The Sun with A False Eternity

An Unfortunate Turn of Events

Unfortunately, in the few weeks that followed, Hinata's condition did not improve. He was at practice every single time Kageyama was, however, he was just sitting on the edge of the court sadly. Kageyama could hardly stand to look at him. It was as if everything that made him Hinata had disappeared. The setter kept holding on to the hope that Hinata would recover quickly, that it was just a long-lasting virus or something, but eventually, he had to accept that Hinata wasn't getting better anytime soon.

The day that he finally realized that fact was the second Sunday of November, when Hinata didn't come to the tree at the time he said that he would. After twenty minutes of pacing, Kageyama decided to go find him. It wasn't long before he arrived at the hospital. He nervously asked the lady at the front desk if Hinata had been there, and his heart sank when she said that he had.

"Hey," he made his way into the room after knocking, heading directly over to where Hinata was sitting up in bed.

"Kageyama what are you... Oh, right," the ginger's voice trailed off as if realizing why Kageyama would have randomly stopped for a visit. "I was supposed to meet you today, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, you were." Kageyama wasn't sure why he was so angry, but something about the sight of the teen sitting there in that too big hospital bed with a gown that wasn't even close to the right size made the unchecked emotion inside him swell up to the point that he couldn't cut back on the curt response. "So where were you?"

"I'm so sorry about that," Hinata's mother, who must have once again accompanied her son to the hospital apologized profusely. Kageyama was almost too upset to respond to her, but he took a deep breath and tried to compose himself.

"What happened?" He asked after a second, almost too afraid of finding out the answer. He was still trying to believe that it had nothing to do with whatever sickness had been plaguing Hinata lately. But all his dreams were shattered when Hinata's weak voice spoke out,

"I passed out again, what do you think?" There was no tone to his response. Nothing but plain, solid facts. The sound of it made Kageyama want to scream. He had thought that maybe, just maybe Hinata would improve if he rested enough. He had tried to ignore the fact that Hinata's face lost a little bit more color each day, and he had tried to ignore the weak coughs that would spring up randomly during practice. He had tried to tune out the sounds of his teammates constantly checking up on the boy, and the way Hinata's voice sounded like it lost a little bit of hope day by day. He tried to ignore it all, tried to pretend that Hinata was going to go right back to normal. But standing there now, in that hospital, looking paler than the setter had ever seen before, Kageyama was faced with the cold hard truth:

Hinata wasn't coming back.

The realization nearly made Kageyama's heart stop.

"Oh." Was all he could muster after a while.

"I'll let you two talk," Hinata's mother seemed to sense the awkward tension and she grabbed the hand of Natsu, who had previously been playing with some toys on the floor. They exited the room to give the two teens some space.

"You can sit if you want," Hinata pointed towards the end of the bed, reaching over to pull the grey blanket out of the way. Kageyama accepted the invitation after a few moments, making sure to sit at the very edge.

"So..." Kageyama drew out the word, delaying asking the question, uncertain as to what Hinata's reaction would be. "How are you?"

"Worried about me?" Hinata had become quite fond of the saying as of late because nearly every time Kageyama had expressed any sort of concern he had repeated it. Kageyama grabbed a small pillow that was sitting at the end of the bed and threw it at him, not at all surprised when it hit the other teen directly in the face.

"Ow Kageyama, don't injure the sick!" His voice rose as he spoke, which made Kageyama chuckle slightly, unable to contain his amusement. The entire thing felt slightly off, but also just correct in a way the setter couldn't describe. It felt like returning to their old ways of arguing during every practice, annoying anyone who had the misfortune of working with them. Kageyama quickly recovered from his small bout of laughter and looked up to see Hinata's cheeks were littered with a bit of color, a large contrast to his otherwise whitish-looking skin. Kageyama looked away again, feeling the heat rise on the back of his neck.

"To answer your question, I'm feeling alright," Hinata said with confirmation, but he sighed a few seconds after. "Well, I could be better. It sucks that I'm here again and I don't know why. They said they want to keep me here for a few days, which sucks. It was lonely last time," the teen looked dejected.

"Wasn't your mother here?" Kageyama questioned in confusion.

"She left after the doctors said I would be alright. She had to take Natsu home, there was nowhere for them to stay here."

"Oh."

"Kageyama?" Hinata's voice was hardly above a whisper.

"Yeah?"

"I miss volleyball."

I miss you playing volleyball, Kageyama didn't voice the thought, knowing it wouldn't make Hinata feel any better. But it was true, even with the middle blocker there, if he wasn't on the court it wasn't the same. Kageyama wished that when he sent up the last ball at the Shiratorizawa game he had known it would be Hinata's last one, at least for the time being.

It wouldn't have changed anything, but Kageyama wished he had known just how significant it had been. Maybe I would have appreciated it even more.

"Yeah." Despite all the thoughts that ran through Kageyama's head, that was the only response he could think of to give.

"I'm just so jealous of you, and everyone else," Hinata continued, seemingly not noticing Kageyama's unenthusiastic response. "I watch you every practice, and you're all doing so well! It makes me so happy to know that I'm part of such an amazing team. But still..." His excited tone dropped, and when Kageyama looked over he saw the other boy looking down at his hands. "It hurts to see you all doing what I love, knowing that I can't. It's just not fair!"

Kageyama went quiet, unsure of how to deal with the outbreak. He knew how Hinata felt, at least, he thought he did. The two of them didn't have a ton in common, but one of the things they did have was a love for volleyball. He couldn't imagine having to watch everyone else do the one thing that he wanted to do while he had to sit on the sidelines. The thought alone made him shiver.

"I suppose I shouldn't get upset though, I want you guys to keep training as hard as possible so that we have the best possible team when we go to Nationals," Hinata looked considerably happier just at the thought. "I'm sure it's gonna be amazing, I can't wait!"

"Same," Kageyama agreed with his friend. Nationals was something he was looking forward to, after all, they had worked so hard for such a long time just to make it there. It was a dream that they were planning on making a reality.

Hinata might not be playing. Kageyama decided to ignore the thought, instead quickly changing the subject to avoid the fear that was threatening to eat him alive.

"I should go, it's getting late." This wasn't exactly true, it was only around six in the evening. But he wasn't sure he could stand being inside that building for a moment longer.

Not with all the memories.

Hinata looked crestfallen for a little bit, but Kageyama watched as he quickly replaced the expression with a small smile. "Alright! Are you gonna come tomorrow?"

Oh right he won't be at practice, Kageyama hadn't yet had that realization. "I'll try and swing by after practice, I'll let you know if I can't make it." He said after a brief pause.

"Mkay! See you later Kageyama!" Hinata sounded cheerful enough, but Kageyama couldn't help the pang that shot through his heart as he closed the door to the hospital room Hinata was once again staying in. He'll be back eventually, and I'll wait as long as it takes.