Hello! Before you start reading, I just want to adress something that came up in one of my reviews. So as it says in the the story summary, there IS going to be KageHina in this, and if you are not comfortable with that I suggest you don't read this. There is not going to be anything explicit and you can probably pass it off as REALLY good friendship if you want too, but they are going to have a relationship in this. I didn't publish the review as it could have been offensive to some readers, but if you are homophobic I don't recommend you reading this! with that aside, enjoy the story! :)
I sleep soundly that night, dreaming of cheers and smiles after winning the Olympics with my team by my side. I open my eyes with a grin on my face and I see that not only did I sleep to my alarm, but I slept past it. It is something very stupid to be happy about, but I am nevertheless. I have gotten so little sleep recently that I can't not celebrate it internally. I change quickly and prance to the kitchen. I turn the corner to see my mom with a phone pressed to her ear, looking as pale as she always does these days and with an apprehensive expression.
I stay silent, listening to her nods and mhms as I pull out some cereal and scour the fridge for good food. She is still on the phone when I am finished eating and putting away my dishes, and I shoot her a questioning look. She holds her pointer finger up at me and I nod. I gather all of my school supplies and wake Natsu up at my mom's silent request, stifling a giggle at the sight of drool running down her face. She wails when I strip her covers off of her, and I grin deviously at her. I flip her light on and she groans again, but I leave the room knowing she won't be asleep for long.
When I return to the kitchen my mom is off of her call and shuffling through some papers. I glance over her shoulder and recoil quickly when I realize they are divorce files. She quickly flips the papers over when she sees me and turns around quickly.
"Hey.. mom... you know you don't have to hide that stuff from me, right?" my voice is tentative, unsure if she is going to continue acting cold.
Her shoulders relax at her words and a sad smile flits across her face.
"I know... I'm sorry... for a lot of things. I'm going to try to be better-" she stiffens as I wrap her in a hug but she slowly relaxes and wraps her arms around me. I lean into her warm touch and hug back tighter, feeling myself unravel. She clutches her thin fingers into the back of my shirt and I can feel her shoulders shaking. Mine are too. We cry together, gasping and sniffing and hiccuping. We are a mess.
I pull back and wipe my wet face on my hand. Her face is red and blotchy and wet with tears too, but she is smiling weakly at me, her lip quivering.
"Mom, I just need you to be here for me. And I will always be here for you too." my voice is soft and scratchy.
"I know. I was lost for a second. I thought I was losing your father AND you. I wasn't thinking. But I'm back now." we hug again, briefer this time, and Natsu walks into the room while we wipe away snot and tears.
"What's going on?" her voice is heavy and she looks at us through lidded eyes.
"Nothing, honey. We just got a bit emotional this early in the morning." she smiles a genuine smile and any stress that I still had over her vanishes.
I almost start crying again. I never knew I could appreciate someone's caring so much.
"I was just on the phone with your doctor, Shouyou. He got the results back pretty quickly this time. It's confirmed. You are starting treatment as soon as we can get you up to the hospital." my jaw drops. It wasn't a fluke.
"M-mom... I..." she ruffles my hair before I can finish and shoves me towards the hallway.
"We don't need Natsu hearing this. The doctor said you are in the high risk group, whatever that means, so treatment needs to be treated as soon as possible. You understand what this means, right? I've heard that cancer treatment is... bad." she bites her lip.
"Mom..."
She shakes her head, her face brightening, "We caught it pretty early. I'll be there for you. And I'm sure your friends will too. We can get through this." her hand grabs mine and I almost pull back from her tight grip. She seems to be trying to convince herself too.
"How do they treat leukemia?" I ask her, fear returning.
"I don't know much, but the doctor said it is in three phases.. I don't get it too much, but what I do know is you'll be undergoing chemotherapy, and because you're in a high risk group, you're going to be taking a lot of drugs. And maybe radiation."
I feel a lump in my throat and pull my hand away from hers before she can feel it shake. I wipe them against my pants and beam up at her.
"It's going to be fine, just like you said!" I check my watch and gasp, "Crap! I'm going to be late!" I say a quick goodbye and walk quickly out the door, bitter that I can't run.
