I'll be here for you, through everything

Chapter 11

Every damn time he dove for the ball he missed. Why couldn’t he be like Tanaka and at least get some of them.

Heaven forbid he got one.

Hinata never stopped though. He went for every ball that came his way.

Over. and over. And over again.

After the 300th ball he missed, the whistle was blown for a timeout, requested by Karasuno.

Hinata downed his water, tired from jumping, spiking and missing receives.

“Hinata, you’re gonna hurt yourself if you keep trying to receive the ball” Ukai scolded.

“But someone needs to do it”! He said.

“Just because Nishinoya isn’t here, doesn’t mean you automatically have to pick up the slack”!

“Yes it does, I’m not going to stop trying getting the ball”! Hinata yelled.

“Then I’m benching you”! Ukai yelled. Hinata quickly handed his water bottle to Yachi and ran out of the gym.

Oikawa watched from the other side of the gym and made eye contact with Yamaguchi.

The two of them had been friends for a couple months now. Oikawa had asked Yams for help confessing to Iwaizumi , which then turned into talking about polyamory and eventually confessing to Kageyama.

And now Yamaguchi wanted help comforting his friend. Oikawa nodded and headed in the direction Hinata went.

“Where are you going”?! The coach asked. “To help” was all he said.

Yamaguchi joined him at the door and waved at the team. “Where could he have gone”? Oikawa asked as they left the gym.

“He probably went to the locker room” The green haired boy said like it was obvious.

When they arrived at the locker room, they pushed open the door and saw Hinata with his head resting on his knees.

“Hinata”?

The red haired boy was startled by the sudden voice. “Are you shaking”? Oikawa knelt down and took his hands in his own.

“I d-don’t know wh-hat to do,” Hinata said, his voice shaking.

Yamaguchi sat down on one side of Hinata and Oikawa sat on the other side.

“Start off by telling us what happened,” Yamaguchi said in a hushed tone to calm the boy down.

Hinata looked at Oikawa.

“Why are you here”? He asked.

The setter smiled sadly. “To help you, of course”. Shoyo teared up again and broke down, telling them everything.

The two remained silent, offering only physical comfort for the moment.

“And the worst part is, I don’t even know what happened to him, I just know it was probably his mom who hit him”! Hinata finished talking and took a deep breath.

“That’s what happened to Sugawara’s face ”? Oikawa asked not believing him. Both of the crows nodded.

“Ok, so about Nishinoya, any weird behaviors"?

"I never picked up on it before, but he was asked if anyone was watching him play the game against Shiratorizawa, and he got really sad, saying his mother didn't like volleyball".

"Yama-chan, anything before that"?

"No, he was always energized and loud that he distracted you away from his life" Yams said.