Don't chapter 11
After his short talk with Daichi, Hinata went home. He had never before spoken like that against his capta...no...his former captain, like he just did. However, Daichi looked like he really cared, like he really wanted to persuade Hinata to stay.
And Hinata was so tempted to do exactly that, to not leave the team. But he knew that it wasn't a possibility. That was way Hinata had ended the conversation as quick as possible and left. He couldn't show any weakness right now. This was something that needed to be done for his family.
From now on volleyball wouldn't be a part of his live anymore, which was weird. But Hinata needed to accept it as quick as possible, he needed to forget about it, so he could move on. He tried to think about all the positive things quitting volleyball brought along. He would be able to spend some time on his terrible grades — he didn't care much about it, but maybe it would please his father if his school rapport would be better. Most important, he would be able to spent more time with Natsu. Maybe now he would be finally able to give his father what he wanted from him — even though Hinata never really knew what that exactly was. But at least now he had more time to try.
The ring of the doorbell pulled him out of his thoughts. Both his father and Natsu used to come home earlier then him, but now that he didn't have to go to practice, it was the other way quickly walked towards the front door and opened it.
Hajime-san — his late mothers friend — was holding a giggling Natsu in her arms. They were clearing joking about something and Hajime carefully caressed her over her orange jumpy hair. He wouldn't say it out loud, but the sight made Hinata miss his mother even more. He remembered the day that she would hold him like that when he was younger, hugging and giggling together.
Still, Hinata was Hajime-san forever grateful for bringing Natsu to school and back home. Hinata wouldn't make it on time for his classes if he needed to bring his little sister beforehand and his dad wasn't really up to do the job right now.
The moment Hinata opened they both looked up with a bright smile. How long had it been that he had seen Natsu smile so carelessly. He couldn't even remember.
"Aww, Shoyo-kun, good to see you. How have you been?" Hajime-san asked. Her voice was soft and nice, sounding like she really cared. She almost sounded like his mother.
"I… I am fine. Thank you for taking care of Natsu." Hinata said polite, while carefully taking his little sister from Hajime's hold. Natsu's hand quickly took a strong hold of him. "Oh don't worry about it! I'm going there anyway, so I might as well take this little princes with me." She said, while pinching Natsu on the cheek. Natsu giggled at her. "If there is anything I can do for you two or your father, just give me a call, okay? You guys have been through enough, it would be a pleasure to help out."
"Thank you, I will." Hinata said and they both said their goodbyes. Hinata put Natsu back on the ground, before walking towards the kitchen.
"I already started making dinner, I think it will be done in 30 minutes. Dad will probably come home soon." He said. The moment Hinata had come home, he had taken a look in their refrigerator and his kitchen cabinet to take a look at the kind of food they had. He wanted to show his father that he was prepared to put more time and energy in this family.
So he had grabbed a few ingredients and started working. Natsu and Hajime had interrupted him, but he quickly resumed his cooking. In the meantime, Natsu followed him in the kitchen, grabbed a glass of orange juice for herself and sat down at the table. Hinata could feel her eyes following him. For the first few minutes there was a silence between them, something that was unusual for both. They were always eater joking or fighting together, or Hinata was comforting her when she was sad, but now there was silence.
Hinata's thought automatically went back to Hajime. He knew that his mother had been friends with her since college. Hinata had practically known her his whole life. She always had been kind towards him, and he knew that she had supported his mother a lot when she was sick.
He didn't understand it though. Hajime had been friends with his mother, so it was logically that she had been kind towards one of her closest friends son and daughter. But now his mother was dead and she was still trying to be involved with them. Why was Hajime doing all this? Why was she so nice towards both Hinata and Natsu?
There was nothing that Pinata ever could do in return, and she must know that.
"Hajime-san is nice." Natsu said out of the blue, who was clearly thinking about the same thing as her older brother.
