oikawa hissed as he sat up. "So how much more longer do I have to wear this brace?"

"Well I am very happy with your progress and so is your therapist, I think it's safe to say that you can take it off. But I say go easy on the stairs, take one step at a time."

"About time! Ugh finally!" Oikawa rejoiced, after two months he can finally take his brace off and not have to wear that bulky thing anymore.

"Great. Now we can see your pretty scar."

"Onii-chan!" The captain whined as he pouted. "You know I hate my scar."

"Don't worry about it. It'll shrink soon and you won't be able to notice it." The doctor replied as Oikawa let out a sigh of relief.

"That'll take a year." Oikawa shot a glare at his brother.

"It'll take a while but I assure you, it will shrink."

"Good because I hate looking at it."

"So dramatic." His brother rolled his eyes.

'I'm going to ignore you know.' "Hey um doctor? I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Since I'm doing so well in therapy and you're happy with my progress, would I be okay to go back to training for volleyball? Inter-high is next week and I want to lead my team to nationals." Oikawa explained with a straight face. Dr. Kasamatsu didn't say a word as he listened to what the setter had to say. As soon as he finished, the doctor gave a sigh. 'Oh no…'

"Tooru-san, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to say no. It's too early for you to go back. You still have a long way to go, recovery can take up six months to a year. Your knee is still fragile, one wrong move and you could be finished. Your volleyball career would end. Give it time, keep working hard in therapy and I'm sure you'll be back on the court in no time." The doctor replied as he placed a hand on the captain's shoulder. Oikawa didn't say a word but just gave a nod. The doctor gave his shoulder a squeeze before adding something else or talking to his brother. He didn't hear it.

Hopping off the table, they exited the building after scheduling the next appointment. His brother threw his brace in the back of his car while the captain climbed into the front and buckled up.

"Tooru?" He heard his brother call his name while he got in.

"I know…I got my hopes up. You don't need to bring it up." He answered, not letting his brother say another word. Oikawa's brother sighed and patted his shoulder.

"I wasn't going to say that. You're doing great though, Tooru. You'll be back."

"…yeah I guess." Oikawa whispered as his brother sadly looked at him. "Can we go now?" Giving a nod, they headed off to Aoba Jousai.

"Tooru!" The brothers had just arrived to the high school and Oikawa just got out of the car. Turning around, Oikawa looked at his brother. "I'll pick up some milk bread on the way home tonight, okay? Cheer up. You look miserable when you aren't your usual annoying, chirpy self."

"RUDE!" Oikawa exclaimed and glared at his brother. "You're annoying too!"

"Well guess it runs in the family. See you tonight, little bro!" His brother said as he drove off. Oikawa watched and let out a sigh before heading toward class.

"Oi! Where's your brace?!" Iwaizumi exclaimed that afternoon. School had just ended and the ace was surprised to see the setter without his brace.

"Doctor said I didn't have to wear it anymore." Oikawa explained as he walked up to him.

"Is he crazy?! YOU'RE LIMPING!"

"He said at the previous appointment I would have a limp for awhile." The captain explained as the two headed toward the gym.

"How'd you get up the stairs?" Iwaizumi questioned as they made it to the stairs.

"I have both of my legs, Iwa-chan." Oikawa chuckled as he took each step at a time. Iwazumi just staying three steps ahead of him, ready to catch him in case he fell.

"So what did the doctor say?" Iwaizumi asked as they reached the gym. Oikawa stopped; not taking another step after the ace asked him that question. Noticing he stopped, the dark brunette turned around and raised an eyebrow.

"Oikawa?"

". . .I'm still weak." He whispered as he looked toward the ground.

"What? Who says? Tell me who said that and I'll beat the living fuck out of them!" Iwaizumi hissed as he made a fist. There was no way in hell he was going to let anyone call his boyfriend weak. "Who was it!"

Oikawa didn't answer for a few minutes before he looked up. "I did."

"Oi, you aren't weak."

"My knee is still fragile! Two months and I still can't play, let alone train! I've worked hard these past few weeks and…why!" Oikawa ranted. Iwazumi just stood there and listened as the captain let his frustrations out. It was obvious that he was frustrated, but the ace just shook his head. He walked over and flicked the captain on his forehead. "Ow! Mean Iwa-chan!"

"First off, I would have slapped you, but I don't want you to fall. Second off, you aren't weak. You're still recovering. Did you really think that after just five weeks of therapy you'd be back and training with us before next week?"

"That was my goal."

"Look, I may sound like a broken record, but you have to give it time. You'll be back in time for either the spring tournament or nationals." Iwazumi reminded him as he turned around. "Come on, the team's waiting."

"…How do you know I'll be back in time?" Iwaizumi stopped as he opened the door. "How do you know that?"

"Huh?"

"Iwa-chan…we're third years."

"Yeah thanks for the reminder."

