Hinata woke up to a gentle hand thumbing over his cheek.

His knee jerk reaction was to whine, rollover, and shoo his mom away so he could sleep for another five minutes, and he almost did just that before the memories of yesterday came flooding back with unsuspecting force.

His eyes snapped over, eliciting a yelp from whatever person had been touching his face moments before, and sat straight up, ignoring the black spots that invaded his vision as he did so. Shit. He'd passed out. Shit.

"Hinata?" Suga's tentative voice reached his ears, soft and comforting, though underlined with more than a little bit of worry. It was apparent he was trying to keep his volume to a minimum in fear of hurting or startling the boy.

"Suga?" No sooner than the words were out of his mouth, his upperclassman enveloped him in a gentle, yet firm, hug. Hinata froze for a moment, unsure of what to do, before opting to curl an arm around Suga's shoulders to return the embrace. "Are you okay?"

"Holy shit, we weresoworriedaboutyou." Suga's breathed, his words slurring and jumbling together. Hinata briefly wondered if he had been drinking, but quickly dismissed the thought because there was no way his fantastic upperclassman would do such a thing while he was underage. His brow furrowed as Suga tightened his grip on him, punctuating his statement. What had gotten him so worked up? Fainting during a game wasn't normal per se, but he didn't think anyone, even the resident smother hen himself, would be overly worried. After all, they had no doubt discovered his fever by now, right? There was no reason for them to panic if they knew the cause of his collapse. Right?

"Hinata." Suga inhaled shakily before carefully unlatching his arms from around Hinata's shoulders, taking extra precautions not to jostle the boy. He regarded the ginger with wide eyes, the relief evident on his face. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Uh." Hinata felt his cheeks heat up. "I...fainted?" He resisted the urge to groan. God, this was so embarrassing. He made a mental note to prepare himself for Tsukishima and Kageyama's relentless teasing and uncreative jokes that would no doubt come later about him passing out.

Suga nodded once. "And do you know why?" Though his question was simple and straightforward, Hinata couldn't help but frown in confusion.

"Don't you know about..." Hinata trailed off, the look on Suga's face making the words die in his throat. His upperclassman's previously jubilant expression had fallen completely. Now he just stared intently at the ginger, worried eyes raking over his sweaty form, taking in every detail as if he was scared the middle blocker would disappear into thin air.

"Yes, I know about the fever," Suga said gently, placing a calming palm on Hinata's cheek. "I just need to know if there's anything else." He reached over to smooth down a few strands of unruly hair with his free hand. "Be honest. No one's mad at you."

Hinata snorted. "Yeah. I have a hard time believing that." He wrinkled his nose. Talking to someone was a good distraction from the pounding in his head. He'd have to remember that for later. "Kageyama's probably fuming over the fact that I fainted while in the middle of a quick."

"He's not," Suga said quickly, offering a light smile. "That is something I can assure you of."

Hinata blinked at the confidence in his upperclassman's words. "What, do you setters have a psychic connection with each other or something?"

Suga didn't miss a beat. "Absolutely."

"REALLY?!" Hinata immediately regretted the outburst as a small burst of pain shot through his skull. He lowered his voice. "Really?"

Now it was Suga's turn to snort. "No, Hinata. Not really." He gestured toward the closed door. "I know because he's been worried sick about you ever since you passed out."

"You're lying."

Suga blinked. "No..?"

"There's no way Bakayama would be worried about me fainting during a game." Hinata flopped back onto his cot, ignoring Suga's yelp of surprise. "Like, I know it's not normal, but people have fainted during volleyball matches before."

Suga huffed out a laugh. "He's been out of his mind, Hinata. Trust me." He paused for a moment, seemingly debating with himself before slowly rising from his knees to stand at his full height. "We all were."

Before Hinata could say anything or comment about how weird his upperclassman had been acting towards him, a shooting pain in his stomach wiped his mind completely. He groaned, instinctively tucking into himself and curling his hands around his midsection in a feeble attempt to lessen the pain. The fact that he hadn't had anything to eat in over twelve hours paired with his already constricting stomach muscles made for a deadly combination, one that Hinata quickly decided that he didn't want to experience ever again.