"Yeah, she really is." Was all Hinata could answer, while chopping some vegetables. Hinata didn't like admitting it, but thinking about Hajime-san hurt him. He knew it was disrespectful to think like that, especially with everything that she was doing for them, but she reminded him too much of his mother.
His beautiful mom, with her beautiful laugh. How much he wouldn't give to hug her right now. Hinata bit his lip. Would this feeling ever go away?
He closed his eyes for a second, trying to forget about the grief, before concentrating on his food again. After their short conversation the Hinata siblings didn't say anything to each other, however Natsu never left the room. She stayed by his side, watching him work.
His dad didn't come home at the time he normally did. Hinata waited for him for an extra of ten minutes, but he could see that Natsu was getting hungry and to be honest, his own stomach was starting to protest too.
Well, they could eat right now, and he would warm up the food the second his father would come home. He quickly gave them both a portion before sitting down.
He tried to ignore the disappointment. Hinata had wanted to show his dad the effort he was putting in, he wanted to show that he was trying to be a good soon. He hoped that his father would be pleasured by it. That it would make him happy.
And now his father wasn't home to actually see his effort.
During dinner the two siblings chit-chatted a bit about some subject Hinata couldn't even remember later on. His dad still hadn't come home when they finished eating. After doing the dishes together — it would be troublesome if his father returned home to a dirty kitchen — they snuggled together on the coach and watched one of Natsu's favorite Gibli movie, Spirited Away.
They didn't say much to each other, but it was nice to be together. The house was much more peaceful now his dad wasn't there. The feeling of fear of his own father, the fear to be punched or hit was subdued. It was still there, somewhere in the back of his head, knowing that his father could return any moment, but he ignored it for now.
However, he didn't ignore the guilt that came with thinking all of that. He knew that it disrespectful towards his father and it was what Hinata was trying to compenste. By cooking for his father and doing all the other choirs, maybe the guilt would go away.
Even when it became time to put Natsu to bed, his father still wasn't home. After reading her a quick bedside story, he walked towards the shower, starting to get ready for bed.
Suddenly he heard the frontdoor opening, heavy footsteps walked towards the kitchen. That must have been his father!
Hinata ran downstairs, planning to warm up the food.
"Sho…yo?" His father was leaning against the kitchen cabinet, clearly drunk. Hinata immidiatly became a hundreth time more more alert and on edge than before. He knew that a drunk father, was a dangerous father.
"Hey dad, welcome home. I made some dinner, do you want some?" Hinata asked carefully. His father looked at him for a few seconds, before bowing over himself and puking on the floor. Hinata did a step back, the smell was disgusting.
"W..wh it's all…yu…your fault." His father said, before walking up towards him. Hinata did a quick step afterwards.
"What? I don't know what I did. I am sorry." He whispered, knowing full well what was about to happen.
"Yo…you better be…you better be sorry." His father stumbled towards him, he used the kitchen counter to help him keep his balance. His father didn't wait a second, he grabbed Hinata by his collar and raised him in the air, so the teen could only touch the ground with his tows, before shoving him against the wall. Hinata's head hit the wall with a lot of force and it felt like it was going to explode for a second, he closed his eyes, hoping to shut everything out.
It didn't work, because his father didn't give him that second to recollect himself. With his free arm he punched Hinata in his stomach. His dad had never used as much power as he did this time, but why?
What had Hinata done wrong this time? He didn't understand. He quit the volleyball club for him, he made dinner, he did everything he could, but his dad still was angry at him.
Why couldn't he understand?
"Dad, please…stop." He cried, but his father didn't hear it, it was like he was possessed by some crazy animal. His father wasn't thinking rational at the moment. He threw Hinata on the kitchen floor and again his head crashed against the floor, this time a little less hard. It still hurt.
His father kicked him twice with so much force, that Hinata was sure that his stomach was going to explode for a second.
