Hey guys! I'm aware updates are pretty regular at the moment but as I have exams in 4 months and one week (D:) they may fizzle out a bit without any warning lol;)

Anyways this is just for later reference while reading the chapter: I know Oikawa wouldn't really be allowed to be so involved in the medical world at 18 years of age but hehe rules were made to be broken!XD

Part 10

"Are you nervous?"

Nervous? Hinata shrugged, "I dunno… I haven't really thought about it."

Suga chuckled, "Well that's good- at least you haven't been dreading it."

"Dreading it!? Once my stitches are out I can play volleyball again! How on Earth could you dread that!?" He exclaimed aghast, raising his good arm up to shield the bright December sun from his eyes.

Suga laughed once more, "I guess- but remember you'll probably have to wait at least a few days after the stitches are out before you can play volleyball again."

"Ughh…" Hinata moaned as he and the team mom entered the hospital, the door squeaking in protest as they pushed it open. "At least my mom's not here to embarrass me," He mumbled quietly as an afterthought.

Suga laughed again, "I think she feels awful about having to leave you again," He mused. "It must be hard having to look after a three year old along with a 15 year old trouble-maker."

"I'm not a trouble maker!" Hinata protested, stopping short in front of the doors indignantly.

"Sure," Suga grinned slyly at him before wrapping an arm round his little chick and dragging him over to the reception. "Come on we don't want to be late."

Hinata gladly left all the signing in to Suga, befuddled by the forms, and went to sit down in the children's gaudy waiting room. Two weeks had at last passed! And Hinata certainly had used the time wisely and studied himself to near boredom death. But if there was volleyball involved at the finish line, Hinata could do any amount of studying! At least that's what he told himself…

He shifted his vision to look down at his arm. Are you nervous? He bit his lip; he'd never had stitches out before… so yeah… I guess he was slightly nervous. Fear of the unknown was unavoidable after all…

Besides that he'd barely touched his arm, silently afraid he'd damage it further, break the stitches, or simply make it hurt... and now the doctor was going to fiddle with it. Hinata grimaced at the thought, he was brave, but like everyone else, he wasn't a fan of pain.

Did taking stitches out even hurt? His mum had rather unhelpfully said…

"Oh honey, don't worry. It didn't hurt much when they removed the stitches from my knee." She squeezed his shoulder as he munched on his cereal.

"Much! Why does everyone always say 'much', or 'a bit', or 'maybe'?" Hinata half huffed, half sighed. "They're not accurate measures!" He violently plunged his spoon back into the bowl, effectively sloshing milk out the bowl.

Zoe tutted and smoothly wiped the table with a damp cloth, before ruffling his ginger hair and smiling in amusement, "Don't worry, it might not hurt at all. I'm no expert; I've only had stitches out once." She kissed him gently on his head, "I wouldn't linger on your thoughts." She finished wisely, before returning to washing the dishes and tactfully changing the subject, "So when'll Sugawara be here? I really do feel awful for not taking you myself-"

"It's fine mum! Suga doesn't mind, and he offered after all." Hinata pointed out, taking another oversized mouthful.

"Hmm… I guess you're right, so what time will-"

"10 O'clock sharp." Hinata smiled up at her through a mouthful of cereal.

"Close your mouth while you're eating!" She scolded, but her eyes were always sparkling.

Hinata sighed and fiddled with the edge of his T-shirt. Kageyama hadn't been much help either…

"I dunno… well if they're pulling thread from through your skin then logically it will hurt." He stated, sat crossed-legged on his bed.

"Huhhh?! You're meant to make me feel better about this!" Hinata pouted, tugging on Kageyama's dark grey T-shirt.

"Well you asked! And that's my answer- it's not, not going to hurt is it?" Kageyama replied, his eyes sincere.

"Humph! You have zilch sensitivity!" Hinata turned his head away from him, looking out the window at the pure white meadow fields; painted with crispy frost.

