For the second time in two days, The Karasuno Volleyball team was crammed into the bus, heading towards Sendai City Hospital. Everyone seemed to be in much better spirits today, chatting and joking like normal, but there was still an atmosphere of worry about them. The weather wasn't cooperating as well this time. Heavy raindrops pelted the roof of the bus as on they went.
Ukai hadn't slept a wink, and it was visible on his face. Something about the sound of his student's head hitting the floor kept resonating in his mind, but he couldn't think for too long about it without feeling sick. Maybe he'd feel better, he thought to himself, if he was able to let his brain see that the kid was okay.
Takeda, on the other hand, had slept heavily. That was how he dealt with his stress, turning off and going to sleep. That, and drinking. He was well rested and refreshed, and since he could see how ragged his counterpart was looking, he'd offered to drive this time. Ukai happily obliged his request.
"You gonna make it, Coach?" Takeda looked over the top of his glasses at Ukai. Ukai ran his fingers through his thick blonde hair a few times, something he did a lot when he wasn't feeling in peak condition.
"I'll live," he said muttered, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. "I didn't sleep for shit, and I'm getting a headache, but I'll live. I just hope the kid's doing better today."
"I'm sure he is," Takeda smiled widely. "The first day or so of this stuff is the hardest. Almost everyone with a concussion heals fully in two or three weeks."
"I know that," Ukai scowled out the window. "I just..." There was a pause. "Something doesn't sit right with me about his mom not wanting to come see him." His voice was low, to avoid any of the students from hearing. "Like, how often is she gone? Does he live all by himself most of the time?"
This was something that Takeda had been thinking about too. "I don't know. I, myself, was wondering what was going to happen when his sister has to go back to Tokyo."
"I think maybe part of what bothers me," the coach's dark brown eyes were fixed on the road ahead as he spoke, "is how long we've had Kageyama on the team without knowing anything about him. Most of the rest of these guys are like open books about their lives, but I had no idea he was all alone all the time."
"Well," Takeda adjusted his glasses, eyes fixed on the road. "He's always been kind of a lone wolf. I guess we just never considered the root of that."
"Yeah." Ukai furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't know what's gonna happen, Takeda. Recovery from a concussion isn't a single man job. It takes a whole crew. You have to be able to rely on people." He crossed his arms. "You have to have people around who you can rely on."
"I agree." Takeda nodded.
The bus came to a stop, and the troupe of teenagers filed out into the rainy parking lot. Several of them had gifts for their teammate. Hinata had bought a 6 pack of those yogurt drinks Kageyama was always drinking. Hitoka and Kiyoko had come together to buy a very nice vase of flowers, all pink and orange and yellow. Tanaka and Saeko had picked out a bunch of candy (not that they'd ever really seen Kageyama eat candy, but who doesn't like candy?) and Daichi had decided on a bowl of fruit.
The whole team crowded into the entryway again, damp from the rain, and a nurse directed them towards the same room as the day before. This time, the curtains into the room were drawn, so Ukai went first, knocking on the wooden door with his knuckles.
"Come innn.." a familiar, albeit tired sounding voice called from within. The coach opened the door and peered in.
"Hey, kid. You feelin' like visitors?" Ukai asked, quickly scanning the room. It didn't seem like they were interrupting any doctors or other guests. There was a nurse in there, writing on a clipboard, and who he assumed could only be his sister. She looked just like him. And there was Kageyama. His under-eyes were bruisy and purple, but otherwise, he looked mostly okay.
Ukai felt his stress levels drop drastically.
Tobio seemed surprised to see Ukai standing there. "Oh. Uh... Yeah."
Ukai pushed the door open. "You guys can come in, quietly please." He said, motioning with his hand. First in was Hinata, who took a few nervous steps in. After his eyes met Kageyama's, he smiled widely and walked straight up to the bedside, putting an arm around him. "Wow, you look like a panda!" He remarked. Hinata had expected Kageyama to argue with him about it, but instead he was quiet.
"Yeah, so I keep being told," His voice was soft, an unfamiliar tone for him.
Next came in Tanaka and Nishinoya, followed by Daichi, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Asahi, Kiyoko, Ennoshita, Narita, Kinoshita, Kiyoko, Hitoka, and then Suga. The room was now super full of teenagers, and Kageyama was wearing an expression they didn't recognize, one of pleasant surprise. Then they noticed the dark haired woman sitting across from the bed. "Oh, sorry, are we interrupting?" Daichi asked her, bowing low.
