At some point Hinata felt secure enough to let go of Kageyama's hand. Kageyama remained sitting by the bed, letting his hand and lower arm rest on the mattress, in case Hinata felt the need to grab him again. He remembered Hinata clutching his arm right after the incident, remembered his fingers clenching in Kageyama's sleeve. Remembered how he declared confidently that he was going to be all right because Kageyama was there.

If Hinata had come to associate Kageyama subconsciously with safety and well-being... That was kind of dumb, but Kageyama no longer felt any need to disabuse him of the notion. If it helped Hinata feel better, it was okay, no matter how stupid and ill-advised it was.

When the first group started moving toward the door, preparing to leave, Kageyama shifted to get up and follow them. But they all turned to him and told him to stay where he was, almost in unison. Hinata laughed, and Kageyama flushed, but he settled back in his chair. The senpai knew what was going on, obviously, and they felt the same way Kageyama did. If it helped Hinata, it was worth doing.

So Kageyama sat there by Hinata's bed while the rest of the team visited. He felt a little awkward, but Hinata and his mother were sociable enough for ten Kageyamas, and the room was always full of lighthearted chatter and pleasant smiles. Everyone was delighted to find Hinata acting more like himself, more alert and aware and talkative. A few of them seemed aware of the oddness of Kageyama sitting so close, never moving. And when Hinata's hand twitched toward Kageyama's sleeve, then halted abruptly, Shimizu and Ennoshita definitely noticed it, a flicker of concern in their eyes as they glanced at Kageyama.

Kageyama just shrugged, unable to convey the situation without words. They both gave slight nods, though, and were wise enough to say nothing. Yachi was talking, something about the classes Hinata was missing and how she would be happy to help him catch up when he came back, and the conversation turned to other things.

By the time the last group came in, consisting of Takeda, Ukai, Yamaguchi, and Tsukishima, Hinata was beginning to droop. Hinata had always been one to gain energy from company, unlike Kageyama. When people were around Hinata got more cheerful, more bouncy, more garrulous, while Kageyama found such situations tiring. It was a bit alarming to find their feelings now reversed—Kageyama appreciated the constant support everyone was showing, while Hinata seemed more and more exhausted with every smile, every conversation.

The biggest surprise of the day, though, was probably the squashy package in Tsukishima's hands. It looked like it was wrapped in wrinkled paper from a past birthday—light blue with multicolored balloons and confetti—and he held it loosely in his hands and didn't look at it, as if embarrassed by its existence. Takeda and Ukai paused on the other side of the room, talking quietly to Mrs. Hinata. Yamaguchi, grinning broadly, nudged Tsukishima in the arm. When he resisted, Yamaguchi put both hands in the middle of Tsukishima's back and forced him over to the bed.

Kageyama and Hinata stared, unblinking. Tsukishima looked fixedly at a corner of the ceiling, his cheeks pink, his expression full of suffering. "Here." He dumped the package in Hinata's lap.

"Wow. Um, th-thanks, Tsukishima," Hinata said. His hands hovered over the package, as if not sure he was allowed to touch it.

Tsukishima glanced at his face, then looked away again. "It's just some stuff I had sitting around the house. It's no big deal."

Yamaguchi giggled and bumped Tsukishima's shoulder with his own. "Go on, open it."

"Ah, o-okay." Hinata scrabbled at the paper, finding a loose corner and ripping it open. The worn paper gave way easily, revealing two items. A large, soft plushy dinosaur—a stegosaurus—and a glossy oversized book about sharks.

"Wow." Hinata stared at the gifts in flabbergasted silence for moment. Then, "This is really nice, Tsukishima."

Tsukishima's eyebrow twitched. "I told you. They were just things I had sitting around. I don't need them anymore. I didn't do anything special for you. I'm just getting rid of stuff."

"Ah. Right." Hinata tucked the stegosaurus under his arm and centered the book in his lap. His face actually looked glum. "I'm not supposed to read right now."

"It's mostly pictures. You can look at those." Tsukishima pointed at the book. "The Lucifer Dogfish is on page twenty-three."

"Oh. Cool!"

