Miwa pulled the car into the driveway and parked as close to the house as he could. She looked into the rearview mirror at her brother, who was dozing off in the back seat. He was dressed in some long dark sweatpants and a thermal shirt she'd found in the dollar store next to the hospital. They were two sizes too big, but at least he's be warm. His volleyball uniform was evidently soiled with vomit, and she hadn't had time to go home before coming to see him.
"We're here," She kept her voice fairly low, so as not to startle him. His eyes opened quickly, and he looked out the window.
"Okay..." he said, stretching groggily. His shoulder was still sore, and he grimaced a bit at the pain. Miwa got out of the car and walked around to the rear passenger door and opened it.
"Here's the deal," Miwa said, helping her wobbly brother out of the car. Tobio stood for a minute, catching his breath, and then started slowly up the front steps to his house, Miwa following closely behind. "While I'm here, you're gonna tell me any time something doesn't feel right with you, understand?"
"Yeah," He groaned, struggling to find which key was for the front door. Miwa reached around and pointed it out to him, and he unlocked the door and headed in.
"I mean it," The older Kageyama said, hanging her coat on the hook by the door. "If you feel sick, you tell me. If you feel dizzy or fall, you freaking tell me. I don't care if I'm asleep. If you throw up, you tell me. Don't be stubborn."
"Okay." Tobio grumbled. "I get it."
"I know you feel like I'm just nagging, but if something happens and you don't tell me, you could really end up in bad shape." She noticed that the house was still in perfect order, not that she was surprised. That's how their parents had required it. Just because they weren't here didn't mean the scars of their actions were gone. She flipped the light switch on, shuddering a little at the temperature inside. "You've gotta heal to be able to go play volleyball again."
"I know." Tobio carried his dirty volleyball jersey and shorts to the washing machine. "I won't do anything dumb."
"I know you won't." She smiled a little at him. "I know you're probably pretty exhausted. Are you gonna go to bed?"
"I wanna take a shower first," He ran a hand gently through his black hair. "I feel gross."
"Okay, just yell if you need anything. I'm gonna make a phone call or two." She stepped into the kitchen, adjusting the thermostat to a warmer temperature as she went.
Tobio went into the bathroom and shut the door. After warming up the water for a while, he undressed and stepped in. It felt so good to wash the hospital smell and the sweat off of him. The stitches in his hair prickled a bit. He lathered his hair up with shampoo, trying to fight the exhaustion he was feeling with his hands up above his head as he rinsed it. He felt like he could stand in the warm water forever if he wasn't so exhausted.
He'd just about gotten as clean as he could tolerate when he started feeling dizzy. "Damn it," he cursed quietly, trying his hardest to take deep breaths and wait it out. After it didn't pass for a minute, he shakily lowered himself to the floor of the shower and sat down, resting his head on his knees and leaning against the wall of the tub. Shit, he thought to himself. He waited a few more minutes for it to leave, but his head was reeling, even from a sitting position. He'd had more than enough embarrassment for one day. He did not want to call his sister in to help him out of the shower. But it wasn't getting better, and he'd promised.
"Miwaaaaa," He called weakly, not taking his head off of his arms.
After a few seconds, he could hear the door open a crack. "You okay?" she asked from outside.
"...Dizzy..." he moaned.
"Shit," she said under her breath, "Are you... are you decent?"
"No..." Damn it, this was so embarrassing.
"Okay. Hang on." He could hear the door creak open the rest of the way. "I'm not looking at you," she said in an awkward voice. Tobio looked up at her. She had her eyes covered with one arm, feeling along the wall with the other. She reached in and turned the water off, and then felt her way back to the sink. She opened the cabinet, grabbed a towel, and offered it to her brother, all without looking at him. He reached over and took it, wrapping it around himself.
"...okay..." He said quietly, putting his arm on the edge of the tub. Miwa turned to look at him. He was super pale, leaning heavily against the side of the tub. His breathing was heavy. She took another towel from the cabinet and gently dried his back and some of his hair before wrapping it around his shoulders.
"Do you think if I helped you, you could get out? Or do you need to wait a minute?" She could see his eyes dart here and there as he considered the question.
"I wanna get out," He mumbled.
"Okay," she knelt close to him. "Put your arm around my shoulder." He put his left arm around her shoulders, and she put her right arm around his lower back over the towel. "On three, try to stand," She commanded. He nodded a little. "One, two, three."
The two of them stood up, the younger wobbling about a bit. She could tell by the look on his face that it was a struggle for him.
"Can you step out?" She asked, her voice a tad strained by the weight he was putting on her. Carefully, he took his left leg out and placed it into the floor outside the tub. She moved out a bit to supplement his balance. "Now the other one." Tobio placed his right hand on the wall, looking visibly pained. He lifted his right foot out his toe catching for a second on the lip of the tub, and quickly placed it on the ground by his left foot. If Miwa hadn't been there, he more than likely wouldn't have been able to keep his balance.
