The Sun with A False Eternity

Bad News at The Tree

Kageyama spent the next few hours wandering around the area he lived, headed nowhere in particular. It was a nice day, with no threats of bad weather. Overall it was a pleasant time. He even made a quick call to Takeda, who informed him that Coach Ukai had been updated but other than that they were waiting on more news before they told the team. Kageyama in turn told him about the text conversation he had with Hinata that morning and their plans for the afternoon.

"That sounds awesome," Takeda sounded relieved that Hinata was to be leaving the hospital that day. "If you get the chance, talk to him about what he wants to tell the rest of the team. It's no big deal if you don't, I'll try and catch him tomorrow."

Kageyama had just responded with a simple, "alright," before hanging up.

A little while after that, Kageyama found himself standing under the tree once again. Being on top of the hill was nice, as it gave a good all-around view of the paths and roads surrounding it. It was five minutes before the arranged meeting time with Hinata, and so he decided to simply sit down and wait.

It didn't take long for the boy with messy hair that Kageyama knew so well to appear, waving. Even from a distance, the setter could tell that his friend looked exhausted, but he nevertheless climbed the hill with ease and plopped down right next to the other teen.

"Hey!" Hinata chirped excitedly.

"Hey," Kageyama was avoiding eye contact. "What's up?"'

"Well I mean we are, this hill is pretty high." Kageyama had to stop himself from slapping the ginger haired teen.

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Yeah." The word was drawn out as if the weight of it was physically dragging the small teenager down. They fell into silence, one that Kageyama was unwilling to break. He felt rather nervous for some reason, and he couldn't find anything to say. That wasn't unusual, but this time felt different. Typically Kageyama didn't speak because he didn't think he had anything to contribute to conversations, but this time anything he wanted to say was restricted by his tongue.

So in the end, they sat in uncomfortable silence for the next fifteen minutes. At some point during the time, Kageyama had pulled out his phone and began to play some mindless game, occasionally shifting his eyes over to see if Hinata was going to say anything.

From the few stray glances that the setter stole it was obvious that his friend was distressed about something. Even someone who wasn't great at reading people could tell that. However Kageyama wasn't quite sure how to go about asking about it, so he just waited for Hinata to bring whatever it was up himself.

"Kageyama...?" When the middle blocker finally spoke, his voice was softer than Kageyama was used to hearing it.

"Yeah?"

"I'm not allowed to play volleyball anymore."

There it was.

The real cause of Kageyama's anxiety made itself apparent at that moment, opening up like a flower in spring. However the flower was anything but pretty, and instead held the truth that Kageyama had been pretending to not see coming.

"You... What?" He didn't want to believe the words. There was no way that could be true. Hinata was pranking him, at any minute the ginger would break out into a smile, tell him that the expression on his face was stupid, and they'd move on. But when he looked at the other teen directly in the face, Hinata wasn't making the face that the setter was hoping to see.

Instead, he looked on the verge of tears.

He's not joking.

Kageyama felt a pressure striking him in the chest. He lifted his hand up to it, trying to ease the pain. His world threw him for another loop, and the boy sitting in front of him blurred. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself.