The gym was quiet. Very quiet. The two first years from Fukurodani were already shaking, their guilt obvious and unhidden. Daichi's eyes were fiery as he asked the question again, louder this time.

"WHOSE VOLLEYBALL WAS THAT?!"

Ukai approached and quickly put a hand on Daichi's shoulder. He flinched and whipped his head around to see.

"Daichi, now is NOT the time for that." He said sternly. Daichi was silent. His expression softened, and tears welled in his eyes.

The two first year Fukurodani members both dropped to their knees.

"W-we never meant to hurt anyone!" one of them cried. "We're so sorry!"

The gym fell silent again. Daichi shook Ukai's hand from his shoulder and left the gym, heading towards the club room. Tanaka and Nishinoya followed suit. Then, Suga struggled a bit, trying to get into his feet. Between the falling and the traumatic experience of being pinned under an unconscious teammate, there wasn't a whole lot of pep left in his step. Asahi jumped to his feet and extended him a hand. They followed the rest out, followed by Ennoshita, Kinoshita, Narita, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.

Hinata stood alone. Ukai walked up and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?"

"I feel sick. I think I need to go sit down." There was a really strange look in his eye, somewhere between panic and distance.

Ukai braced Hinata with his arm, scooping up Kageyama's abandoned shoes as he began to walk.

"Okay, let's go do that." he said, basically dragging Hinata out of the gym.

...

In the club room, Daichi was pacing back and forth, trying very hard to quash the urge to hit something. Tanaka and Nishinoya sat on the bench nearby, unsure of what they could say that would be helpful. Asahi was doctoring Suga's legs the best he could, holding the icepack to the worse one, while struggling to take the paper off of a bandaid for a small scrape on the other one. Suga was quiet, shaking slightly.

"You gonna be okay Suga?" Asahi asked quietly, looking into his eyes from his kneeling position. "You better not be feeling guilty. You didn't cause any of that, do you understand me?" Suga stayed quiet.

Tsukishima was already at his locker, dressing down.

"What are you doing?" Yamaguchi asked, worry in his eyes.

"Getting dressed." He said, matter-of-factly. "We're going, aren't we?"

All of the eyes in the room were suddenly on Tsukki. He pretended he didn't notice, and continued speaking directly to Yamaguchi. "I feel like we'd be pretty shitty teammates if we just went back to what we were doing after that." Tsukki wasn't the person they'd expect to say it, but everyone agreed.

"Yes," Daichi said, after taking a deep breath. "That's what we need to focus on. Getting dressed and ready to be there for Kageyama." Right away, everyone stopped what they were doing to change clothes.

...

Hinata and Ukai made their way up to the club room and Ukai pulled the door open. Everybody was in there, dressing back into their school uniforms.

"What are you guys doing?" Ukai asked, eyebrow cocked.

"We need to go down to the hospital," Daichi said, looking much more like his normal self than a few moments ago. Clearly, he'd regained composure.

"Wait wait wait," Ukai threw his hands up. "We have no idea how long it's gonna take before he gets stable enough for visitors."

"So?" a voice from the back of the room spoke. It was Tsukishima, much to Ukai's surprise. "We'll wait."

There was a resounding agreement from everyone in the room, including Hinata, who was still looking remarkably ill. Ukai sighed. He could tell he was surrounded by an unshakeable force, and that nothing he said could change their minds.

"Okay, fine. We can go. We'll all ride together on the bus," Ukai began, "But I'm gonna need all of you to contact your parents first and let them know where you are. I'm not gonna get charged with kidnapping of the Volleyball team over this."

Again, everyone was largely in agreement.

"Ah, I guess I need to make sure Kageyama's family gets called." The coach said, scratching his head beneath his sweaty blonde hair. "I'll be back." He handed Kageyama's shoes to Hinata. "Put those in his locker."

Ukai exited the clubroom and started down the steps. From a distance, he could hear half of a phone conversation with Takeda.

"Are you sure you couldn't... I see... I see... oh, we don't have that kind of information yet..." As Ukai approached, he could see a look of frustration in Takeda's eyes. "Oh?...Yes, I suppose that would work. What is her...Yes, give me a minute to get a pen and paper." He began patting his pockets for a writing utensil.