Hinata raised his face to beam at Tsukishima. Tsukishima grunted in pain and took several steps backward, almost running into Yamaguchi as he did so. Yamaguchi had covered his mouth with both hands and looked he was about to die from smothering his laughter.

"All right. That's finished. I'm going now." Tsukishima turned to the door, snagging Yamaguchi's elbow as he went. "C'mon, Yamaguchi."

Yamaguchi allowed himself to be dragged backward, but he waved at Hinata and Kageyama before they disappeared out the door. "See you at school! Get better soon!"

"Come on, Yamaguchi," Tsukishima's voice sounded, already in the hall, and they were gone.

Hinata and Kageyama looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Huh," Kageyama said.

"Yeah," Hinata answered.

Hinata squeezed the dinosaur under his arm and stared at the book in his lap. "Did you ever in a million years think that Tsukishima would ever give me a present, for any reason?"

"No."

"Me neither."

They fell silent.

Takeda-sensei and Coach Ukai came over to greet Hinata and wish him well. The conversation was kept brief—they could all see that Hinata was worn out and needed a nap. When they moved to leave, Kagayama rose from his chair to go with them.

Before he left, though, he turned back to Hinata. "Hey, where's your phone?"

Hinata's eyes had already slipped shut. He opened them, blinking dazedly. "My...phone? No idea. At home, I guess? Wherever they put my stuff. Why?"

Kageyama glanced around the room, but Hinata's school bag did not immediately appear before his eyes. It probably really was at home. "Just wanted to make sure you had my number."

He pulled out his own phone and scrolled through the contacts he'd entered at the beginning of the year and hadn't glanced at since. Ah, there was Hinata, under "Dumbass Redhead." He hit the dial button and let it ring. "There. Now you'll have my number in your call log. If you need to, you can get hold of me."

Hinata blinked again. "Why would I need to get hold of you?"

Kageyama turned away, cheeks heating. "I dunno. Just in case."

Takeda and Ukai were waiting patiently for him by the door. Kageyama moved over to them, then turned back one last time and gave Hinata a little wave with one hand. "Get better soon."

Hinata smiled. "Of course."

Kageyama gave him a tight smile in return. And they went.

X

It had occurred to Kageyama that he might someday regret ensuring that Hinata had his phone number and then encouraging him to call when he needed something. He had foreseen a day when a then-completely-healed Hinata bombarded him with texts and messages about buying pork buns or making sure the gym was open for Saturday practice or wanting to know what answer he had for problem five in the math homework, and other such inanities.

He hadn't realized that he would come to regret his impulsive action so very, very quickly.

The insistent ringing that woke Kageyama from a sound slumber had him slapping around his pillow in irritation, trying to shut off the alarm. His room was pitch black, much too early to be getting up. Had he set his alarm for the wrong time?

His hand finally landed on the thing making the noise, and Kageyama blinked and froze where he lay, feeling the shape of the object in his hand. It was his phone, not his alarm. The clock on his shelf told him that it was very, very early. Or very, very late, depending on your perspective. In either case, it was not a normal time to be calling someone for a phone conversation. And who would call Kageyama at any hour? Who did he even know? He'd barely ever used his phone as anything more than a portable clock until just a couple days ago...

Oh. Kageyama rubbed the sleep-grit from his eyes with his thumb and index finger, then raised the phone high enough to look at the ID. Yep. Dumbass Redhead.

Kageyama accepted the call and put the phone to his ear. "Oi, Hinata. This had better be important."

"Wow, your phone etiquette is amazing." Hinata's voice over the phone sounded kind of reedy and thin, not like his usual self. Kageyama narrowed his eyes in irritation. He was coming to really hate phones.

"Whatever, dumbass. Just tell me why you're calling me at this horrible hour."

"You told me to call if I needed to."

"Yeah, I did." Kageyama turned onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, doing his best to repress a sigh. "But what can you possibly need from me in the middle of the night? I'm not there at your house—I can't bring you a glass of water or pull up the blankets you dumped on the floor or anything like that. Why aren't you asleep?"

"You sound mad." Hinata's voice wavered. "Never mind, this was a bad idea..." His voice faded, as if he was moving the phone away in preparation of ending the call.