"I might not recover in time before we graduate!" Oikawa suddenly cried. Iwaizumi's eyes widened when he saw tears starting to fall from Oikawa's face. "I won't make it in time."

"OI!" The ace started as he walked over from the gym door and back to the captain, slapping both of his hands onto the setter's cheeks and lifted his head to look at him. "Don't you fucking dare say that ever again!"

"I'm never going to make a full recovery." Oikawa cried as he put his hands over Iwaizumi's and gripped them hard as he lowered his head, tears falling.

"Yes you are! Yeah it's going to take a while to come back but you're gonna come back stronger than before. Who said they were going to lead us to nationals? You did! You better not back down on your promise you made to us. You are going to lead us there and we're going to beat the hell out of Shiratorizawa." Iwaizumi reminded him as he gripped the captain's face tighter.

"Why, Iwa-chan?" The setter asked after a few minutes of silence between the two players.

"Why what?"

"Just why? Of all the fucking injuries I could have gotten, I had to fucking tear my damn ACL, one of the most serious knee injuries I could get. I got it of all years, my last year in high school. Why now? Why not last year?" Oikawa cried harder. "Why now?"

"Tooru," Iwaizumi started as he wiped the falling tears away and leaned his forehead against the setter's forehead. "You aren't listening to me. You will make a comeback. You're still recovering from surgery, which was not even three months ago. You're still training your knee to get back to where you used to be. We didn't get where we are now by just starting now. We've trained since we were kids, we worked hard to get where we are. You have to work hard to get your knee back to normal. Look, I know it's hard. You want to play, I want you to play, Makki and Mattsun want you to play, the first and second years want you to play, coach wants you to play. Hell, Karasuno and all of them want you to play! They're expecting you to be back on the court when you've healed. FUCK, USHIJIMA IS EXPECTING YOU TO FUCKING HEAL SO HE CAN PLAY US! YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BEAT HIM RIGHT? SO WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU WANT TO GIVE THIS UP NOW? YOU'RE JUST TWO FUCKING MONTHS POST!"

Oikawa stared at Iwaizumi, breathing hard after his rant. Looking down, he closed his eyes as more tears fell. He was right…it's only been two months since the surgery. His team is expecting him to lead them to nationals. Karasuno, Nekoma, Fukurodani , Date Tech and Shiratorizawa were expecting him to return to the court as soon as his knee grew stronger. He loved volleyball too much to give up on his recovery. He opened his eyes and looked up at the ace.

"You're right. I can't give up now. I'm sorry Iwa-chan." Oikawa apologized as he hugged him. "You're right, they're expecting me to lead them to nationals. We're going to beat Ushijima this time."

"You're going to come back, Tooru. It's going to take time, but I know you'll come back. We have faith you will. We'll play our hardest and win Inter-High for you. Then when you come back, you're going to lead us to nationals. Got it?"

Oikawa gave a nod. "Got it."

"Good, that's the Tooru I know." Iwazumi replied as he held the setter close.

"Iwa-chan?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you." Oikawa whispered as he laid his head on the ace's shoulder. Iwazumi chuckled and tightened his embrace around his boyfriend.

Inter-High came and went, Aoba Jousai losing in the final round of the preliminaries to Shiratorizawa. The whole match, Oikawa did his best to help coach his team, encouraging them and yelling when they screwed up. When they called for time-outs, he did what he usually did as if he was in the game. But in the end, they lost. Again. Not winning a single set, coming close each time.

That next Tuesday when practice resumed, Aoba Jousai stepped their game up and trained harder. They were going to win the playoffs and go to nationals. That was still a few months away so everyday, all the players trained hard. Iwazumi lead all the practices, since Oikawa had been out, his leadership skills had improved significantly, especially after their loss to Shiratorizawa.

Also stepping up his game was Oikawa. In the beginning, he took his therapy seriously. But the loss to Shiratorizawa made him even more determined to return back to the court. He still remembered the look Ushijima gave him for the first time since his surgery. Although he didn't say a word, the captain of Shiratorizawa's expression read, 'Good to see you here, but not glad to see you aren't on the court.' or something similar to that.

Both sides did the best they could. The spring tournament was coming and coming fast.

Four months later

Dr. Kasamatsu's office

"Well by what your therapist has been telling me and by the looks on your x-rays, I would say you are okay to return to volleyball." Dr. Kasamatsu announced as Oikawa's face lit up.

"YES!" Oikawa cheered, he was beyond excited to finally return back to volleyball. After six long months, it was finally happening. "Now Aoba Jousai is going to the nationals!"

"I will certainly have to come and watch you all play at the spring tournament."

"Wait...are you saying I can-"

"It's a two week short notice, I'm sure your team has been training since inter-high, but yes. By what your therapy was telling me, he's pretty confident that taking part in the spring tournament will be good. Just be careful on how you jump and land."

"Of course!" Oikawa hopped off the table and bowed to the doctor. "Thank you very much for fixing my knee!" The doctor just chuckled and patted the captain's head.

