Hiding The Pain

Chapter 19

Hinata's POV Night Before the Trip

This is so not good. So not good that I didn't even plan properly for this in advance like I did with other things because I would only stress about it! But just look how that turned out! Oh crap, okay Hinata keep smiling. That's all you've got to do. We have something of a plan now, we're going to be okay. They won't know anything's wrong, but what about the team? They'll be keeping a close eye on me during this trip what if....No. It will be okay. It has to be....

Oh. It's nearly 12, I-I should go to bed shouldn't I? Yeah, bed. That sounds nice.

3rd POV   The Next Day

The team had gathered at the crack of dawn, some not even bothering to fully groom themselves before coming, waiting for the bus to arrive so they could begin boarding and their travel to their destination in Gunma prefecture. While Hinata was silently dreading the increased altitude he would have to endure, he was also relieved that Coach Ukai had made theirs arrangements for the hot springs, as you don't bring four groups of teenagers and expect them not to eventually whine enough to get at least a trip or two out of you (especially if 'such and such team got to go!'), and ensured Hinata could go more than the others. Ukai had heard of the horrors of temperature change and altitude on pain and he wasn't exactly going to just allow the boy to suffer.

The owner was a kindly older man who suffered from arthritis and knew for himself that the weather and altitude wasn't very friendly on old injuries, illnesses that cause chronic pain, and the like. Especially to those who had less experience with the area. When hearing the situation he had offered that Hinata could come at whatever time he needed to, and made Coach Ukai feel like a little kid when he was fiercely reprimanded for even hinting that he'd give extra payment to the man for any spontaneous visits he may have. He may run a business but he wasn't cruel! There's a difference between sore muscles and excruciating pain being aggravated further!

Hinata himself had been mentally going through his checklist repeatedly, making sure he had everything that he needed. He had compression pants, tape, meds, B12, mini fan, extra braces, extra earplugs, two extra pairs of sunglasses, compression socks, and they had already loaded his case of Propel and Powerade along with the small bucket of salty snacks his mother had prepared already. Not to mention the other waters and snacks in his smaller draw string for the trip.

Everyone could tell he was anxious about this, staying for a week with three teams was different than having a match. There was a much longer stretch of time for something to go wrong, and they all knew that there were going to be questions on Hinata's habits and what can be considered oddities. They had Bokuto there for Kami's sake. Of course, now thinking about it, with Bokuto being one of those in attendance.....You know what, on second thought perhaps they'll get less questions than they thought after all.

"Hinata-kun?" Sugawara began softly, trying not to startle him. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

The boy in question jumped noticeably, "No!" he blurted as he practically shouted it out in a half panic, but never made a move to retract it.

Sugawara smiled a slightly worried smile, "Alright, but let me know if you change your mind." As he walked away Hinata couldn't help but let out a slight sigh of relief. He hoped he hadn't seemed rude, oh but what if he did? Should he apologize? Wait no, he'll just be bothering him more. Oh, why did he have to be so needy?! He's already made him worried, now he's probably made him upset too! He should have just stayed home, better yet he should have let himself drain of sodium and fluids so he wouldn't even be conscious enough for them to drag along. Maybe if he really tries he can-

"Alright!" Tanaka shouted, he seems to have been both injected with pure caffeine and then slapped further awake at some point, as evidenced by the redness on his cheek. Judging from who he's standing around Hinata was willing to bet it was Tsukishima (He was very much displeased with having to leave him bed so early in the morning, and everyone was quite frankly just surprised he remembered to grab his luggage. This is mainly due to him being mostly asleep, is still wearing dino slippers and not one has his grip loosened on the dinosaur plushie he brought with him. How he actually carried his bags and set them down without loosening his grip is a mystery they aren't sure they're prepared to solve.). Ah, yep. There's slap number two. "The bus is here!"

Hinata turned to see for himself. Indeed; pulling into the parking lot was a charter bus. He picked up him bags and let out a sigh once more, guess there was no real way to run away now.

(AN Hope you guys weren't expecting this story to be full of sunshine and rainbows, 'cause I've only just begun to show you Hinata's view! And let's be honest, I'm pretty sure the title of the story should be more than a small hint to that)