"Hinata!" Suga was on him in an instant, and though he was trying to keep his voice low and somewhat soft for the sake of Hinata's ears, the panic was bleeding through. "What's happening?! Are you okay?!"

"'m fine," Hinata mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut. He knew the half-assed response would do absolutely nothing to soothe Suga's nerves, but at the moment, he couldn't find the strength to say anything more.

Hinata felt Suga pause, the setter's form hovering over his curled up body, tentative fingers inches from his head, unsure of whether to touch the spasming boy or leave him be. After a few seconds of deliberation and painful wheezes from Hinata, Suga began carding a gentle hand through his underclassman's unruly locks, taking care to smooth out any knots or bumps.

"You're okay," Suga muttered softly, though Hinata suspected it was more for the setter's own benefit than for him. "You're okay. You're here. You're going to be alright. It hurts now, but it's going to be fine."

Every instinct Suga had was screaming at him to fix the trembling mess of a boy in front of him, protect the sweet child he had come to adore, just do something, because if looks were any indication, Hinata was in pure agony right now, and the fact he couldn't do anything to take that pain away was killing Suga. So the setter sat there, right next to him, threading skillful hands carefully through ginger locks and whispering soft, gentle words of reassurance.

All Hinata could do was focus on breathing through the haze of misery clouding his mind and wait for the pain to subside. He vaguely registered Suga's voice in the back of his head, but at the moment, he was much too distracted to listen to the things his upperclassman had to say. Admittedly, his voice did help ground Hinata a little, but it did absolutely nothing for the violent constricting of his stomach.

It took a full five minutes for the shooting pain to subside to nothing more than a dull ache, and another ten for Hinata to trust himself to uncurl without the possibility of him throwing up spit or blood (since those were the only thing he had left in his body at this point).

"I'm...okay." He said shakily, slowly sitting up to face Suga.

The setter said nothing. He simply readjusted his position so he would have better access to Hinata's hair. The panic was evident in his eyes, and uncertainty was written all over his face, but Suga knew how much the ginger despised being perceived as weak. The fact that he didn't comment on his little episode (no matter how worrying it undoubtedly was for the grey-haired man) was something Hinata was extremely grateful for.

"Hinata." Suga calmly scratched at the boy's scalp, making the ginger lean into his touch. Hinata always found it easy to forget his problems when he was with Suga. The pounding in his head seemed to have lessened a great deal thanks to Suga's head massage, and focusing on the man's careful movement was a good distraction from the ache in his stomach.

"Yes?"

"You know we love you, right?"

Hinata blinked, jerking slightly under Suga's hand before settling back down. Out of all the things he expected to come out of his upperclassman's mouth, that certainly wasn't one of them.

"Um, I mean-"

"I mean all of us." Suga continued as if Hinata hadn't spoken. "Not just everyone at Karasuno, and don't make a single comment about Kageyama because he would turn the world upside down for you if necessary." Hinata furrowed his brow at that, opening his mouth to speak before he was promptly hushed. "Aobajohsai. Date Tech. Nekoma. Shiratorizawa. Akaashi. Bokuto. I don't know how you did it, but you've got all of them wrapped around your little finger."

"What? No, I don't." Hinata wrinkled his nose in protest. "We're just friends, no wrapping or fingers involved."

"Mmhm." Suga's hands left Hinata's hair and met his cheeks, gently cupping the ginger's freckled face and turning it to face him. "The bottom line is, that all of us care about you." Suga's gaze was deadly serious, a stark contrast to the way his thumbs were leisurely stroking Hinata's cheekbones. "So please, Hinata. For the sake of all of us, don't ever hide something as bad as this again."

A tense silence. And then...

"I won't." The reply was nothing more than a whisper, but it was all Suga needed. He removed his hands from Hinata's face a rose slowly, making sure to give his underclassman time to situate himself. Hinata groaned at there loss of contact, always one for affection, but let Suga stand nonetheless.