Miwa then guided him to sit on the edge of the tub. He did, resting his elbows on his knees and his palms on his eyes, breathing hard. She started to pat him on the back, but he flinched at the touch.
"...S-sorry..." he said in a voice barely above a whisper. She wasn't sure if he was apologizing for his dizziness or for his reaction to being touched.
"Don't be sorry. It's fine. I told you to tell me if anything was wrong, and you did good." She said gently. She gave him a minute to catch his breath. "Are you gonna be okay if I walk away to go get you some clothes?"
"...yeah, I think so... It's getting better, finally," he said, rubbing circles on his temples.
"Good, just hang on a sec. I'll be right back." She stood up and walked a few steps away, looking back to make sure he was still upright, which he was. She hurried into his room and found him a black tee shirt, a pair of soft red shorts, some black socks, and some underwear.
Inside, even though she knew it was stupid, she felt upset. Tobio had always trusted her. There was no need to act scared of her now. Had she been away for too long? No, this wasn't about her, and she needed to let it go.
When she came back, he was sitting upright, finishing getting dry. The color was starting to return to his face. His eyes met hers, then he looked away, embarrassed.
"Here," She said, holding the clothes out to him. "Do you need any help?"
"I don't think so." He said, taking them into this hands.
"Okay," She stepped back. "I'm gonna be right out here if you need me." He nodded. She turned to go.
"Miwa." She turned around to look at him. He had that same guilty look on his face that he'd had after his teammates left earlier. She knew this time it was about his reaction to her touching him. "I'm... sorry for..."
"You have nothing to apologize for. We've both been through plenty, and I get it." She managed a smile. "You've had a rough day. There's only so much 'uncomfy' one person can take in a day."
He still felt guilty, but he nodded.
"Get dressed." She ordered. "Carefully. Call me if you get dizzy again." He nodded again. She turned and left, shutting the door behind her.
Tobio carefully worked his way into his underwear, then his tee-shirt, struggling a bit with his right arm and shoulder. He pulled his shorts on next, and then sat back down on the tub to put his socks on. He slowly gathered up the towels and clothes he had been wearing before, being careful not to move to quickly and make himself dizzy again. Then, he opened the door, put the towels in the washer with his jersey, and started back towards his bedroom. He could hear Miwa on the phone in the kitchen, pacing. He hoped he hadn't gotten her in trouble at work.
He trudged into his room and laid down heavily on his bed. He pulled his covers over himself. He was more tired than he could remember ever being. His whole body yearned for rest. Within a about 30 seconds, he was asleep.
...
When he woke up, he felt sick. His room was dark, and it took him a second before he thought to look at his alarm clock by the bed. It was 2:58 in the morning. He laid in bed for a moment, hoping the sick feeling that washed over him would leave, but it didn't. The pit of his stomach felt heavy and unpleasant.
He forced himself into a sitting position and swung his feet out and over to the floor. This didn't help the sick sensation in his stomach, but he didn't figure that would matter much. He was pretty sure he was gonna throw up, no matter what he did. Throwing up was no foreign sensation for him. It had been a little while since he'd had one of his migraines, but they always made him sick.
He stood to his feet, leaning against his bedside table for a second, and then trudged to the bathroom. The longer he was upright, the more he was certain that it was only a matter of time before he was sick. He flipped on the bathroom light, shutting the door quietly behind him. He took a towel from the cabinet and half unfolded it, laying it on the floor near the toilet. He knelt down on it and sighed. He hated feeling nauseated. There was nothing he hated worse. He could power through a cold, or fever. This required his entire equilibrium to halt.
It was a long 15 minutes or so of waiting before his body set the chain reaction into motion. His mouth started heavily watering. He laid his lower arms on the seat and leaned over the toilet. He could feel his insides revolting against the small amount of hospital dinner he'd picked at. Damn, he just wished it would hurry and be over. Everything hurt. He spat some excess saliva into the toilet belowhim.
Suddenly, his stomach clenched, and his body heaved. He braced himself against the toilet seat. Nothing came up. "Damn it," he hissed. He felt a cool sweat break out across the back of his neck, and his muscles began to shake. His body heaved again, and this time, his mouth was filled with a horrible acrid taste. With no pause in between, another pang of nausea hit him, and a fountain of liquid poured out of his mouth, splashing into the toilet below. He closed his eyes. He didn't want to see it. It was bad enough that he had to smell it. His body wasn't done, and another gush of vomit spilled out of him, and then another. It hurt his throat, making it exponentially harder to keep quiet. He spat. He felt absolutely horrible. Only a few shaky breaths could be drawn before again his body heaved, and out splattered a final, smaller amount of the fluid. He sat still for a few minutes more, to make sure that was all, before reaching above him and flushing the toilet.