"Oh, no, you guys are fine. I'm Miwa. Tobio's my brother." The whole room kind of gasped.
"I didn't know you had a sister, Bakageyama!" Hinata patted the top of Tobio's head, and he winced a little bit. Asahi lightly smacked Hinata on the back of the head.
"Don't pat him! He has a head injury!" He scolded. Hinata pouted a bit, but apologized.
Tanaka and Nishinoya looked at each other, wriggling their eyebrows as if to say 'a very nice looking sister'.
"Yeah, I don't live in town," She answered quickly, standing to her feet. "I'm just gonna step out for a minute. You guys have a good visit!" As she walked toward the door, Takeda and Ukai followed her out. All eyes were back onto the dark haired teen, and he was uncomfortable.
"Uh. Hi." He said, looking around at everyone.
"Hi, yourself," Daichi was the first to speak, breaking an uncomfortable silence. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm sore." He said, scanning everybody's worried faces. He felt guilty. This was entirely foreign to Kageyama. He'd never had people worry about him enough to visit him when he was sick.
"No shit, sherlock," Tanaka teased, looking concerned despite his forced smile. "I would be shocked if you weren't!"
Kageyama didn't know what to say at all. They were all worried about him. How was he supposed to respond to this?
"I'm, uh, sorry for... worrying everyone." He said, his eyes cast down into his lap. The entire atmosphere of the room changed. A chorus of rejections of the apology rang out.
"You're fine! Don't worry about something dumb like that!" Said Tanaka.
"You've got nothing to be sorry for!" Nishinoya smiled at him.
"Hey, we're just glad you're okay!" Hinata said, patting his teammate on the shoulder. "You... are okay, right?"
The room got quiet again. "Oh." Kageyama nodded. "Yeah. The doctor said I should go home tonight. I just need to relax for a while, I guess." There was a collective sigh of relief. "They had to wait until my dumb brain started working right again. Supposedly, the doctor kept coming in here and asking me questions every few hours, but I only remember him doing it twice."
"Shoot, really?" Hitoka asked. "That would be scary!"
"It's mostly been aggravating." He scratched the back of his head with his left hand. "But, they keep telling me that's normal with a concussion."
"So it's definitely a concussion then, huh?" Asahi asked, leaning against the wall. "I had a concussion my first year, but I didn't get those rings around my eyes like that."
"Oh, apparently those are specific to a skull fracture." Kageyama said offhandedly. "They don't hurt or anything."
"Wait, skull fracture?" Yamaguchi repeated.
"...Yeah? I thought you guys already knew that." Kageyama noticed the worry returning to everyone's faces. "Sorry," He felt guilty again. "I guess I just thought somebody had told you guys already."
"No big deal, bud!" Daichi interjected. "You've had a lot going on, don't worry about that!" Daichi's smile seemed genuine. "So skull fracture and concussion. Is that it, or is there more?"
"I jammed my shoulder a little, but it already feels a lot better than it did this morning." He stretched his right arm a bit. "I have a few stitches in my hair over here somewhere, but nothing too serious." He thought for a minute. "I think that's all. I'm on a lot of medicine, so I don't hurt too bad now."
"I'm honestly amazed it's not worse," Tsukishima commented. "You hit hard."
"Yeah," Yamaguchi agreed. "We could feel it through the floor."
"You should have seen the look on Ukai's face." Ennoshita laughed. "I've never seen him look so stressed." The rest of them laughed too. "I guess you did see it though, huh?"
"Actually," Kageyama admitted, his voice kinda low, "I... I can't really remember much of anything that happened yesterday at all..."
"You don't remember?" Hinata sounded shocked. Kageyama looked mad, but embarrassed, and shook his head.
"Well, we can fill in the gaps for you," Tanaka patted Kageyama's foot. "We had that practice match, versus Fukurodani. And we were winning!"
"But two idiots from their bench were passing a volleyball around during the match," Daichi shook his head, trying not to get mad about it again. "One of them lost the ball, and it rolled out into the court, where it tripped Suga. And then you tripped over Suga mid set, so I guess your arms were above your head so you couldn't brace yourself."
Kageyama was listening intently, trying to absorb every detail. "Suga," He looked through the crowd of teenagers around him until he found him. His face was downcast, and he looked very upset. It occurred to Kageyama that he hadn't even spoken at all since he'd come in. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"
"No, I'm okay, I..." His voice sounded on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry I didn't get my dumb legs out of the way."
Daichi turned to his friend, an unhappy look on his face. "Suga, we already talked about how there's nothing you could have done. Stop taking the blame for it." Suga looked down at the floor. "Kageyama doesn't blame you, right?" Daichi looked at Kageyama, who shook his head.
"No way." He said. Suga's eyes met his. "Sounds like an accident to me." Sugawara seemed extremely relieved to hear his kohai say that, and wiped the tears from his eyes and nodded. "But you're really alright?" Kageyama pressed.
"Yeah." Suga nodded. "I'm a little bruised, but nothing else." He pulled up the sleeve on his jacket to reveal a small bruise on his elbow. His legs were worse, but Kageyama didn't need to know that.
"Good." Kageyama nodded.
"So," Nishinoya interjected, continuing the story, "Ukai goes rrrrrunnning up to you, yelling at everybody to go get stuff. He couldn't get you to wake up. Then you did wake up, but you weren't making a whole lot of sense, and then you puked all over yourself, and then-"
"Whaaat?" Kageyama's face turned red with embarrassment. "Twice?"
"What do you mean twice?" Suga asked.
"I threw up on the nurse earlier." He mumbled, scratching the back of his head. There was a short silence, followed by laughter from the whole group. "I was trying to tell her, but she wouldn't listen." This just made them all laugh even harder.
Miwa as glad for Ukai and Takeda's observation skills. She'd subtly motioned for them to follow her outside.
"Thank you, for calling me about Tobio," her voice was low. "I'm so glad that he seems like he's gonna recover well."
"Us too," Takeda offered a polite smile. "He seems much better than yesterday." Miwa nodded. "I'm so glad you were able to come be with him."
"Yeah. That's, uh, kinda what I wanted to talk to you guys about." Her face sank a bit. "I guess you must have gotten my contact information from our Mother."
"Yes, that's right," Takeda nodded.
"I'm guessing she was completely unwilling to come be with him, right?" She could tell by the somber looks on their faces that it was true. "I need to apologise on her behalf. She isn't the most compassionate person I've ever known, that's for sure. She has especially low patience for Tobio."
This confused the two of them greatly. "Why? He's such a good kid." Ukai asked, his hand on his chin.
"Well..." Miwa looked down at her feet, crossing her arms. "He is, he definitely is a really good kid. Some stuff went on while he was still a kid that made him hard to deal with for her, I guess." Takeda and Ukai still didn't really understand. Miwa could tell from their exchanged expressions. "Okay, so," She stopped for a moment to collect her words. "You guys seem to really care. About my brother, I mean. If I tell you two something, it stays between us, okay?"
"Certainly!" Takeda agreed, and Ukai nodded.
Miwa sighed. "When we were kids, both Tobio and I were abused by our father. Badly."
The two men were stunned, unable to say anything.
"I'm not going to go into to much detail, but it was very bad. He told Tobio that he'd hurt me if he told mom, but he was already hurting me. I think mom suspected something, but they were having their own problems. She decided to try to divorce him, but before the court date, our father died in a car accident. Tobio was about seven."
"Wow. I'm so sorry you two went through that." Takeda felt tight in his chest. He'd never suspected anything.
"That's alright. I'm mostly over it now." Miwa leaned against the wall. "He took it a lot harder than I did. I think he somehow felt guilty. He had bad nightmares for a long time, and he used to wake up sick in the middle of the night about 4 or 5 times a month. A little later he got diagnosed with a migraine disorder. But mom kinda acted like he was making it all up for attention."
Ukai felt sick. The idea of escaping abuse into the arms of skepticism and apathy made his stomach curdle. Kageyama was so quiet and unassuming. Damn it, why did bad things have to happen to good kids?
"He sort of became adverse to what she considered affection, and she expected him to comfort her through her loss. She just got more and more exasperated with him, even though none of it was his fault. It got to the point where she wouldn't even talk to him anymore. I'm not sure if she blamed him for their marital problems, or just resented him for not being a comfort to her when things were hard. I, and our Grandpa who lived with us, basically raised him. He was never very good at making friends, after all he went through as a kid, so we were basically all he had." Ukai and Takeda looked increasingly upset.