Ukai produced a pen and pad from his own pocket and held it at the ready. Takeda saw this, and nodded. "Okay, I'm ready..." He recited the number aloud, and Ukai took it down. "And you said her name was Miwa?" Ukai gave the younger man a puzzled look, and he held up 1 finger, as if to say, 'i will explain in a second'. "Alright, I'll do that," he continued, "As soon as we

have any informa-...yes, I'm sure. Well, thank you... Yes, and have a nice day. Bye." Takeda hung up the phone and sighed.

"What was that?" Ukai asked. Takeda heaved another, shorter sigh, and shook his head.

"That was Kageyama's mother. Apparently she's out of the country and has no intention of coming in right away to see her son."

"What?" Ukai was shocked. "Did you explain how serious this was?"

"Of course I did," Takeda's voice was full of frustration and sadness. "She just told me she wasn't scheduled to be home for a few months, so there was nothing she could do about it."

Ukai was furious. "What the hell?!" He hands became fists at his sides. "What kind of mother-"

"Apparently," Takeda cut him off, and motioned for Ukai to follow him. The team was coming down the stairs from the clubroom, and this wasn't something they needed to hear. Ukai picked on this, and followed Takeda a distance from the doorway.

"Apparently," he continued, a bit quieter this time, "Kageyama has an older sister who lives in Tokyo. The mother suggested I call her to deal with the paperwork."

"Huh. I didn't know he had any siblings." Ukai puzzled a minute. "I guess that's the best plan of action."

"I think so." Takeda replied, adjusting his glasses a bit. "How are the students handling it?" He asked in a soft voice.

"They're all bound and determined to go wait at the hospital," Ukai rolled his eyes a bit, "So I guess I'm driving the bus down there when everyone gets ready." He could tell by the look in the poor teacher's eye that he felt the same way about it as Ukai did. "I know, I already tried to tell them that it might be quite a while before he was able to have visitors, but they're a pretty stubborn group."

Again came a sigh from Takeda. "Do you want me to come along too?"

"That's up to you. I know you have things to do, paperwork to fill out, all of that stuff." Ukai patted Takeda on the shoulder. "I guess I'm gonna go talk to the Fukurodani coach and see what they're doing."

"Okay," Takeda nodded, "I'm gonna call this sister of his." Ukai nodded too.

Ukai walked back into the gym and was shocked by what he saw. The whole gym was spotless, the net was put away, the

volleyballs were packed up. Fukurodani was sitting in a line near the door. When they noticed Ukai enter, they all bowed low.

"We're very sorry for our actions. We forfeit the game, for your win." They all said in unison.

"Ah, that wasn't necessary," Ukai said, raising his hands. "Just be more careful in the future."

"Yessir!" the whole team shouted back. The Fukurodani coach approached Ukai, and also apologized, to which Ukai repeated the unnecessarity of it.

Meanwhile, Takeda dialed the number on the notepad and held the phone to his head. After a few rings, there was an answer.

"Kageyama Miwa, would you like to schedule an appointment?" A female voice asked in a somewhat bored voice.

"My name is Takeda Ittetsu. I'm calling from Karasuno High school." Takeda really didn't like to make these kinds of phone calls, and this was the second one he'd started this way today. He hoped that this one ended more productively than the last.

"Karasuno?" The voice asked, seemingly a bit distracted. "Wait, Karasuno?" She asked again, a bit more seriously this time.

"Yes," Takeda continued nervously, "I'm the volleyball advisor at the school. I'm sorry to have to inform you, but your brother has been in an accident."

"Wait, what? Tobio??" This was closer to the reaction Takeda had been expecting from Kageyama's mother. "Is he okay? what happened??"

"He had a fall while playing volleyball. He has a fairly serious head injury, and he is on the way to the hospital now."

"Oh, Tobio," She sounded like she was going to cry. "I'm in Tokyo, but I'll be there as soon as I can. What hospital is he going to?"

"Sendai City hospital," Takeda was trying his best keep any of his own emotions under wraps. "Please drive carefully. If I get any updates, I will call and let you know."

"Okay, thank you," she spoke, and then promptly ended the phone call.

When he turned around, the team was behind him, packed and ready to go. They were in various states of concern, ranging from determination to borderline sickly. Hitoka and Kiyoko had joined up with them, looking equally serious.

