Chapter Text
Kageyama finished zipping up his coat and sluggishly sat back down on the hospital bed. He played with the hospital band around his wrist while waiting for Ukai to come back. The older man had handed him a bag of clothes and then disappeared out into the hall with the lady and his doctor. Most of the hand-me-down clothes in the bag were too big for him, but Kageyama made it work by slowly rolling up the excess clothing. For instance, his grey sweatshirt had been folded over twice before the sleeves finally reached the comfortable wrist length. His pants, on the other hand, remained stretched and loose around his thighs and calves. The comfortable clothing was a welcomed gift from the scratchy and revealing hospital gown, so Kageyama wouldn’t complain when the man came back.
Ukai had introduced himself as a volleyball coach. To be specific, he was apparently Kageyama’s high school volleyball coach at Karasuno. The setter had frowned at the news, confused as to when he had suddenly entered high school. Instead of asking questions, he just nodded his head and agreed to go home with the man, hoping to get into a comfortable bed and sleep his headache off until everything returned back to normal. The man had seemed relieved, the worry lines becoming slack around his jaw and upper brow. He’d left soon after that and here Kageyama was, sitting on the hospital bed alone.
The door opened softly and the woman entered. She smiled towards him and began stuffing his blankets into a spare plastic hospital bag. Kageyama got up to help, but the woman shook her head and pointedly glared at him. The setter gulped and sat back down, turning his gaze towards the man standing in the doorway.
“You ready to go, kid?” Ukai asked a tight smile painted on his face.
“Yeah,” Kageyama replied. He stood up and carefully walked towards the door.
“So you’re going to be staying with me for a bit,” Ukai said, putting a hand on Kageyama’s shoulder. The young boy ducked his head and sucked in a breath, letting his sweatshirt cover him. “My mom’s going to be there as well, but don’t worry about her, I’m sure she’ll love you.”
“I’ll also be stopping by pretty often,” the woman added.
“Okay,” Kageyama mumbled.
They walked down the white hallway and out towards the exit doors. When they reached the exit, Ukai went off to go say a final parting word with his doctor while the woman kept by him. Kageyama was going to look down, but a hand on his shoulder grabbed his attention. When he looked up, Iwaizumi stood standing in front of him, his hand grasping the end of Kageyama’s sweatshirt. Beside him was Oikawa and two other high school boys Kageyama didn’t know the names of.
“Iwaizumi,” Kageyama breathed, his eyes subconsciously drifting towards the ground. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to check up on you.”
“We’re all are here to check up on you,” the red-haired kid added, his face twisting into a smile.
“All of you?”
“Yes, Tobio!” Oikawa squealed. “These two meatheads over there even came from Shiratorizawa!”
Kageyama’s eyes widened, his posture suddenly becoming straighter and more poised. Oikawa ducked his head to hide the smile creeping across his face.
“Kageyama.”
The young boy turned his head and saw Ukai walking across the room. He had a weird pointed expression on his face as he stared at the other volleyball players. Kageyama sunk further back towards the woman, confused as to why his coach seemed distressed.
“Yua,” Ukai said, turning towards the woman, “please take Kageyama outside.”
The woman nodded her head and grabbed Kageyama’s hand softly, gently pulling him towards the doors. Kageyama nodded slowly and followed after her, his head starting to ache even more. He glanced back once and saw all of the players looking at him, concern clear in their features. Kageyama wondered what that meant as he was pulled through the sliding glass doors.
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“What are you four doing here?” Ukai asked.
Oikawa scrunched up his nose, turning his head to meet the man’s stare.
“We just wanted to check up on Kageyama,” Iwaizumi answered. “We heard he’d gotten hurt during a practice and just wanted to make sure he was okay.”
Ukai’s face softened.
“So, why did Tobio look like he saw a ghost when we walked in?” Oikawa asked. “I mean, he was practically balking at Ushijima and Tendō. It’s like he’s never seen them before.”
“Well…” Ukai trailed off. Oikawa watched the man struggle to find an answer. The coach’s mouth dropped for a moment until it clenched tightly together. He looked up at the group of teenagers, face set with stony resolve. “You see, Kageyama’s having a little trouble with his memory right now.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Tendō pipped up, his voice rising in volume.
“Is he going to be okay?” Iwaizumi asked.
“He should be fine,” Ukai answered slowly. “The doctor said it’s most likely that he’ll regain his memories over the next few weeks or so. In the meantime though, try to take it easy with him.”