Suga smiled down at him softly, undeniable fondness in his gaze, before wiping away a few stray curls from Hinata's sweaty forehead and pressing a light kiss into his hair.

"I'm going to tell everyone else you're awake." Suga bit his lip. "Are you alright with being alone for a few minutes?"

Hinata snorted, choosing to ignore the way he almost choked thanks to his stuffy nose. "I'm not a child, you know."

"Mmhm." Suga looked painfully unconvinced. "Hinata, if anything hurts and you're not telling me I swear to god-"

"I'm fine." Hinata cut him off with a smile and a wave of his hand, relishing the way he saw Suga's gaze soften. "Really. I'm not in any excruciating pain right now."

"But you're still in pain," Suga said flatly, crossing his arms. "Is that what I'm hearing?"

"Well, obviously I'm going to be in at least some kind of pain thanks to the whole stomach thing earlier, right?" Hinata knew he wasn't doing Suga's nerves any favors, but since he had asked for the truth, he was going to give him the truth. Plus, Suga could have a particularly nasty temper if he wanted to, even worse than Daichi at times. Hinata knew that his upperclassman wouldn't hesitate to suspend him from the volleyball club if he showed even the slightest signs of lying about his sickness more than he already had. If the setter believed it to be a good lesson about teaching Hinata to tell the truth about what he was feeling, he would do it in a heartbeat.

"Thank you for being honest." The barest hint of a smile flickered across Suga's face as he kissed his fingertips and pressed them to Hinata's cheek. "If you need anything, just yell and someone will come running." Hinata blinked at the action before nodding affirmatively. Sure, he knew Suga had a soft spot for him, but he was never this affectionate. Had something else happened while he was out?

Hinata opened his mouth to ask but was met with an empty dorm room, the door still swinging closed from Suga's exit. He huffed and flopped back onto the mattress. No point in worrying the setter further with pointless questions, he supposed. Besides, if something awful indeed had happened while he had been unconscious, Suga surely would've told him, right? There was no reason for Hinata to be left in the dark about things going on with hisfriends at a volleyball camp hewas attending.

With that reasoning in mind, the ginger snuggled into the cot, squirmed out of the thin layer of blankets covering him, and let his mind drift.

xxx

"SHOUYOU!" Hinata's eyes snapped open. He hadn't even been aware that he'd closed them. Judging by the clock hanging on the wall, it had only been a few minutes since Suga had left the room.

"Wha-OOF" He was abruptly cut off as another body barrelled into him, hugging him tightly and sobbing dramatically. "What the-" He trailed off at the sight of Iwaizumi entering the room, hands in his pockets and eyes downcast. Ah. So that meant the big, blundering mess of a man currently squeezing the life out of Hinata was Oikawa. Nice.

"I WAS SO WORRIED, SHOU!" Oikawa screeched, curling his arms tighter around the ginger. "I THOUGHT YOU DIEDDDDDDD!" The setter let out another wail of despair, making Hinata wince. He shot a questioning look over Iwaizumi's way, wondering why he wasn't kicking the life out of his best friend like he usually did. Iwaizumi shrugged but made no move to stop the setter, leaving Hinata to fend for himself.

"You okay, 'Kawa?" Hinata asked after a few moments of patiently waiting for his whining to subside. Oikawa nodded stiffly, still refusing to let go of the ginger, opting instead to bury his face in the fluffy nest of curls atop of the middle blocker's head.

"You're still warm," Oikawa muttered softly, putting an uncharacteristically gentle hand on Hinata's forehead. "Too warm."

Hinata snorted. "Of course I am." Usually, he would've offered a more enthusiastic response to that, but his illness had sucked most of the energy out of the hyperactive boy, leaving him tired, dizzy, and a little bit grumpy. "I have a fever, dummy."

"Shouyou, so mean." Oikawa murmured into his hair, not moving from his position.

"How are you feeling, Hinata?" It was Iwaizumi's turn to talk now. He was still standing at the doorway, scuffing his shoes lightly against the floor.

"Ughhh, don't even get me started," Hinata groaned, waving his hands around dramatically. "My head feels like gwah and my stomach just went faomph a few minutes ago." He made a face. "It wasn't fun."

Oikawa nodded solemnly, complete understanding written all over his face. "I'm sorry, Shou. Faomphs are the worst."

"I KNOW!"

"They hurt really bad."

"I KNOW!"

Iwaizumi made a face, finally walking away from the door and sitting down beside the duo. "You guys are so freakin' weird."

Oikawa sniffed, somehow making it sound snooty. "You love us."

"Wrong. I love Hinata." Iwaizumi raised an eyebrow. "I merely tolerate you."

Oikawa's lifted his head from the ginger curls, mouth falling open in mock hurt. "MEAN!" He hugged Hinata tighter, shifting his body so the organette's back was pressed into his chest. "Someone as despicable as you should never be allowed to be friends with Shouyou."

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. "Please. Enlighten me."

Oikawa glared. "I cannot have your pessimistic, unpleasant self taint his pure aura." Oikawa made a face. "That is simply unacceptable."

"Yeah?" There was a hint of challenge in Iwaizumi's voice. "I could say the same thing about you."

"EXCUSEZ MOI?! I AM AN ABSOLUTE DELIGHT TO BE AROUND!"

"I'd have to disagree."

"WELL, WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW?! I BET YOU'D KICK A BABY KITTEN IF IT GOT IN YOUR WAY!"

"Hinata's basically the equivalent of a baby kitten, and I haven't kicked him yet."

"ARE YOU SAYING YOU MIGHT?!"

"No. But I might kick you if you don't shut up."

Oikawa wrinkled his nose. "That's child abuse."

"What? How."

"You're older than me."

"By like one month!"

"One month and ten days, actually."

"You're literally eighteen."

"So are you."

"I hate you."

"I know."

Hinata giggled, causing two pairs of eyes to turn his way, argument forgotten completely. Hinata's laugh was like music to the Aobajohsai players' ears, bright, genuine, and downright adorable. Much like the ginger's smiles, his laughter never got old. It was filled with the same sincerity and warmth as those megawatt grins and twinkling eyes, and it somehow succeeded in making him ten times cuter than he already was. That paired with messy curls, sparkly puppy dog eyes, a bubbly personality, smiles that could put the sun to shame, and an overall selfless, caring attitude was the perfect recipe for an adorable, pocket-sized middle blocker that everyone was absolutely smitten with.

"You guys are hilarious." He murmured sincerely, pressing himself further into Oikawa's chest. He was suddenly so, so tired. Exchanging only a few simple sentences with his friends was physically draining for Hinata in this state. His head was pounding, he had a dull ache in his stomach, and his skin was still hot to the touch. Still, the ginger couldn't find it in himself to complain. He knew Iwaizumi and Oikawa well enough to know that if he fell asleep right then and there, they wouldn't hold it against them.

Hinata was right, of course. Iwaizumi knew that their little ginger friend needed his sleep, and Oikawa was quite thrilled to have the fluffy ball of sunshine curl up in his lap.

Hinata murmured quiet apologies to his friends, though he knew they weren't necessary, and promptly drifted off. He'd much rather stay awake and talk some more, but he knew he needed all the sleep he could get before his stomach decided to act up again. He curled himself up in Oikawa's lap, found a comfortable position, and was snoring in a matter of minutes.

Iwaizumi and Oikawa watched this process quietly, and the former had to shush his friend multiple times for letting out little squeaks of happiness at the sight of his precious student snuggling into his chest.

"I'm glad he's okay." Iwaizumi said finally, shifting himself so he could face Oikawa. "He gave us a real scare."

The setter hummed in agreement, lifting his gaze from Hinata to Iwaizumi. "Yeah." They lapsed into silence, not wanting to wake Hinata, but not wanting to leave either.