A cold feeling was starting to creep into his bones. Was his father ever going to stop? Was he going to kill him right at this moment? His father seemed out of it. He could do it, he could just keep kicking and there was going to be a moment that Hinata wouldn't be able to take it anymore.
And his father kicked again and again and again.
And then he stopped and dropped to his knees. His head fell into his hands, and he started to cry. Hinata lay curled up on the floor, with his head against his knees, he closed his eyes and cried. He didn't know how long they sat there in silence, both crying.
Hinata's head kept bonking, the pain in his stomach was only raising and raising and the taste of iron filled his mouth.
He couldn't keep shaking.
"Hinata, sit up." His dad suddenly said. He looked up, his fathers posture had changed. He didn't look like a crazy animal, nor did he looked like a grieving father. He looked cold. Stone cold.
"Dad? I don't know what I did, b…but I am sorry." He said.
"I don't care, sit up. Now." Hinata obeyed, pushing himself up while ignoring the sting in his abdomen. He sat down on his knees, with his hands folded before him. He couldn't look at his father.
"Take of your shirt."
Hinata nodded. It took him longer then normal. Every little movement hurt. After a few minutes, when his shirt was finally of, he could hear his father take off his belt. Hinata shut his eyes. He knew what was coming now. He didn't understand why, but he must have deserved this for whatever reason.
Otherwise his dad would never hurt him like this.
"This is your punishment."
And Hinata cried.
-Haikyuu-
Takeda signed and put down the phone. No answer, again. He was planning to talk to Hinata today, hoping he could convince him from staying at the volleyball club, for two reasons.
One, the team needed Hinata for the nationals, he was an important player. Two, he just wanted to know if the teen was okay. Ukai was right, Hinata wouldn't just quit volleyball like that, there had to be something else behind it.
Takeda was also a bit worried about Kageyama, the teen wasn't reacting very well at the sudden hapening. He did show up at practice this morning, but he was distracted and very silent. He was starting to get annoyed again whenever one of his teammates missed of of his tosses. No Kageyama wasn't reacting well at this.
Hinata hadn't even shown up to school this morning. However, there had been no one repoting him sick, so he just didn't show up. Takeda was trying to call the Hinata-residence, but no one picked up. It all felled wrong.
Call it a teachers-instinct (if that even existed), but something in Takeda was saying that something bad was going on. He just didn't know what.
Takeda was using every ounce of self-control to not jump in his care and ride up the hill towards the teens house.
He knew that it wasn't protocol to immediately visit the home of a student the first day he didn't show up.
Plus, Takeda still had some classes he needed to attend. He couldn't just drop everything like that, he had responsibilities.
Ukai, however, might be able to take some time of the shop. Training wouldn't be until after three, so he might have the time to take a quick peep at the Hinata. Just to be sure.
He quickly searched for Ukai's number in his phone. He had called this number a lot the last few months, so it was easy to find.
"With Ukai." "Hey Ukai, it's Takeda. I wanted to talk to you about something. Do you have the time?" "Just wait a second, I have to help this customer in front of me, then I can talk." He heard Ukai put the phone down to talk to some older women, before he picked it up again.
"So what is it?" "Well..it's Hinata." "Have you talked to him yet." Ukai said eager, Takeda was sure the coach had hoped to receive some good news.
"That is the problem. He didn't come to school, but no one reported him sick." It was silent on the other end.
"You think he….wait there is another costumer coming." Again Ukai put the phone down to help someone on the other side. Takeda waited patiently. "You think he is skipping class?" He asked once he had picked up the phone again.
"I don't know, skipping class isn't really something that I see Hinata do, but it feels wrong." "I know what you mean. I mean the kid wanting to quit volleyball, while he always has been one of the most passionate among everyone. It doesn't sit right with me." Ukai said. Takeda nodded - forgetting that Ukai couldn't see him through the phone. "I want to go check on him, but I have class. If it isn't too much to ask, would you mind….?