"Oi! Don't hang up, idiot!" Kageyama sat straight up in bed with the force of his exclamation.

Hinata's voice strengthened again. "But you're mad. I shouldn't have called."

"Yeah, but..." This time Kageyama did sigh. He slumped over, pressing his forehead into his hand. He was pretty much awake now, so he remembered that he'd made a promise to himself that he would do whatever he had to do to help Hinata get better. If that meant talking to him on the phone in the middle of the night when he'd much rather be sleeping, so be it.

"But you called me anyway," Kageyama said as reasonably as he could. He was quite proud of how even and calm his voice sounded, despite his agitation. "So you might as well tell me what it's about."

"Oh. Right. Okay." There was a rustling of cloth as if Hinata was moving restlessly around in his bed. When his voice came again, there was an odd, close, almost muffled quality to it. "The thing is... Well..."

Kageyama blinked. He thought maybe he recognized that quality of sound over the phone, the sudden absence of ambient room noise. "Hey. Are you hiding under your covers?"

A brief, embarrassed silence. "Maybe."

"Why?"

Another silence.

"And why did you call me in the first place? Stop hesitating and just tell me."

Another short silence, filled only with the sound of Hinata's breath, quick and labored. He seemed to be working up to an answer, though, so Kageyama waited.

"The thing is..." His voice was soft. Soft and hesitant and wavering, and not much like Hinata's voice at all. "I'm...scared. For no reason. And I thought maybe you could talk me out of it."

Kageyama blinked into the darkness. He would have expected almost anything else before this. "Scared?"

"Mm. Yeah."

"Of what?"

"I don't know, Kageyama. That's why I said 'for no reason.' Weren't you listening?"

The irritation was welcome. It sounded more like Hinata. Kageyama dug the heel of his palm into his eye, watching patterns of red and black and white burst in his vision. This made no sense and he didn't know what to do with it. "How long have you been feeling scared?"

"A...a while? I dunno. Sometimes I get too tired and forget, and when people are around it usually doesn't bother me. But it's dark and quiet now and everyone else is asleep and I can't make myself forget and so I called you and I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up and make you mad at me but honestly I already feel better just with you talking to me on the phone and being your normal stupid grumpy scary self so I guess it's working and is that okay with you or not? I need to know for reasons."

Kageyama sat still in the dark, his mind working furiously. Suddenly a number of things made sense. "You've been scared for...a while? Since you got hurt? This whole time?"

"Since somebody hurt me, yeah. I guess. Though I didn't know someone had done it, at first. But I know now and... I guess it makes sense that I'm scared? A little bit? It kind of helps to know that there's a reason. But also not, because I hate being scared and it won't go away and I don't know why it won't."

"Don't you feel safe at your house? The guy who did this is on the other side of the mountain. And he probably doesn't even know where you live."

Hinata made a frustrated sound that was somewhere between a squeak and wail. "I know! But it doesn't help!" Somehow he got across the impression that he was yelling even though his voice was barely above a whisper. "My dad told me that the guy is suspended and he's never gonna be allowed anywhere near me, ever, and I know I live on the other side of an entire freaking mountain, and I'm still. So. Scared."

Kageyama fell backward onto his pillow, still holding his phone to his ear, his other hand clenched over his chest. Scared. Hinata was scared. He'd been attacked and injured, violence had been committed against him, he had to deal with all kinds of pain and weakness, time had been stolen from him that he would have to spend recovering, and now this, too. He was afraid, almost constantly, because of this horrible thing that had been done to him.

It wasn't fair. It was too much. It made Kageyama want to beat his fist against a wall until his knuckles bled, until he couldn't remember anymore why he was angry, until he didn't have to think about this, didn't have to understand, didn't have to know just how evil the world could be and just how much it could hurt him and hurt Hinata, an innocent person who had never done harm to anyone, and yet was still being forced to endure all of this suffering.

At least he understood, now, why Hinata had so badly needed to hold onto his hand, as well Nishinoya's hands when given the opportunity. It hadn't been disorientation or dizziness or anything so simple and physical. He'd been scared, and holding someone's hand had helped him feel safe.

But there. That was it. The solution to the problem.