"I wasn't kidding, you know." Oikawa bit his lip, his cocky facade falling away as it always did when he and Iwaizumi were together. "I may have sounded overdramatic for Shou's sake, but I really did think that he died."

Iwaizumi nodded. "Yeah. I could tell by the way you were clinging to me like a spider monkey."

"I choose to take that as I compliment, thank you very much! Monkeys have excellent reflexes and are very smart." Oikawa smirked. "Unlike you, my friend."

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. "I was going to say you look like a monkey more than anything, but I guess that other stuff works too."

"Mean!" The setter harshly whispered, careful not to jostle the sleeping boy in his arms as he shot his best friend a glare. "I know for a fact that you were worried too."

Iwaizumi just nodded, glancing down at the ginger. "Who said I wasn't?"

"Hmm." Hinata shifted slightly in the setter's arms, making the two fall silent. The ginger groaned a little, still clearly out of it, and moved until he rolled out of Oikawa's lap and into the cot they were sitting on, making Iwaizumi scootch back a little to avoid waking the ginger up.

Oikawa furrowed his brow a little, slightly peeved at the fact that an unconscious Hinata chose the bed over his lap, but he couldn't exactly hold it against him. His friend was sick, and he needed all the comfort he could get.

"I'm glad he's okay." Iwaizumi whispered again, carefully rising to his feet and stepping off the cot. "I mean, more okay than we thought he was."

Oikawa nodded mutely, entirely in agreement. "Mmhm. I don't know how I'd be able to deal with yesterday being the last time I saw him smile."

Iwaizumi snorted, though they both knew he felt the same way. "Gay."

"No. Bisexual." Oikawa raised a teasing eyebrow. "You're the one who's gay."

Iwaizumi's mouth twitched. "Fair."

"Hmm. Thought so." Oikawa swept a few strands of hair away from Hinata's face before standing up as well. "We should probably let someone else take it from here."

"Yeah." Iwaizumi nodded. "Everyone's gonna kill us when they find out we were the first ones to see Hinata."

"Besides Sugawara." Oikawa pointed out.

"Yeah. Besides Sugawara." Iwaizumi smiled fondly down at the ginger. "You gave all of us quite a scare, Hinata."

xxx

Hinata woke up to a swirl of blond and black tickling his face.

"Wha-"

"Cuddles." Kenma was deadly serious. "Now."

Hinata blinked, trying to both clear the fogginess from his eyes and wrap his head around Kenma's request. Kenma never asked for cuddles, not once. Hinata knew his friend always enjoyed them, of course, but every single time he had been the one to initiate or request physical contact from the dual haired setter. Never once had it been the other way around.

"Huh?" Hinata's words were slightly slurred, still a little out of his after being woken up by hair tickling his nose and cheeks. "Cuddles?"

"Yes. Cuddles." Kenma's face disappeared from view, prompting the ginger to curl onto his side to face him. He wasn't surprised to see Kuroo just a few feet away from Kenma, arms crossed and leaning against the wall as he watched the two interact as he'd done so many times before. Hinata had asked him about it once. He'd said it was interesting, almost like watching a puppy and a kitten play together.

Hinata shifted his gaze from Kuroo back to Kenma. "But you neeeever ask for cuddles." He emphasized the never by snuggling further into his blankets, eyesight still blurry.

Kenma shrugged, his face a perfect picture of indifference. "Well, I'm asking now." He flicked his wrist. "So scootch."

Hinata furrowed his brow. His brain still wasn't quite caught up with his body just yet, and this whole situation was so out of the ordinary that he wasn't quite sure if he was still asleep or not. Kenma looked real enough anyway. So did Kuroo.

Cuddling with Kenma wasn't a rare occurrence, per se, but Hinata was always happy when they did. The ginger craved physical contact and relished the fact that he was the only one allowed to hug Kenma regularly. But for the first time in forever, Hinata was unsure.

"But I'm really sick." He murmured, propping himself up on his elbows a bit so he could get a better look at his friend. "I want you to stay healthy."