"Going to his house to see what's going on? Sure. I have to finish things here first, but in half an hour I think I'll be able to leave. I might be a bit late for training then, but just give Daichi the lead, he is pretty good at leading practice." Ukai said.
"Great! Thanks!" Takeda said,
"No worries. Look I gotta go, more customers are coming in. See you later!" After that Ukai hung up.
Takeda putted the phone down with a relieved sign. He felt a lot better knowing that someone was going to check up on Hinata. What the teacher didn't know at that time, was that there was someone behind the door who had listened in on his conversation with Ukai.
And that someone was done waiting.
Kageyama didn't mean to eavesdrop. He felt uneasy, he wanted answers, and he was hoping that Takeda could provide them. Kageyama couldn't find Hinata at school this morning, but now he knew that that was because Hinata never had arrived at school.
Without waiting he turned around and quickly walked out of the school grounds. He made sure that no one from the volleyball team saw him, he was pretty sure that any of the third years would try to stop him from skipping school.
And soon Kageyama was sitting on the bus towards Hinata's place.
It was only twenty minutes with the bus towards Hinata's house, but it felt like hours. Now that he finally decided to go see Hinata himself instead of waiting, it was like every second took to long. He wanted to be there right now.
Kageyama hadn't been able to think about anything else since yesterday. All his thoughs were about Hinata and he knew that if he didn't do anything about it, the setter would probably go crazy.
When the bus finally arrived at the bus stop close to Hinata's house, he didn't waste a second and tumbled out of the bus and before he knew it, he was standing in front of the door. He rang the bell and when no one answered he rang it again.
Kageyama was done being polite.
But then something happened that he had never expected.
Hinata opened the door.
The way teen looked like made him gasp in shock. His left eye was blue and swollen, there was a band aid on his right cheek and two on his arms. He was wearing a big white shirt, but it was clear that there more underneath. It looked like he was in pain. With his right hand he was holding the door for support. His left hand was touching his stomach. His back was a little bit bent forwards.
What. The. Hell.
"Kageyama?" Hinata said surprised.
Kageyama wasn't able to answer. A thousand thoughts where racing through his head. He couldn't keep up anymore. Why was Hinata beat up like that. Who would have done such a horrible thing. Was this the secret Hinata had been keeping. Could it have been a bully? Someone from school? No, they would have noticed that right? Would they? Was this going on for a longer period of time? Could this have been an accident.
No, even Hinata wouldn't be able to get so messed up by tripping over his own shoelace.
"Kageyama, you look really pale, maybe you should sit down? Please don't puke on me. Do you need some water." Hinata fussed over him, while guiding him towards the kitchen, where he sat hit friend down.
Wow, did Hinata just say that he thought that kageyama looked pale? Did Hinata not have any idea how he looked himself right now? Like a broken puppy that could fall apart every second. But sure, Kageyama looked pale. Why not.
"Kageyama, are you okay?" Hinata carefully asked, while pushing a glass of water into his hands.
"Am I okay? Are you seriously asking me that? What the...you are the one that looks beaten up. What happened?" Kageyama noticed that his voice was getting louder and louder during that sentence.
"I… I am fine. It's worse than it looks like. I fell down the stairs." The teen said, who sat down next to him. It was clear that Hinata was pretending that that movement didn't hurt, but Kageyama knew better.
He looked perplexed at his friend. Did Hinata really thought that Kageyama was so stupid that he would believe that Hinata got those wounds because he fell down the stairs.
"Liar. Who did this to you."
"No one."
"I don't believe you." Hinata didn't answer, he stared down at his lap. His hands were nervously fidgeting and it was clear that he was uncomfortable. His eyes that used to have so much energy, so much sparkle, just looked blank right now, even broken almost. Yes, something was certainly wrong. Kageyama wasn't sure what to do. Again, he wished that Suga was next to him. Suga would know what to do with these kinds of situations. Kageyama didn't, he wasn't capable of taking care of people.