"It's my job as a doctor to do so. You should go see your therapist, he's in today." Oikawa gave a nod and again, thanked the doctor for everything. Walking out of the office and into the lobby, Oikawa's brother waited for him.

"So what did the doctor say?" He asked as he put his phone down. Oikawa smirked and gave him a thumb up.

"I'm good to start training again! Dr. Kasamatsu is expecting me to take part in the spring tournament." The captain explained as the two walked out and headed toward therapy.

"Tooru, why are we going to therapy? You don't have it today." He asked as the stopped in front of the door.

"I'm just going to see him and thank him for his help. I'm sure I still have to come, but he did a lot for me." Oikawa replied as he walked in. "Yahoo~ Dr. Kazuya!."

Looking up from his papers, the therapist chuckled and got up from his desk. Walking over to the setter before bowing to one another. "Well I take it Kasamatsu told you the news?"

Oikawa gave a nod. "He did! I wanted to thank you for your help these last few months. I must have been difficult to work with."

"Well you kept me busy I'll be honest," The therapist chuckled. "But you worked hard and now you'll be leading Aoba Jousai to nationals after you win the spring tournament."

"Um it's okay for me to take part in the tournament right?" Oikawa questioned, a little hesitant to take part in fear that he'll hurt his knee again. Dr. Kazuya gave a nod as he went back to his desk, pulling out a white kneepad before handing it to the setter.

"Yes it'll be alright. Just be careful when you land and jump. Also for at least a few months, I want you to wear this brace. It'll help and I'm sure having a white pad and black kneepad is your signature look." He chuckled as Oikawa smirked and took the brace, taking it out and putting it on. "I'm expecting one hell of a game, Tooru-san."

"And you'll get it!" Oikawa announced as he bowed again before exiting the room and into the hallway where his brother waited.

"Tooru." His brother said after they entered the elevator. The captain looked over to his brother.

"Hmm?" He hummed as the setter's older brother looked over to him and gave a gentle smile.

"I'm proud of you. These last six months haven't been the easiest, but you worked your way back to the court. I know you wanted to get back in time for inter-high and it was hard seeing the doctor telling you it was too early. But now, you're going to be leading Aoba Jousai to nationals when you win." The older man explained as Oikawa gave a chuckle.

"Thanks Onii-chan. That means a lot to me. You were one of my biggest encouragement to work hard to get my knee working again." The setter explained as his brother chuckled and ruffled his head. "HEY RUDE!"

"I am still going to annoy you till the end." Oikawa gave a groan at his answer.

Aoba Jousai Gymnasium

Taking part in some early practice before the real practice started, Iwazumi served the ball toward his water bottle. The ball never hit the bottle because someone saved it and spiked it toward Iwazumi.

"Oikawa?!" The ace was shocked to see the setter and that he saved the ball. What was more shocking, Oikawa was in their practice uniform. The setter smiled and gave a peace sign to the wing spiker.

"Yahoo~ Iwa-chan."

"Why the fuck did you do that?! Are you crazy!" Iwazumi was furious. How could Oikawa be so careless? Was he that desperate to return to the court? But the setter just laughed which made the ace even more furious.

"I just got back from the doctor and was given the okay to start training again." Oikawa explained as he bent below the net and walked over to Iwazumi whose mouth dropped open.

"Wait a minute, the doctor say you could play?"

"Yup! Dr. Kazuya and Dr. Kasamatsu are expecting me to play in the spring tournament." He explained as he winked at the ace. "So this means you're back to vice-captain."

"…Good because I could not handle being captain anymore." Iwazumi smirked before he picked up the volleyball he missed and threw it at Oikawa who caught it. "Glad to have you back."

The setter smirked. "It's good to be back."

Two weeks later

"OI! THE GAME'S ABOUT TO START!" Hinata called out as Karasuno walked to their seats to watch Aoba Jousai vs Date Tech.

"Slow down Hinata, the game hasn't started yet. We still have time." Asahi reassured as the team walked to their seats. Kageyama was one of the last to take a seat, but noticed something on the court. Or rather…someone. Chuckling, he stared at that person as they warmed up.

"Kageyama?" Suga asked as him and Daichi followed. "Everything alright?"

"Hm? Um yes. I just noticed something while watching Aoba Jousai warming up." The first year answered as the two third years looked and right away, they noticed too.

"So he's back." Daichi chuckled.

"Who's back?!" Hinata asked, overhearing the three talk. Suga chuckled and pointed. All of Karasuno looked and Ukai smirked.

"Well well well," He started as he leaned foreword and watched the person lead stretches. "Look what we have here."

"The Grand King is back!"

And that's it! This is my first fanfic that I've finished and I didn't expect it to be a Haikyuu! fanfic to be honest XD

Thank you to everyone that read, left a comment and a kudo! I love y'all SO MUCH!

Be on the look out soon for a new Haikyuu! fanfic from me ;)