Kenma rolled his eyes. "It'll be fine. I don't get sick." He glared at the floor. "And if I do, I'll tell someone about it instead of keeping it a secret until I faint in the middle of a game and scare the living crap out of everyone. "

It was one of Kenma's standard passive-aggressive comments, nothing he hadn't heard before, but Hinata couldn't help but shrink back at his words. "'m sorry." He mumbled, tears pricking at his eyes. If there was anything he hated more than sympathy, it was disappointing people. And right now, he was positive Kenma was disappointed in him.

"Do you hate me?" The words were barely above a wet whisper, but they were enough to break Kenma's passive expression completely.

"What?" The setter looked utterly horrified at the concept. "Why the hell would you think that?"

"'cause me and you were fighting," Hinata mumbled, barely coherent thanks to the blanket covering his mouth. "You were angry."

Kenma sighed. "Yes, Shou, I was a little mad at you." Hinata tensed slightly. "But only because I care about you and your health. I know I act indifferent, but the last thing I want is you getting hurt because of some stupid mistake." The setter glared slightly at his friend, but it had no heat behind it. "And keeping your sickness a secret was stupid. So don't do it again." Ah, there it was—the famous Kenma Kozume bluntness.

Hinata rose a little more to meet Kenma's eyes. "So you don't hate me?"

"No. Never." The dual haired boy wrinkled his nose. "I honestly think it's impossible. Now move." He tapped Hinata's shoulder with his shoe. "I asked for cuddles."

Hinata complied instantly, scootching over to the left side of the cot to make room for his friend. He was still a little wary about his fever, but his worries about getting the setter sick quickly disappeared as Kenma scooted in next to him, wrapped one arm around his waist, and started combing his fingers through the ginger's hair as they'd done a thousand times before. It was practically instinct at this point, but Hinata never ceased to melt into the gentle touches given by Kenma's hands.

"You not gonna take a picture?" Hinata asked Kuroo after a few moments, lifting his head slightly to face the captain before Kenma pushed it back down to continue his work of smoothing out the ginger curls.

"Nah." An unusually short response for Kuroo. Hinata furrowed his brow.

"Why not? You literally break into Kenma's house to take pictures of us like at least once a week, and now you pass up the opportunity while we're right in front of you?"

"Yep." Kuroo popped the p. "I think I'm just going to enjoy the scene, this time."

"That sounds a little stalkerish." Kenma murmured, eyes never leaving Hinata's head.

Kuroo merely shrugged. "Maybe." He still hadn't moved from his position against the wall. "I'm just glad I get to keep seeing it, that's all."

Hinata raised an eyebrow as he felt Kenma hum in agreement. "Whadda you mean? It's not like I died or anything." Honestly, everyone was acting so sweet and out of character toward him that he was getting a little creeped out. The only conclusion he could come up with was that something else had happened after he'd fainted.

"Hmm. Yeah." Hinata didn't miss Kuroo and Kenma exchanging knowing glances. "We know."

Hinata wanted to ask them about it, but it seemed his body had other plans. The gentle sensation of Kenma's hands in his hair, Kuroo's watchful gaze, and the sheer comfiness of the cot under him was enough to put the ginger to sleep within minutes.

xxx

Almost everyone had visited Hinata that day. Kenma and Kuroo were long gone by the time the entirety of Aobajohsai came storming into his room with Oikawa and Iwaizumi in tow, demanding to know why they'd gotten to see Hinata first. Oikawa had made a snarky comment about him and Iwaizumi being the ginger's favorite, and that had sparked a vicious argument between the teammates as Hinata watched on with mute amusement.

The rest of the visits were a blur. Ushijima offered to spike the sickness right out of his body, to which Semi had immediately declined much to both the relief and disappointment of the ginger. He kind of wanted to know what it felt like to be spiked by the great Ushijima Wakatoshi. While Semi and the captain argued, Shirabu had offered to buy Hinata as many ice creams as he wanted, Goshiki had cried the entire time, and Tendou started to sing a song about "crushing people's hearts" in an attempt to cheer up the middle blocker.

The entirety of Date Tech delivered Hinata lunch, and they treated him just as they had while they were at Aone's house all those weeks ago. They were no strangers to taking care of Hinata, and in that short time they spent together, they had all adapted to the ginger's personality and needs when he was upset. Of course, the ginger wasn't upset, only sick, but he didn't mind being babied by the Date Tech team like would anyone else. They'd seen him at his worst, and he trusted them not to judge.

Nekoma had burst in later, minus their captain and their setter, which was another situation all in itself. Yaku kept babbling about teaching him all the receives he wanted, Inuoka and Lev got into an argument about who got to hug him first while Yamamoto just hugged him anyway, which spiked yet another debate between the three about the rules of dibs or something like that. When Hinata mentioned that Kenma had been the actual first to hug him, Yamamoto had promptly sprinted out of the room screaming bloody murder in the form of Kenma's name, making Inuoke abandon his argument with Lev to just go ahead and hug Hinata anyway, and Lev ran out of the room after Yamamoto threatening to "spike him to the moon." Yaku had almost tackled the grey-haired student for being stupid.

Hinata didn't remember any of Fukurodani's visit, but he was told that Bokuto and Akaashi had come to visit him while he was sleeping, causing the captain to allegedly break down and cry over his sleeping body, wishing for him to "rest in peace." Akaashi had had to drag him out of the room in an attempt to convince the overly emotional spiker that their friend was not, in fact, dead, and just, in fact, sleeping.

The visit from his own team had undoubtedly been the most hectic. Nishinoya and Tanaka had clung to him while crying dramatically, thanking "the goddess Kiyoko" that their underclassman was still alive. Hinata had still been a bit sleepy when his team came to visit, and had mistake Asahi for Jesus, making Yamaguchi laugh until tears streamed down his face. Daichi had scolded the first year for being so loud, patted Asahi sympathetically on the back, and promptly started arguing with Ennoshita that Asahi did not, in fact, look like Jesus. Suga took Ennoshita's side and insisted that the ace did, which then started an all-out war between the team (minutes Tanaka, Nishinoya, Kageyama, and Tsukishima. Tanaka and Noya because they refused to let go of Hinata, and Tsukishima and Kageyama because they weren't there.)

Still, Hinata was beyond happy to later be informed by Daichi that his fever had gone down.

xxx

Hinata was staring at the wall, bored out of his mind, when Kageyama and Tsukishima entered the room.

"Woah, woah, woah." Hinata held up a hand, making both boys freeze uncomfortably. "You guys. Are coming. To visit me. Together?" Hinata broke out into a fit of giggles. "For real? Did I wake up in a parallel universe or something?"

"No, dumba- I mean Hinata." Hinata raised an eyebrow at Kageyama's stutter. "You're here. Same universe as always."

"Okay." The ginger crossed his arms, becoming immediately defensive. "That doesn't explain why you two have been in the same room for the past twenty seconds and haven't ripped each other's heads off yet."

Tsukishima sniffed. "Bickering with this clown isn't important right now." He expertly ignored Kageyama's murderous glare. "We just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Hinata blinked. Kei Tsukishima wanted to make sure he was okay? Parallel universe or not, that was beyond weird. "Wow. Um." Hinata scratched the back of his neck. "That's unexpected."

Tsukishima visibly stiffened. "Why's that?"

"Uh, I dunno, maybe 'cause you're you." Hinata narrowed his eyes. "I've never heard you so much as apologize to someone." He paused. "No offense, though. I could be wrong."

Tsukishima chewed on his lip. "In that case, I'm sorry, Hinata. I'm so, so sorry."

Now that caught Hinata off guard. "Huh? For what?"

"You know." Tsukishima waved his hand around. "Everything."

"Riiiiight." Hinata scanned the blond up and down. "Are you sure this isn't a parallel universe?"

"Fairly sure, yes."

"Hm." Hinata turned to Kageyama. "And you...?"