"Hinata." Kageyama's hand loosened from its tight fist over his heart. "Go wake someone up and ask them to hold your hand."

Brief silence. "What? No."

Kageyama scowled. "You called me to see if I could help you, right? Well, that's what you need to do. Go wake up your mom or dad and have them hold your hand until you fall asleep."

"I'm not gonna do that." Hinata's voice was flat. At least he didn't sound scared anymore. "Because that's stupid and you're stupid for suggesting it."

Kageyama felt his face twitch. Dammit, Hinata. "It's not stupid, and I'm not stupid for suggesting it. It helped you at the hospital so it'll help you now, too."

"Eck...gah..." Hinata made several sounds that were not in Japanese, nor in any language Kageyama had ever heard. "I thought we weren't going to talk about that!"

"Well, I wasn't planning on it, until you called me up at ass thirty in the morning and asked me to help you stop feeling scared! Seriously, what were you expecting from this conversation?"

"I don't know! I thought you would talk to me, not make stupid suggestions I would never, ever follow."

"It's not a stupid suggestion! It's what you need to do so you can feel better and get some sleep."

"Well, I'm not gonna do it, okay? I'm in high school now and I'm not gonna go wake up my parents and ask them to sing me lullabies because I'm a little scared. I have some dignity. I'm not a baby."

Kageyama punched the mattress at his side. "It's not about being a baby, you dumbass, dumbass Hinata. It's about doing what you need to do so you can rest and recover from your injury. If your ankle was twisted you'd wrap it up and put ice on it, right? So take responsibility, be a man, and go ask your parents to hold your hand."

"No."

"Dammit, Hinata!" That was it. Kageyama had had enough. He sat up in bed and swung his legs over the side, feet hitting the cold floor. "Dammit, Hinata, I will come to your house."

Stunned silence. "What?"

"I will wake my mom up—which I don't mind doing because I'm a man—and ask her to drive me to your house, and she'll do it, because she loves me, and then I will stand there in the dark and ring the doorbell until someone answers, which means that your parents will be awake anyway, and then I will come into your room and I'll sit by your bed and I will hold your hand until you fall asleep, you massive, ridiculous, unbelievable dumbass. I will do it. I swear I will. Do not test me!"

"Okay, okay. Fine! Weirdo." There was a rapid rustling of fabric, and ambient room noise started coming over the line again. Kageyama was satisfied. Hinata wasn't hiding under the covers anymore.

"Are you heading to your parents' room?"

"Yes! Okay? I am." Kageyama could hear the soft thud of Hinata's bare feet on the floor, then the sliding of the door. "I'm going, I'm going. You can hang up if you want."

"Not until I hear your mom or dad's voice, so I know for sure you're doing it."

"Okay, fine." More soft footsteps, probably in the hall. Then they paused. Hinata's voice was suddenly both softer and clearer, as if he was pressing the phone closer to his mouth. "This isn't fair. I can't believe you're making me do this."

"It's the only way," Kageyama said resolutely. "At least for tonight."

"I don't want to do this. I don't want to bother them. I don't..." Hinata was silent for a moment. Somehow his voice got even lower. "I don't want to make them cry anymore."

Kageyama sighed. He slumped over, falling onto the bed on his side. "You're not the one making them cry. It was the punk bastard who hurt you."

"Yeah, but..." Hinata's voice was wavering badly again. He sounded like he was about to lose it. "I still don't like it. I feel like I'm making things bad for them."

"You aren't. You're their precious son and they would do anything for you. You make things better for them, every day, all the time, just like you make things better for everyone else you know."

Hinata breathed shakily into the phone for a moment. "Do you really mean that?"

"Yeah, I do." Kageyama yawned and pulled his legs up into his bed, under the covers. Now that the crisis had passed, he was getting sleepy again. "Now go ask them to hold your hand so you can feel safe and get some rest."

"Just for tonight, right?"

"Right. I'll come spend the night tomorrow, okay? Tell your parents."

"Okay."

Kageyama kept listening until he heard the sliding of another door, more soft footsteps, then Hinata's hesitant voice, his father's sleepy mumbles in response. Then he turned off the phone and went to sleep.