"Oy!" Kageyama exclaimed, shifting onto his knees and pressing him back onto the soft duvet while Hinata laughed. "Zilch sensitivity huh?"

Hinata pressed his lips together to hold back another laugh. Kageyama looked at him with raised eye-brows and a dangerous expression.

He wriggled in Kageyama's grip, but found he was trapped between the bed and the angry setter. He licked his lip and fell limp. "Yep! Zilch sensitivity!" He confirmed.

Kageyama huffed, and Hinata could imagine fire flaring out his nostrils. At the thought he couldn't help the giggles that escaped him. It was Kageyama's turn to hold back a smile now, "Huhh? What're you laughing about now?!" He growled, just like a roaring dragon…

This only caused Hinata to laugh harder, "Nothing!"

Kageyama let a smile escape his lips, "Why're you laughing so much!?"

"I got the giggles," Hinata giggled in reply, successfully avoiding the true question.

Kageyama huffed once more before leaning down and slowly, gently, and with the utmost delicacy, planting three sweet kissed along Hinata's jawbone. "You call that insensitive?" He whispered in Hinata's ear.

Hinata's giggling ceased and he shivered before wrapping his arms round the setter, "Never," He replied, his jawbone tingling where Kageyama had kissed him, his stomach flipping over and over with nervousness.

"Good," Kageyama replied, gentling pressing the side of his face to Hinata's.

Hinata sighed contentedly at the memory. They'd stayed, pressed against one another like that for a while; simply soaking up each others company.

Hinata swallowed hard; never would he have thought that within two weeks of pecking Kageyama on the lips, he'd be wrapped in his embrace with butterflies fluttering around his stomach every time he set eyes on the setter. Never would he have thought that, within two weeks, every time he caught Kageyama's eye, he'd feel a frighteningly strong desire to touch him, to hold him, to kiss him.

It frightened him.

Yet it excited him more.

Just at that moment Suga walked in. "Heyyyy! You're all signed in," He told him, sitting down in the pink chair next to Hinata's blue one. After a moment of silence he voiced his thoughts, "This yellow room really hurts your eyes huh?"

"Yeah," Hinata agreed, glancing round the familiar children's waiting room.

"You're unusually quiet," Suga smiled over at him, his eyes soft and inquisitive.

"Yeah…" Hinata replied, his eyes glazed over in deep thought.

Suga breathed a laugh and waved a hand in front of the boy's face, "Earth to Hinata!" He sang.

"Huh? Wha?" Hinata blinked and turned to him.

"What's up? You're all dreamy," Suga asked.

"O- ha- er I was just thinking…" Hinata trailed off.

"'Bout?" Suga pressed.

"Err… Kageyama," Hinata smiled nervously and Suga laughed.

"Aww! You two are so cute! Make sure you don't go to fast though! You're both still very young and I wouldn't want your relationship to go down because you both got to impatient and-"

"Huhh? Ew no we're not gonna! I mean! We know! We'll be good! I promise!" Hinata stuttered, throwing his good arm out and flapping it around frantically.

Suga laughed and, reaching out, took hold of Hinata's arm gently. Hinata looked up at him, "I know you will." Suga smiled, and Hinata beamed back.

"Hinata," A smooth voice sounded from the doorway.

The two crows looked up to see Oikawa-san leaning against the door casually, his clipboard sitting comfortably in its usual place in his arms. His feet were crossed over one another, and even though his occupation didn't suit them, his feet were still wrapped in flexible volleyball trainers.

Hinata gulped nervously, "Hi Oikawa-san." He said faintly.

"Oikawa! How are you?" Suga asked standing up to greet him.

Oikawa pushed off the door gently and replied kindly, "I'm good thanks Suga, how're you?"

"Very well thanks." Suga replied.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it."

Hinata made a face, you sound like two mothers…

Oikawa nodded his head in the direction of the doctors rooms, "Come on then Mr. Impatient, let's go," He smiled down at Hinata.