He still didn't regret going to visit Hinata though. Now he know what was going on… well he still didn't know technically, but at least he knew that Hinata wasn't doing alright, that something bad was happening. And he could try to help now.
How? He still wasn't sure yet. But he would figure it out. The first thing he needed to do was to get Hinata to trust him to tell. Hinata used to be bad at keeping secrets, he always told everything that was going on his life. Hinata was a blabber-mouth and could talk for hours and hours. Kageyama used to find that annoying.
Now he wished that Hinata would return being a blabber-mouth, instead of this closed of silent person in front of him.
"Hinata, please, let me help you." Hinata finally looked up. "There is no need. I am fine."
"No, you're not. You are not fine. You haven't been fine in a long time. Don't lie to me. You have changed and you are hiding stuff from us, but now I know. Now I can help." The moment Kageyama started talking, it felt like the words were just automatically forming in his mouth. However, it seemed like Hinata was deaf to his words, he kept shaking his head, saying that he was alright.
"Please, Hinata." He begged. At that Hinata finally looked up.
"You wouldn't understand."
Hmm, so Hinata wasn't denying that everything was fine, that was one thing, right? Now Kageyama just needed him to get to talk.
"If you explain it to me, then I might understand it."
Before Hinata could answer, there was a sound coming from the hallway. Hinata tensed for a fraction of a second and fear reflected in his eyes. He shot up from his seat - which clearly hurt his stomach because he winced and collapsed back into his chair."
Kageyama couldn't help up tense up seeing his friends reaction.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Kageyama stood up, so he was next to Hinata, waving with his hands, unsure what to do.
"You need to, you need to leave." Hinata puffed, while looking up. Both of his hands where still holding into his stomach. Tears were forming into his eyes.
"I am not leaving." He said stubborn and he meant it. Kageyama wasn't going to leave this house until Hinata told him everything.
"Kageyama, could you be once not a stupid stubborn idiot and just listen."
"No. Just tell me what is going on."
"Please. It will be better for both of us if you lust let it go." Hinata begged. A shiver went down Kageyama's spine. Hinata sounded so desperate. But whatever the orange haired teen said, it wouldn't work. Kageyama had always been stubborn, he wouldn't let this go so easy.
The kitchen door opened. Where Kageyama looked up, Hinata looked down. A grown man walked in, Kageyama remembered him from a few weeks back when he also had visited Hinata's house. He had orange hair, but it wasn't as jumpy or messy as Hinata's.
This must be his father.
Kageyama immediately felt uneasy at his presence. He wasn't that big, but he had an intimidating mood hanging around him and his face just looked angry.
Next to him Hinata only became more tense, and he started to crimp into himself, making himself as small as possible. Fear was reflecting in his eyes and he started shaking.
Was Hinata scared of his own father?
And suddenly everything that had happened over the past few weeks made sense. It was as if something clicked in Kageyama's brain.
No.
Please god, no.
That could not be the truth. They would have noticed it, right? Someone in the team would have stepped in.
But no one did, because no one knew.
And now Kageyama finally had an idea of what was going on.
Was Hinata's father abusing him?
-Haikyuu-
So the moment everyone has been waiting for has finally arrived! I loved this part of the story, because it is finally a bit different then all the other chapters.
Also, I am sorry for hurting Hinata so bad in the first part of the chapter, but I needed him to be hurt for Kageyama to start asking questions.
Again thank you for lemontarto, .3, KittenQueen789, origamigriffon3246, Daileywishaw24, froggy1827and the guests for writing a review! I love reading what you think about the story and it only makes me more hyped up for writing the next chapter when you guys are so enthusiastic!
I posted this chapter a bit earlier then normal, because I am going on vacation for a while (yay!), so I am not sure when I will be able to post the next one, but I will try to not let you guys wait to long!
Stay safe and healthy!
XXX
-Maredith.