"And as he got older, she was around less and less. She'd take jobs out of town and be gone for long periods of time. She'd always send enough money home in the mail for us to get groceries, pay bills, all of that stuff. I guess she felt like that was enough."
The sound of the volleyball team laughing from inside the room distracted her for a moment, a flash of a smile manifesting on her face.
"Then, four years ago, I got a scholarship to beauty school in Tokyo, which of course Tobio and Grandpa wanted me to take. I've got a hair and makeup salon out there. Tobio and I kept in fairly close contact throughout everything.
"And then a year and a half ago, Grandpa died. He and Tobio were pretty close. I wanted to move back home, but Tobio insisted it wasn't necessary. Every time I come home to visit, he seems fine, but I've been really worried about him being alone. I don't mean to bog you down with stressful information," She ran her fingers through her hair. "I just kinda wanted you guys to know where Tobio's coming from."
Takeda nodded. A lot of things were starting to make sense.
"Long story short, being open with people is not something Tobio is good at. Making relationships is not something he's good at. He's incredibly closed off and quiet about his personal problems. He's never really had any close friends. So when you guys really interacting with him, it really made me understand how important this team must be to him. So I want to thank you."
Takeda and Ukai were feeling so many things. "Thank us?" Ukai didn't feel like somebody who deserves being thanked. He felt like an asshole who'd never learned a thing about his students.
She nodded. "I know he can be a pain in the ass, especially with all of his obsession with perfectionism, and he sometimes comes across way too bluntly. He really means well. But thank you, and your team, for treating him like he has a place to belong. Thank you guys for showing up for him."
It was taking everything Takeda had in him not to cry, but damn it, he was a professional. "He's," He cleared his throat, trying to remove the strangled sound from his voice. "He's a very good young man. He's very important to all of us. There's nothing to thank us for. This is what we're supposed to do, as a team, and as his friends."
"Right." Ukai added. "All kids can be a pain in the ass. Hell, every kid on our whole team except Asahi and Yamaguchi is usually a pain in the ass." He laughed. "He found the perfect place to belong. We're very glad to have him."
Miwa smiled, and a tear rolled down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away. She laughed a kind of sad laugh. "Y'know, Tobio doesn't usually like to be touched. At all. Like, he doesn't even tolerate it. Earlier when he was still all delirious, a nurse was trying to wake him up, and he nearly smacked her." She peered through the small window in the door. "That kid with the orange hair had his arm around Tobio's shoulders, and he didn't care."
"Oh yeah! I forgot!" Hinata sat the bag of yogurt drinks on Kageyama's lap. "I brought you something!"
Kageyama looked at him suspiciously before peeking into the bag. His eyes got wide, and he looked like a kid at the fair. Then, his face got suspicious again. "Why?"
"What do you mean, why?" Hinata exclaimed with a grumpy expression. "You're stuck in the dumb hospital and they're your favorite!"
Kageyama got quiet. This was so surreal for him. How the hell was he supposed to act? "O-Oh. Thanks." His voice was awkward and low. He shuffled in the bed. Then, another bag was placed in front of him, this one by Tanaka.
"Here! My sister and I picked out all the best ones! Hospital food sucks, so we got you something good to snack on!"
Kageyama peered inside, discovering that it was full of candy.
"These are for you too!" Hitoka held up the vase of flowers.
"And I also brought some fruit. Kinda for the same reason as Tanaka, but to rot your teeth a little less." Daichi sat the bowl of fruit on the bedside table and roughly rubbed the top of Tanaka's head.
"You guys..." Kageyama couldn't meet any of their gazes. His face was red. "...Thanks, but, you didn't have to go through any trouble. You already had to watch me bust my head open."
"It's not any trouble," Kiyoko said softly.
"Stop worrying about us," Suga grinned. "We're all fine. We're glad that you're okay."
Tsukishima could tell how uncomfortable all of the positive attention was making Kageyama feel. He wondered if this was the first time he'd ever really had people outside of his family give any sort of damn about him. It kind of made him mad. "None of us feel obligated to be here, you know." He said, sounding slightly more aggressive than he'd meant to. "This was our idea. Just enjoy your gifts and quit worrying about everything."