"We're ready to go!" Daichi said loudly, bowing a bit. The rest of the team followed in suit. Takeda smiled a weak smile.

"Ah, I see." His voice sounded tired. "As soon as Coach Ukai settles things with Fukurodani's coach, he'll be out." There was an uncomfortable silence. Nobody looked at Daichi, but he stared angrily down at the ground anyway.

Takeda found himself thinking about the conversation he'd had with Kageyama's mother again. How horrible, he thought to himself, would it be to have parents with such little compassion. It occurred to Takeda that he'd never talked to, or seen, Kageyama's mother before. She'd never contacted the school before, that he was aware. Was she usually out of town like this? Was Kageyama living by himself most of the time? He never really talked about anything other than volleyball, so it had never occured to Takeda to consider his family life.

"Are..." A voice pulled him from his thoughts. "Are you okay, sensei?" Kiyoko asked, a worried expression in her eyes.

"Oh, yes. I'm okay. This has just been a lot for one day," He forced a smile again, which Kiyoko seemed to see right through.

He then felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Ukai, jingling the bus keys.

"If we're going, let's go."

One by one, they started boarding the bus, filing into seats. Daichi sat with Suga, Tanaka with Nishinoya, Tsukishima with Yamaguchi, Asahi with Narita, Ennoshita with Kinoshita. Hinata paused right in front of the bus doorway, leaned over, and vomited all over the ground. The coach rolled his eyes a little bit, (this was the pukiest kid he'd ever known) but walked over and patted him in the back. "You gonna be okay, kid?"

"I-I'm fine." His voice was a little gravely, but he stood up straight, slapped his face a bit with his hands, and got himself into the bus. Ukai, Takeda, Kiyoko and Hitoka climbed in, and on they went.

The drive was only about 20 minutes, and soon the hospital waiting room was full of teenagers, all antsy and desperate for information. Takeda went ahead of them to the desk, and spoke to the lady at the desk.

"Hello, my name is Takeda Ittetsu. I'm a faculty advisor from Karasuno high school. One of my students was admitted here a bit earlier." He motioned back at the group of boys behind him. "These are his teammates. Do you have any information about his condition?"

"Sure, I can see! What is the patient's full name?" The receptionist asked, smiling politely.

"His name is Kageyama Tobio." The whole volleyball team fell silent as the receptionist started typing into her computer.

"Oh, I see. Okay," she continued, reading the screen in front of her. "It seems they are running some scans on him currently, but he should be in a recovery room fairly soon."

"Good," Takeda breathed a breath of relief. Part of him worried that his Kageyama might have deteriorated on the ride to the hospital. "I'm aware that it might be some time, but is there any chance that they might be able to see him?"

"Unfortunately, I'm not sure yet. That will depend on how long the scans take, and even then, the doctor will have to clear him for visitors."

Takeda turned back to his students. He opened his mouth to speak when Ukai chimed in.

"You heard her guys. It's gonna be a while. You're going to need to be respectful and quiet while we wait for information."

"Yes sir!" They teens said in unison.

...

Kageyama Tobio was awake, in pain, and had no idea where he was. His head throbbed, and his thoughts felt sluggish and half formed. He was laying down in a bed. He was wearing some kind of blue grey gown. On his wrist was a plastic bracelet, but his head was spinning too much to read the words on it. The lights above him were bright, painful. Everything was loud. Something near him was beeping. This seemed like a hospital.

"...is this the hospital...?" He asked, stumbling over his words. He wasn't sure who he was even asking.

"Yes, honey, this is still the hospital," a woman responded. He hadn't been aware of her until she spoke. "How are you feeling now?"

Kageyama draped an arm across his forehead and eyes. "I hurt..." He felt like his head was going to explode, but that was too many words. Everything was sore. His muscles ached, especially one of his shoulders. His stomach felt queasy, and in turn, made it hurt to breathe deeply.

"The medicine should kick in any time." The woman soothed, patting him gently on his hand. He felt like yanking his hand away. He didn't know who this was. He didn't know where this was. He didn't like to be touched on a good day, let alone whatever the hell was happening here. But his head was spinning, and he couldn't focus. "Is the light bothering you?" The woman's voice asked. Kageyama nodded the best he could. There was the sound of a few footsteps, and then a click, and the room fell dark.