When I meet Kageyama I smile up at him. But at hearing my mothers new, I feel cold panic, unlike anything I felt thus far.
"How are you feeling?" Kageyama seems to be attempting to smile at me, playing with the strap of his backpack.
I hesitate to tell him, but I figure since he already knows this much it doesn't matter how much else I spill, "I- I'm scared..." I stare at the ground as we walk, "We found out this morning that I have cancer for sure, and I have to start treatment right away... It's going to suck."
His fists tighten at his sides, and he begins to speak but stops several times, seemingly unsure about what to say. Finally he rests his hand on my crazy hair, pushing down a little, "Hey, I'll be here, so you don't have to worry about anything..."
I stick my tongue out at him and brush his hand away, "You don't have to tell me, stupid!" I can feel the knot in my stomach loosen a bit at his presence..
The moment I arrive at the gym I see Coach Ukai storming over to me with Takeda-sensei at his side, and I shoot an accusing glance to Kageyama. He only shrugs, looking a little confused.
"Can we talk to you, Hinata?" I don't get a chance to reply as they pull me around to the side of the building.
"We got a call from your mother..." Takeda looks uncharacteristically stern, his hands on his hips.
I bite my lip, looking at him sheepishly. I force a laugh, heat running up my neck to my face.
"This isn't funny. Why were you playing yesterday?! You need to value your health more, Hinata. To think of what could have happened during practice if you had kept pushing yourself horrifies me!" Ukai is nearly shouting and I shrink back, wishing I had Tanaka to hide behind.
I put my head down, "I'm sorry..."
"It's okay, we just care a lot about you and we don't want you to hurt yourself. We are yelling at you because we worry about you," Takeda smiles gently at me, and I feel like crying.
I didn't know that I could feel so guilty about playing volleyball.
"We will let you to play to the extent that your doctor allows, okay? We're not taking away volleyball forever," Takeda consoles me.
Coach Ukai cuts in, "Unless your doctor says so."
Takeda glares at Ukai before patting my shoulder and steering me back to the gym. I follow Ukai inside morosely. Before they walk back something strikes me.
"How much DID my doctor say I can play?" my eyebrows are raised, and I can feel myself getting nervous.
Takeda smiles, "You can play until you start to get tired. The doctor said that exercise can help bring your strength up, especially during treatment."
I throw my fist into the air, jumping. Quickly I run to the changing room where the rest of the team is finishing getting changed and I rip my clothes off and throw on my outfit the fastest I have in my entire life. I don't want to miss out on a single second.
I lag behind the team while we run laps, determined to play for as long as physically possible even if it means taking it slow. I see some of them glancing behind at me with raised eyebrows, as I am usually racing Kageyama at the front of the pack, but nobody says anything to my relief. It is a struggle to give it my all while preventing myself from getting out of breath but I manage to last almost half of practice before Coach Ukai calls me back in to sit on the bench. I am bitter when I have to stop playing but I comply because I don't want my teachers to worry about me.
The more I watch my team the more tricks I pick up and the more I can see everyone's individual playing style. I bounce at the edge of my seat when the team scrimmages, longing to hit the ball when it goes out and practically seeing myself in the gap between Asahi and Kageyama. I grit my teeth, and the frustration I was previously feeling comes back. But it doesn't stay long.
I talk with my senpais in the locker room and they say nothing of my sitting out, chattering about the upcoming game and the cute girl on the cover of this month's sports magazine.
Kageyama walks with me back to the school building, and despite our rivalry I find myself comforted by his presence by my side. I feel that if something were to go awry, Kageyama would be able to help me through it. It's embarrassing, but I don't brood over it.
He waves goodbye when we get to my classroom, staring at the ground and I latch onto him in a bear hug. He pushes me off, muttering something about 15 year olds acting like elementary school kids and slouches as he walks back to his classroom.
I muffle a snicker. He is such a tsundere.
The update is happier this time, luckily. If you have any criticisms, comments, questions, or suggestions feel free to leave a review, I ALWAYS appreciate them - and thanks for reading! :)
-I might not be able to update next week as I am going on vacation, but I will try really hard to get the chapters out.-
