Rigid Crow

Big Brother, Little Sister

"I won't confuse you with medical terms," Takeda explains to us, "so I'll just tell you the best I can.
"Hinata hit his head just right so that it caused a bleed in his brain. I didn't notice until I saw the lump on his head and when he said his neck hurt. That's when all his symptoms began to add up. Brain bleeds..." Takeda-sensei trails off. "The doctors won't know if it's serious until after they operate, but... When you don't get the patient treated fast enough... it was awhile until we noticed that something was actually wrong with him. If we didn't catch it quick enough..." Takeda's voice catches. "The patient falls into a coma... probably never waking up," he adds in a hushed tone, not making eye contact with us. "Either that, the patient makes an incredibly unlikely recovery, or... fatality."
I don't realize I'm sinking to the floor until I'm there. Hinata's... going to die? No... No! He couldn't. He wouldn't. Not Hinata! An awful realization overcomes me. It's my fault.
I look up at my teammates around me. Yamaguchi lets a sob escape his lips, falling against Tsukishima. Tsukishima seems to give no reaction, as he never would let an emotion show.
Sugawara-san is stiff, pressed against Sawamura. Daichi's face is just as stiff as Suga's, they're trying to stay strong, and for some reason he looks really ticked off. I see regret in his gaze.
Nishinoya and Asahi have equal expressions of utter shock plastered across their faces. Tanaka stands next to them, his face buried in his hands.
Ennoshita, Kinoshita, and Narita are looking at each other hopelessly, at a complete loss for what to do.
Yachi is wrapped in Shimizu's arms. She's crying, her body shuddering. Kiyoko is trying to calm her with soothing 'shh's.
Behind them are the Karasuno alumni. They don't know Hinata personally, but I see the expressions of sympathy across their faces. Saeko is next to them, a heartbroken expression on her face as she looks at her brother.
But nobody, not one person here knows how I feel. They have made good friendships, they are close to one another. Suga and Daichi are best friends, as are Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. Noya and Asahi are very close as well, and Tanaka knows pretty much everyone on the team on a personal level. The other three second years go through thick and thin. I've never seen one of them without the other two. But me... Hinata's the only one I've got. He's my best friend. Of course I've never told him that... but I know he knows. He knows I avoid making friends if I can. Hinata... he's it. I can't loose him now! I grit my teeth. Our friendship took so long to build... Was it all for nothing?
No. There's still a chance that he'll be fine. He'll laugh at us for worrying so much over him. Then he'll beam at us and he'll ask me to throw him a toss.
It's my fault. If I hadn't thrown such a bad toss he would be fine! I hide my face so that my teammates won't see how watery my eyes are getting, the guilt I feel.
I feel a familiar, gentle hand on my shoulder. "Kageyama," Suga's soothing voice follows. His hand still resting on me, Suga asks Takeda, "Can we go to the hospital? We'll be able to get updates on Hinata there."
"Of course," Takeda-sensei responds, sounding eager to set his mind on something else. He also sounds a bit flustered; had the idea not crossed his own mind?
Suga lifts me up and we trudge to the van. Lost in my thoughts, I think I hear Daichi ask Ukai, "Oi, has anyone called Hinata's parents yet?" Coach facepalms- he's forgotten.
"I'll do it," Shimizu-senpai says, pulling out her cell and checking through our records for the numbers of Hinata's parents.
     After Shimizu-senpai finishes the calls, she and Yachi take Kiyoko's own car to the hospital. The rest of us hurriedly pile into the van.
     No one speaks a word on the ride there. No one sleeps either. I'm just willing the van to go faster. We've only been driving for a few minutes, but it already feels like hours.
     I don't realize how huge hospitals are until we arrive. It takes awhile for us to find the ward where they've taken Hinata. And even after all that, we still have to stay in a waiting room.      
     Sawamura is asking the woman at the desk if she knows anything about our teammate's condition. He comes back, a blank expression on his face.
     "Well?" Sugawara asks his best friend expectantly. "What did she say?"
     "She can't give us any information on his condition yet. Apparently they're operating now. She'll tell us when there's an update," Dai-san notifies us.
     The Karasuno team hardly has time to react. Rushing through the rotating doors, a young child clinging to her arm, is Hinata-sama, Hinata's mother. The little girl, Natsu, is whining at her mother's haste. I doubt Hinata-sama has told her what's going on. Natsu wouldn't understand anyway; she's barely older than a toddler.
     Hinata-sama freezes when she sees the entire Karasuno team sitting in the lobby. Takeda-sensei rises to greet her. "You must be Hinata-san," he bows politely. He must know because of little Natsu. I've been to Hianta's house enough times to know what his mom looks like, though she doesn't sport his messy red hair and his brown eyes. He looks a lot more like his dad. But Natsu is the spitting image of her big brother. It must not have been hard for Takeda to realize that.
     Hinata-sama has the most distressed look on her face. "Is my son okay?" When she doesn't get an immediate response, she desperately asks us all, "Shōyō! Please, do you know anything?"
     "I'm very sorry, Hinata-san. Shimizu already told you all we know," Takeda-sensei responds gravely.
     Natsu tugs on her mother's sleeve. "Okaa-san? We gonna see Onee-chan?"
     Hinata-sama smiles weakly at her daughter. "Not yet, Natsu-tan. Soon, though."
     "Why not?" Natsu whines.
     "He's not feeling well, my sweet," Hinata-sama explains simply.
     After Hinata-sama checks in on her son with the desk attendant, she defeatedly takes a seat in the waiting room. Her persistent child continues to ask questions. She wants to play, she wants to eat, she cries and whines, as small children do. Her mother looks so stressed and under the weather, she doesn't want to deal with this. To be honest, I just want her to shut up. I'm not in the mood at all to listen to the obnoxious cries of a child. I just want to know if my best friend is okay...
     "Natsu-chan," sitting next to me, Suga calls to the little girl. She stops crying, and looks up at Suga. "Hi, there," Suga smiles at her, his eyes shining. How can he be so calm and cheerful? "I'm Koushi. Want to play with me? We have to stay quiet, but it'll be fun, I promise."
     Out of the blue, Natsu beams with happiness and runs up to Suga. "Kou-chan!" Suga shushes her, but there's still a loving smile on his face. He picks her up, bounces her on his lap, and sings a nonsense song that she quickly catches on to. "Motorboat, motorboat, go so slow, motorboat motorboat..."
     Hinata-sama has a relieved expression on her face. I think we're all very grateful to Suga. He's so good with her. Suga catches Hinata-sama's pained gaze. 'Thank you,' she mouths. Suga smiles back kindly.
     Natsu notices that I'm sitting next to her. "To-chan!" She recognizes me and grins.
     I can't smile back. She looks exactly like Hianta. That dumb grin on her face...
     He has to be okay.