"Hai!" Hinata replied, but he stood up slightly faster than usual, causing an inevitable wave of dizziness to wash over him. He paused, steadied himself on the back of the chair and blinked, before following Suga and Oikawa down an unfamiliar corridor. Was he really that nervous?

Soon the desert yellow paint, and images of lions and giraffes, merged into a deep sea blue.

"I do love the decorations in this ward," Sugawara thought aloud, looking round at the sharks and fishes swimming along the walls.

"They're really cute," Hinata agreed, trying to act normal, and thankful that his voice had come out steady.

Oikawa laughed, "They are but some of the little ones get scared by the sharks." He smiled knowingly and the other too breathed a laugh.

"Aww bless 'em," Suga voiced softly.

"So Hinata," Oikawa clapped his hands together as they stopped in front of a bubbled covered door. "How has the arm been?"

"Alright I guess," Hinata replied, as they stepped into the office.

"Alright 'you guess'?" Oikawa raised his eyebrows.

Hinata huffed, "It's been fine!"

Oikawa breathed a laugh, "Good."

The walls lost their animals once inside, but a large bubble patterned window was slotted in at the back, and as the rays of sunlight shone through the glass they bent, lighting up the walls in an array of dazzling patterns; just as if they were in the ocean. Hinata smiled in awe at the display.

A bland 'seat-bed' was leant against one side of the room and a large wooden desk stood proudly at the back corner. The room wasn't big, but it wasn't small either.

The head doctor smiled from the desk, "Hello Hinata, how're we?"

"Good thanks," Hinata smiled back and Suga closed the door behind them.

"You like my room?" The doc asked, spreading his arms and gesturing to the light shifting walls.

"I do," Hinata replied, wide eyed and wide smiled, his nervousness immediately forgotten.

The doc patted the end of the bed and Hinata shuffled across the room and sat down across from the doc, wringing his hands together, his nervousness creeping back as slyly and quickly as time disappears.

"So Hinata… I'm going to leave Oikawa to sort you out completely on his own, but it's his first time taking stitches out for real, so I'll be watchin-"

"What?!" Hinata exclaimed, his mind taking a moment to process what the doctor was saying. "His first time? You mean like he's NEVER done it before?"

Oikawa snickered in the corner, "I know how to take them out Hinata- I've just never done it…on a real person…I've done it on mannequins though!" He defended.

"Mannequins?" Hinata looked at him.

"They're not that different!" Oikawa protested.

"Huhh?!"

"Ahem!" The doc cleared his throat and the room went silent. "If you don't want him to take the stitches out, I can do it. But I must say Oikawa will probably be a lot gentler and cautious than me, given that it's his first time," The doc gently persuaded. "And given that you two knew each other I thought it'd be a good match-up. And I'll be watching over him the whole time," He smiled kindly, his old eyes twinkling. "Don't worry; I won't let him kill you."

Hinata put on a thinking face, his brow furrowed in fake concentration, "Hmm…" He glanced over at Oikawa, mockingly scrutinizing him.

Oikawa raised his eyebrows.

"I suppose… if he's as good as you say…" Hinata teased. He was enjoying this newfound little taste of power.

Oikawa huffed, "You're as bad as Iwaizumi!"

Hinata laughed, "Fine- you can take them out!" He glanced over at Suga who nodded in approval.

"Okayyyy!" Oikawa dragged a seat over and sat opposite Hinata, "So- have you got your arm wet at all?"

"Nope- I don't think so…"

"You don't think?" Oikawa took Hinata's arm gently and, resting it on his own knee, began to undo the bandage.

"Well my mum made me tie about fifty bin bags over it before having a shower so I doubt it was even possible to get it wet."

The head Doc, Oikawa and Suga laughed knowingly at Zoe's motherly protectiveness.

"Okay, and have you had any abnormal pain?"