After it was all gone, Tobio opened his eyes and tore off a piece of toilet paper to blow his nose and wipe his chin. His whole body shivered. He leaned back against the wall for a second, trying to return to some semblance of normal. His shoulder was incredibly sore from his body being tensed up.
After a moment, he stood, picking up the towel as he went. He moved to the sink, and turned it on. He cupped his hands underneath the cold water, and took it to his mouth to rinse out the taste of sickness. He spat. He filled his hands again, and splashed his face. He coughed quietly, trying to clear his throat, which felt as if he'd eaten a cheese grater. Cold from sitting on the bathroom floor, he wanted nothing more than to go right back to bed and bundle up.
He opened the bathroom door, turning off the light as he exited. He threw the towel with the other things in the laundry. Quietly as a ghost, and looking as pale as one too, the sick teenager walked into the living room. Miwa was asleep on the couch, snoring loudly.
"Miwa," He said quietly.
She jolted upright, still mostly asleep. Her sleepy eyes met his. "Huhhh?"
"I promised I'd tell you if I felt sick." He rubbed his eyes. "I threw up, but I'm fine now."
"Shit," she mumbled, "...Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine now," he repeated. "Sorry for waking you up. I'm going back to bed."
"Don't be sorry," she said, half asleep. "Wake me again up if you still feel bad in a while." She relaxed back onto the couch.
"Okay," he dropped his voice to a whisper, already hearing the beginnings of snoring come from his sister again. Back to his bedroom, and back under the blankets he went. It took a few minutes to get his shivering under control, but before he knew it, he was asleep.
...
The next time he awakened, it was to the familiar voice of his sister, trying to rouse him. "Wake up. Time for meds."
He opened his eyes to see her standing by the bed, a cup with a cocktail of pills in one hand, and a glass of water in the other. He looked at the clock again. It was 7:30 in the morning. This was a much more reasonable time to be awake, if he hadn't woken up in the middle of the night to feeling sick.
His stomach felt normal now, and he sat up in the bed, taking the two cups into his own hands. He put the pill cup to his lips, tilted it back, and then washed them all down with some water.
"How's your stomach?" Miwa asked, taking the cups back and stacking one in another.
"It's fine now." He rubbed his abdomen a bit, noticing how sore his abdominal muscles were from the heaving.
"Did you throw up any more, after you woke me up?"
"No, I would have told you," Tobio was trying not to sound like a grouch, but he was tired, sore, and not in the mood to be pestered.
"Okay, okay. Sorry." She raised her hands defensively. "Do you feel like breakfast yet, or do you wanna sleep a little longer?"
"Sleep," he said, but before he could lay back down, he noticed that his pillow had a tiny amount of blood on it. Miwa seemed
to notice it too.
"Is it okay if I look at your stitches?" She asked. He nodded, leaning towards her. He felt her gentle hands search his black hair for the stitches. He knew she'd found them when he felt the slightest prickle of pain. She brushed his hair up, looked at them for abfew seconds, and then smoothed his hair back down.
"I think they just wept a little bit, after your shower." She concluded. "The doctor said that might happen. I think you're fine." She went to pat him on the shoulder, but stopped herself. "Okay, just rest a while. Let me know when you get hungry, so I can-"
"Miwa," He interrupted her. "I don't care if you touch me." He scowled at the floor. "Yesterday, I got overwhelmed. Too manynthings were going on. I didn't feel good, I was embarrassed, I didn't have any damn clothes on,"
It hadn't occurred to Miwa, before that moment, how similar that must have been to some of the worst nights of his childhood, and she felt very guilty for being having ever been upset. She felt tears spring into her eyes and roll down her face before she could stop them.
"What the hell?" Tobio asked, an expression between concern and confusion on his face. "Why are you crying all the sudden?" She didn't answer right away, covering her eyes with her hands. After a second, she felt a tug on the hem of her shirt sleeve. "I'm... I'm sorry I upset you," he continued, in a much more gentle tone. That made her feel even worse, but she pulled herself together enough to wipe her eyes and answer.
"Shit, no, sorry." She sniffled, taking a deep breath before continuing. "You didn't upset me. I just hadn't considered how you were feeling when I did that, and when I did, it hit me like a ton of bricks, and I-"
"It's fine." Tobio stopped her. "It's really fine." After a minute, he laughed a little. "I didn't remember you being such a crier, you big baby." Her eyes met his. She could tell he was trying to lighten the mood. In a silly, deep dramatic voice, he proclaimed, "Tokyo has changed you,"
She laughed, in spite of herself.
Before she had time to think, Tobio stood up and wrapped her in a hug. "I mean it, it's fine." His muffled voice came from her shoulder. "Don't be upset about it."
She hugged him back, squeezing him tightly, like she did when he was a scared child. "Okay," was all she could say.