"For the same reason, pretty much, yeah." Kageyama ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, Hinata. I've criticized your skills so many times and called you so many names and insulted you beyond belief and just...I'm sorry."

"Same here," Tsukishima muttered, and Hinata had to pick his jaw up off the floor. What the fuck was happening. Did his friends get kidnapped by body snatchers or something? Oikawa had warned him that it would happen eventually, but he didn't think the setter was serious... "I've been a terrible person and frankly an asshole to you for no reason, and I want to fix it before it's too late."

"Okay, uh, back the hell up." Hinata shook his head. "I feel like I'm missing a very important piece of the puzzle here." He scrunched up his nose. "You guys have always treated me like that, and it's never been a problem for you before." He thought for a moment. "Or me, for that matter."

"Look, it's just that the last time we saw you smile was earlier yesterday-"

"What?"

"-and then when you collapsed we thought that we'd never see that smile again-"

"What?"

"And when Asahi told us you'd only passed out we were just so so relieved that we could have a chance to make things right-"

"Hold up." Hinata put out a hand, cutting Tsukishima and Kageyama off abruptly. "You guys thought I died?"

"Well...yeah." The blond murmured, suddenly finding the floor very interesting. "I mean, the last thing you said was "sorry" before falling to the ground. What were we supposed to think?"

"Uh, I don't know, maybe that all I did was pass out?" Hinata couldn't stop the snicker that escaped his lips. "Why'd you even come to that conclusion? That's like the worst and least possible situation that could've happened." He broke off into a fresh fit of giggles. No wonder everyone was acting so overly affectionate today.

"It's just..." Kageyama wrung out his hands, making Hinata laugh even harder. God, the fact that his friends were so emotionally constipated was hilarious. "We realized how sad we'd be if you died-"

"Uh, yeah, I hope you'd be sad if I died. What, did you guys think your lives would go on as normal or something if I passed away? If any of us passed away?" Hinata was laughing openly now. "God, you guys are terrible at this whole 'emotions' and 'apologizing' thing."

"We-"

"Yes, Tsukishima. You guys are emotionally constipated. I know." Tsukishima clicked his mouth shut. "But guys, I don't care about all the things you say about me. It might just be my optimism talking, but I know you don't really mean any of the comments you make." Hinata offered a lopsided grin. "And please keep being your normal selves. All of this niceness from you two at one time is freaking me out. Literally. I have chills." He showed his goosebumps as if to prove his point.

Tsukishima seemed to accept this answer fully, reaching out to ruffle his curls with a certain gentleness Hinata had never felt from his fellow middle blocker, before nodding at Kageyama and heading out of the room. Hinata didn't expect anything more. Tsukishima had never been good at talking about his feelings as far as Hinata had observed. The ginger suspected he used insults and such as sort of a defense system for his own insecurities, but he wasn't going to push him to talk about it. Plus, he knew that Tsukishima hated physical contact from everyone, even from Yamaguchi. Hinata suspected it made him uncomfortable to some degree.

Just the fact that he actively tried to apologize when he was obviously uncomfortable with expressing his emotions was all Hinata needed to know that the tall, blond middle blocker cared about him. He'd known that, of course, but it was always nice to have reassurance once in a while.

Kageyama, however, didn't seem nearly as convinced. Hinata just smiled.

"Come on! Gimme a hug, Bakayama!"

Kageyama made a face on reflex. "No way, dumbass. You're sick."

Hinata grinned, threw back the covers to his cot, and leaped onto his setter, latching his arms firmly around his neck and using the tips of his toes for balance. Kageyama stumbled back a bit, surprised by the sudden weight, but ultimately returned the embrace as Hinata knew he would. Kageyama wasn't big on casual shows of affection, but Hinata knew his partner well enough to know that the best way to reassure him of something was to give him a warm, firm hug. Hinata had only had to use this tactic three separate times (and that was counting this one), but it never failed to calm the setter's nerves.

Plus, though he never said it, Hinata thought Kageyama gave the best hugs in the world.