"Abnormal?" Hinata frowned, "It's ached a bit- especially in the first few days, and if I knock it it'll hurt but apart from that I don't think so…"

"So nothing really sharp? Or sudden throbbing for no particular reason?"

Hinata shook his head simply.

Oikawa nodded and then, turning back to Hinata's arm, frowned in concentration as he peeled off the bottom layer of the bandage, which was crisped over with dry blood. He gave it a sharp tug and, with a flinch from Hinata, the fabric came off.

"Ow!" Hinata pouted, trying to act confident and silly to bury his anxiety.

"Sorryyy!" Oikawa apologised with a wink, swivelling round in his chair, popping the bandages in the lidded bin, and gathering up his equipment.

Nerves suddenly tingled in Hinata's stomach and he bit his bottom lip, his stomach feeling suddenly empty even though he'd only eaten breakfast a mere hour ago.

He glanced down at his arm and felt a wave of nausea, dry blood stuck like gunk to the black stitches and the skin around the wound was raw and looked pink and puffy.

It looked foreign, and disgusting.

He'd been half passed out when Oikawa had cleaned the wound and the doc had stitched him up, truth be told he couldn't remember much. But right now he was startlingly awake. And it petrified him.

He jumped when Suga's hand rested on his shoulder. "You alright?" Suga looked down at him worriedly.

"Yeh sure," Hinata smiled up at him and Suga's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Oikawa's eyes glanced up from his equipment for a split second, before quickly returning.

"You nervous Shouyou?" He asked forwardly.

"Hmm… a bit…" Hinata admitted, biting on his fingernails.

Oikawa smiled and turned round, resting his hands on Hinata's knees. "Why?"

Hinata blinked, "Er… because I've never had stitches out before… and I'm scared it'll hurt…"

"Well of course it will- a bit," Oikawa stated, beaming angelically.

Hinata huffed, "You're as bad as Kageyama!"

Oikawa laughed, "It doesn't hurt much, and I'll be as gentle as I can. I'm gonna give it a little clean first, and then we'll get the stitches out, okay?"

Hinata nodded, suddenly feeling more relaxed. Whether it was Oikawa's gentle words, voice or the fact he'd sounded so much like Kageyama with his blatant words, Hinata didn't know.

"Right then, shuffle back and rest your arm on that oversized armrest."

"Hai!" Hinata replied.

"Soz Suga, there's no 'other side of the bed' for you to sit at," Oikawa apologised.

"That's alright; I'll just sit at the bottom." Suga reassured.

The doc kept one eye on them at all times.

And Oikawa certainly lived up to his word, he gently dabbed at the raw and fresh skin, effectively scrapping away the dried blood, until Hinata's arm, at least in Hinata's eyes, looked more like an arm instead of a bloody mess. And apart from feeling sore, it hadn't hurt.

"Okedokie, this might tug a bit Hinata but it shouldn't hurt as long as you keep still and relaxed, okay?" Oikawa explained calmingly.

Hinata nodded and leaned back against the chair, turning his line of vision away from Oikawa and his arm. He heard the head doctor's footsteps as he walked over and sat down next to Oikawa, just to make sure everything was done correctly.

Hinata didn't feel anything at first, if anything it tickled slightly, and tugged a bit, he could feel Oikawa's fingers holding his wrist still, gentle yet solid: it was almost reassuring.

But then he felt a sharper tug and pain spiked up his arm, he winced and clamped his teeth together.

"Sorry Hinata," Oikawa mumbled, his eyes entirely focused on his job. He gave the stitch another gentle tug and Hinata jerked and hissed in pain. Okawa deeply inhaled and then exhaled, his own stomach fluttering with nerves, but with a focused mind, he eased the final stitch out and sat back with a sigh.

"All done!" He grinned, his face glowing with innocent pride.

"Well done Tooru- and Hinata!" The Doc smiled and patted Oikawa on the back, "You have skilled hands Doc."

