A Co-Captain's Doubts

Bitter Truths

Sugawara felt his stomach heave as the second punch to his gut landed in the same place as the first, a choked cough sputtering from his lips as he squinted at pale blue and white tiles on the floor. Maybe it was a good thing he'd chosen to throw sets for Hinata instead of eating a late lunch, he was sure he would have thrown up otherwise.

"You must be a pretty noble guy, letting the kid go and taking his place... Though you probably knew it'd hurt the team a lot more if he went missing, better it be you, right?"

The boy named Kanda forced Suga back up and against the wall again as he panted, the setter having no response for what the Kita Wasaki player had to say to him. His one eye already felt like he couldn't open it all the way, but he did his best to glare as he gripped the wrist attached to the hand still bunched in his jersey.

"What's wrong, the truth stings, does it? How's it feel to be less important than a bunch of snot nosed first years? Are you the only third year who didn't make the cut?... Must be pretty embarrassing."

Hands starting to tremble, as the other two players made sarcastic sympathetic noises at him, Suga felt his self-control slipping. What could he say? Nothing they said was technically untrue. He couldn't deny any of it.

Seeming to grow tired of the silver haired boy's silence, he yanked Sugawara forward and threw him up against the wall again.

"Answer me, why bother staying on a team that doesn't need you? You're not a starter, Volleyball won't gain you any favors with a university, it's all pretty sad if you ask me."

"Shut up! Just shut up!"

Fighting with a renewed energy to free himself, Suga yelled out in frustration. This seemed to be what the large boy was looking for, and he pulled his fist back once more to hit the setter in the mouth. He could taste blood where his lip cut against his teeth, but didn't cease his struggles.

"What could you possibly gain out of beating up other players? Are you just looking to stroke your own ego? Get off of me!"

"What could I gain? Well, nothing out you, but getting that crazy little middle blocker out of the picture would have been a huge advantage. Hitting you? It's nothing more than making the best out of a lost opportunity." Number four murmured in a low voice as a nasty grin appeared, and Suga gritted his teeth.

"It won't change the outcome of the game when you go missing, but I can't say it isn't satisfying to watch you squirm."

Go missing? What were they planning to do with him?

"Kanda, we'd better get out of here, that kid will be back any minute. No one can blame us if we're not around." The boy with all the freckles warned.

"We've got to get warmed up anyway, Fujimori is going to want to know where we've been if we take much longer." Added the brunette with a sigh that implied he was annoyed by their teammate meddling in their affairs.

"Forget Fujimori. I don't care if he's the Captain, I don't have to listen to him."

Suga couldn't believe this team had made it as far as they had in the tournament, but then again... Maybe he could. Had these three been secretly taking out their opponents before each match, to give themselves an advantage? Sugawara didn't want to think that was a possibility, but considering he was currently being drug across the hall and over to a cracked open closet door, had to admit it was very likely.

Digging his heels into the floor and grunting as he put up a fight, Karasuno's third year setter stood no chance against the three much larger players. Grabbing him by his biceps, they lifted him off his feet to cease his resistance, and pulled open the door to reveal a janitor's closet packed tight with cleaning supplies and other necessities.

Sugawara's heart beat rapidly in his chest as he threw his foot against the door frame and shoved with all his might, if they were planning to lock him in a closet, he wasn't going to make it easy!

"So much pointless effort, kind of like your being on the volleyball team."

Suga flinched, and with that moment of hesitation, the trio managed to knock his foot free from the door frame and roughly throw him into the small room. Landing painfully on top of a mop bucket with wheels, the setter crashed into a shelf and was buried beneath an avalanche of paper towels, jugs of disinfectant, and a wet floor sign that nailed him in the back of the head. Seeing stars, Sugawara managed a groan as everything exploded with light and then quickly went black.