Tsukki had once again said what was on everyone's minds. Several of his teammates nodded in agreement.
Kageyama still wouldn't look anyone in the eye, but he nodded. "Yeah. Sorry."
The door opened, and Ukai and Takeda walked back into the room. "Sorry we had to duck out for a second. How are you feeling?" Ukai came up next to the bed, almost patting the injured boy on the shoulder before changing his mind and putting his hands into his pockets. (His sister said he didn't like to be touched and he'd be damned if he contributed to making this kid suffer anymore.)
"I'm okay." Kageyama looked up at him with his big blue eyes, a little confused by Ukai's weird behavior. "Sore, but okay."
"I'm glad to hear it," he continued, leaning against the bed rail. "You had me scared to death yesterday, but you look a lot better now. How's your head?"
"I've got a concussion and a skull fracture." Kageyama looked embarrassed. Ukai grimaced.
"Yeah, that's kinda what I figured. I've seen those bruises before," Ukai motioned to the under eye bruises.
Kageyama turned his head sideways, revealing the bigger, darker bruise behind his ear. "I've got this one too."
"Do they hurt?" Ukai asked.
"Not really." Kageyama said. "Plus I'm on a lot of pain medicine." He pointed up to his head on the right side. "I've got some stitches in my hair somewhere over here."
"Do you mind if I look?" Ukai asked gently. Kageyama shook his head, and leaned sideways so the coach could look. Ukai gently felt for the bristle of nylon beneath the setter's black hair. When he found it, he brushed the hair back and counted 5 small stitches. The area around it was fairly bruised as well, although not visible under all of that hair.
"Yeah, there they are, all five of them," He said. Kageyama sat back up and looked at him again. "Have you been really dizzy or anything?"
"At first, or, well, the first thing I can remember, I was dizzy all the time. As long as I don't move around too much, It's not so bad now, except when I first stand up."
"That's good." He smiled. "I'm really glad." He was looking very tired at this point, after a night without sleep and all of the heavy information he'd received.
"You look tired." Kageyama pointed out.
"Yeah, I'm okay," The blonde coach scratched his head. "I'll sleep good tonight."
"When do you think you'll be going home?" Takeda asked, from over Ukai's shoulder.
"They said I should go home tonight." He answered. "I have to miss school for the next three days, though."
"That's understandable," The teacher nodded. "Too much strain too early will prevent healing. Tsukishima took notes for your classes for today, and he and Yamaguchi are gonna rotate until you get back."
"Oh, thanks guys," Kageyama's dark blue eyes met Tsukishima's amber ones.
"No prob." He replied.
"My sister is gonna be in town for the first little bit, in case I need anything," Kageyama fiddled with the bracelet around his wrist, "So I'll try to rest a lot."
"What about your mom or dad?" Hinata asked. Ukai and Takeda felt their hearts beating in their throats.
"Oh,"Kageyama didn't look phased. "Mom's out of the country on business. She probably won't be back for a while, I guess. And my father's been dead since I was a kid."
"Oh... Sorry..." Hinata said awkwardly.
"No, it's fine." Kageyama shook his head. He quickly lead the conversation away from the topic. He could tell it was making his company uncomfortable. "They said after a week, I can go back to light activity."
"Very light," Ukai crossed his arms, putting on his stubborn voice. "You better be prepared to ease back in. None of that 'jumping in with two feet' right away."
"Right," Kageyama nodded, yawning a bit. It became obvious to everyone all at once that the visit was wearing on the injured teen. His eyes looked tired. His shoulders were slumped.
"Well, I think we should get out of here so you can get a nap in before you go home tonight." Ukai put an arm around Takeda, who nodded in agreement.
"Okay," He blinked wearily. He looked around at everyone again. "Thanks for... coming by."
There was an assortment of responses, smiles, and gentle pats on his shoulders. They all began to file out, one by one.
"Hope you feel better soon!" Hinata waved broadly as he followed the group out, closing the door behind him.
Back on the bus, everybody seemed to be feeling much better. The rain had stopped, and the sun was beginning to set with a beautiful orange sky. Takeda drove again, and it was taking all Ukai had in him to keep his eyes open. The dark cloud of worry had all but vanished. It would be a while, but things would be okay.