Oikawa's grin widened and he turned to Hinata, "Sorry! I got the last stitch stuck!" He grimaced.

But Hinata smiled, understanding clearly how much this meant to Oikawa, "That's fine- you were good!"

Oikawa breathed a laugh and ruffled Hinata's hair, "Thanks kiddo!"

"Oy! Get off me!" Hinata flapped Oikawa's hands away and Suga laughed.

"Right!" Oikawa shook himself, turning back to business, "I'm gonna give this a final clean just to limit any chance of infection, and then we'll bandage it loosely." He took a bottle of cleaning solution off the desk and spread it across a cloth before gently dabbing it across Hinata's arm once more.

Hinata shivered, 'Oooo it's cold!"

Oikawa laughed, his posture suddenly more relaxed now that the hard part was over. "Now a few ground rules; 1) You can shower but watch it carefully, you might find it doesn't like hot water, or cold water, and don't scrub it or you'll break the new skin. Just rinse it gently."

"Hai!" Hinata replied.

"Rule 2) No volleyball for three days."

"Huhhh?!" Hinata gaped.

"Hey! I'm going easy on you here! You shouldn't really play volleyball for another week or two, and you certainly shouldn't spike with this wrist, but you're right handed so that shouldn't really matter," He mumbled to himself, "You shouldn't really receive with it either…" Oikawa sighed, "Just be careful! Only play a LITTLE BIT, and think carefully about what you're putting it though," Oikawa turned to Suga, "Please make sure he doesn't do anything stupid!" He begged.

Suga breathed a laugh, "Don't worry I will do."

"You're my first proper patient!" Oikawa turned on Hinata with a pointed finger, "If you mess up that arm of yours I won't be happy."

A smile of amusement edged its way onto Hinata's face.

"And it's not funny either!" Oikawa scolded, with a small smile himself.

Oikawa carefully began to bandage his wrist back up, "So how's my dear underclassman?" He asked, being a hater of silence.

Hinata blushed bright red and Oikawa frowned suspiciously, "Hmmm?" He raised his eyebrows and looked over and Suga who was holding back, not every successfully mind, a cheesy smile.

"Hinata?" Oikawa asked once more, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"Well… um he's fine…"

"So have you kissed yet?" Oikawa teased.

"HUUUHHH?! WHAAA?! I DUNNO WHA- I MEAN- UGHHHH!"

Oikawa burst into laughter, "Awww! My patient and underclassman have found love!" He beamed and rested a hand on his heart.

"Pffffttttt…. So how's Iwaizumi-san?" Hinata fought back and Oikawa jerked, his own cheeks steadily filling with scarlet.

"Huh? Wha…?"

"Oh don't think we didn't see you two kissing from the hospital window the other week Oikawa! We'd only just left!" Suga exclaimed.

"Wait what!? You saw-!? Gaaahh!" He burned crimson and quickly began tying off the bandage with a flourish. "All finished!" He declared. "You can go home now!" He waved Hinata off the bed.

Hinata stood up, giggling and grinning.

"Well it's nice to see you've gotten rid of that worry-face you had when you came in," Oikawa smiled and tipped Hinata's head up with his finger.

Hinata smiled back, "Yup! Thank you Oikawa-san!"

"You're welcome! Now don't forget to be careful with that arm of yours! If anything happens come straight back and I'll be here- probably- unless Iwaizumi's stolen me…" He pouted and led Suga and Hinata out the room.

Hinata grinned as they walked along the corridor, and Suga and Oikawa's conversation faded into the background; his stitches were out! FINALLY! Now there were just three days left! His eyes sparkled; now he really couldn't wait to see Kageyama.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! No clue when the next one will be up lol, but thanks to GuardianWitchDemiGhost I actually have some ideas for later chapters!:D

Don't forget to review! Constructive criticism always welcomeX)

Acia xxx