This was a bit better, but there was still way too much going on. Kageyama opened his eyes a bit, trying again to look around the room. The woman was now sitting in a chair near the door, watching him with a smile on her face. He wanted, for a second, to ask her what she was doing, before his mind slipped to other things. There was a tube leading into his left arm with some kind of clear liquid going into it. There was a whiteboard on the wall with his name on it, and lots of other words that he couldn't focus on.

There was a window near the door that lead out into a hallway, where people in scrubs were talking.

Wait, was he in the hospital? No, he'd already asked that, and he was pretty sure the woman had said yes. What was he doing in the hospital? He was hurting, that much he knew for sure. How did he end up in so much pain?

"Does..." he wanted to make sure to put his words in the right order. "...Does my mom know... where I am?"

"Yes, dear," the woman smiled, looking a little uncomfortable. "Your mom is out of the country, but your sister is on the way here."

Anger bubbled in Kageyama's chest. He didn't ask if his mom was coming. He asked if she knew where he was. He realized, after a moment, that this was an irrational thing to be angry about. Maybe he was just mad in general. Maybe he just wasn't okay with the lack of understanding of his own situation. Maybe he was just tired. Wow, was he tired, all of the sudden. Outside another window, the sun was beginning to set. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep, rocked in the arms of pain medicine and antiemetics coming in through his IV.

...

4 hours. 4 hours had passed, and all of the Karasuno teenagers were still sitting in the waiting room. They chatted quietly, hoping that at any time, they'd hear some news. They hadn't paid much attention when a dark haired young woman had come to the desk, quietly asked a question, and hurried away to some other place. They were tired, anxious, and doing anything they could to distract themselves from the passing of time.

Tanaka, Hinata, and Nishinoya had taken to narrating over the muted tv in the corner, laughing quietly every once in a while. Daichi, Asahi, and Suga we're watching something on Suga's phone. Kinoshita had gone and returned with snacks for everyone from the vending machine, and was munching on a bag of chips while Ennoshita and Narita were studying for their upcoming exams. Tsukishima had pulled out a notebook, intending to study, but ended up doodling in the margins while Yamaguchi drew a bigger picture on the page. Ukai was left sitting silently after Takeda fell asleep, his head against the wall behind him. Hitoka sat flipping through her drawing book, amazing Kiyoko with every page.

"Um, Karasuno volleyball team?" A woman's voice came from the hallway. Everybody's eyes quickly followed the voice. A nurse stood in the doorway. Ukai nudged Takeda in the ribs, and he jerked awake. "Kageyama seems like he's going to be okay," she began with a small smile. A collective sigh of relief could be heard.

"However," she continued, "he is having considerable problems with memory and focus right now, which is normal, but because of this, the doctor has requested that Kageyama not have any non-family visits for the first twenty-four hours, to give his brain some time to recover."

The whole team visibly wilted.

"However, since you waited so long, you guys are welcome to come look in through the window at him, if you like. He's resting right now, but we will let him know you were here." Everyone stood to their feet. It wasn't what they'd wanted, but they weren't about to turn it down after this long of a wait.

They followed the nurse down a hallway, up some stairs, and into a long corridor with lots of doors on either side. It was very quiet, and the herd of tall rambunctious teenage boys seemed incredibly out of place in the stillness of the hospital. They came to the end of the hallway, at room 106, and the nurse motioned to the window. They all crowded around peered in.

The room was dark, but the light from the hallway seeped into the room enough for them to see a bit. There he was, laying in the bed. His chest rose and fell gently.

There was a woman sitting in a chair near the door, and another woman with dark hair standing with her back to them, talking to who they could only assume was the doctor. Several of the team members wondered internally if that was Kageyama's mom, or maybe an aunt.

The familiar face of their teammate was still, eyes closed. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully. It was almost funny. In the dark, he looked almost normal, like nothing had even happened to him.

Several of the team members weren't able to contain their tears of relief. Ukai pulled them all into a group hug.

There, in the hallway, they all stood and signed some encouraging words onto a card, and then gave it to the nurse to give to him when he awoke. Then they quietly said some "feel better"s and "do your best"s from through the window, and they boarded the bus and went back to the school.