Oikawa frowned, the severity of the situation finally falling on his shoulders. Both Ushijima and Tendō curled in on themselves, shuffling their heads in their hands simultaneously. Iwaizumi was pinching the bridge of his nose, his other hand resting tenderly on his hip. Oikawa pulled on a fake smile and placed a hand on his teammate’s shoulder, rubbing the skin softly.
“Do you want me to tell him anything?” Ukai asked awkwardly, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
Oikawa looked over at Ushijima, but the taller boy shook his head softly. Oikawa turned around and shook his head as well, politely dismissing his group. The Karasuno coach walked back out towards the door, his hand hesitating the tiniest bit before he pushed the door open.
The party remained silent, Oikawa finally running out of things to say. The brown-haired setter glanced over at everyone and saw the same guilty expressions painted on their face. Deep down, all of them knew it wasn’t their fault. It wasn’t like Oikawa was the one who collided with Kageyama during that fateful practice match. Still, there was something nagging the setter, maybe it had something to do with how distant he’d become with the younger boy. After all, once he left middle school, Oikawa never really reached out to Kageyama besides their volleyball matches. Maybe he should try that, perhaps in a couple of days.
“Well, let’s get going,” Iwaizumi said, breaking Oikawa out of his thoughts.
The boys nodded their heads simultaneously and headed towards the exit. Solemn silence hung around their heads and constricted their throats, making it hard to talk. Oikawa usually hated this kind of silence, but in this case, the boy didn’t think he’d be able to say anything if conversation were to arise.
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Ukai watched the silent player closely. The boy’s nonchalant behavior had seemed strange in the beginning, but Yua had suggested Kageyama might possibly be in shock. The volleyball coach had shaken his head at the idea because the kid had seemed aware and pretty observant back in the hospital, but he had no place to counter the diagnostic of a nurse. Instead, he handed the kid a bag of clothes and went to fill out the discharge papers. When he’d returned back, the kid had seemed almost normal, like he hadn’t just had very dangerous medical operations.
Now, though, it seemed like the drugs were finally taking effect. Kageyama had laid up against the car window, his eyes blinking every now and then. His breathing was becoming shallower and he seemed to doze off for a few seconds before slowly waking up again. Yua had caught sight of the young man and she had reached back to snap a picture, unfortunately grabbing a frame of him as well.
“Do you want me to send you the picture?” Yua asked, turning around and smiling at her screen.
“Sure,” Ukai mumbled. “Wait, do you even have my number?”
“Yeah, I typed it in off of you’re contact list yesterday.”
“That’s creepy.”
“Oh shut up,” Yua said, smacking him lightly on the shoulder.
Ukai rolled his eyes as he finally pulled into the parking space right in front of his store. He gave Yua a look and then proceeded to hop out of the car. Stretching his legs, Ukai walked around and over towards Kageyama’s window, knocking softly with one knuckle. The ravenette startled awake, his head jolting upwards and his eyes blinking rapidly. He clambered out of the car and over towards the house door. Ukai grabbed his bag and followed after him.
“Ma! I’m home!” Ukai shouted as he pushed the door open. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kageyama flinch, the boy bringing one hand up to his head. Ukai internally slapped himself. Of course, the kid would be sensitive to loud noises, he had two fucking surgeries on his head.
“Oh dear, look at the mess you’ve brought in this time.”
“Ma, this is Kageyama.”
An old lady popped out behind the door and shuffled over to the small party. She gave Ukai a passing glance before walking up to Kageyama, taking the boy’s face in her hands. She smiled at him and patted him on the head before letting his face go. Kageyama seemed stunned for a moment before straightening up again.
“There’s a spare room down the hall, Kageyama. I’m sure my son will help you there.”
Ukai gave a parting goodby to Yua and watched her able out the door. He then turned to Kageyama, nodding towards the boy. The setter followed him into the spare bedroom and watched as his bags were dropped to the ground.
“I know this is a lot to take in right now, but you can trust me.”
Kageyama nodded, hesitantly sitting down on the bed. Ukai walked back out towards the hallway and began to take off his shoes, letting the accessory fall to the ground. He was about to head into the kitchen when he glanced inside the spare bedroom. Lying on the bed, Kageyama was curled up like a cat underneath all the covers. Ukai smiled to himself and pulled out his phone, snapping a quick picture before tucking the device safely back into his pocket.
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Takeda sat in his office with his face buried in his hands. He’d just gotten off the phone with Coach Ukai and had learned about Kageyama’s current condition. The team faculty member shook his head and stood up, stretching out his arms and cracking his fingers. He shuffled a few books and papers into his bag and finally slung the carrier over his shoulder. Takeda walked towards the door and opened it, his eyes widening at the two people standing in front of him.
“Daichi, Sugawara,” he said carefully. “What can I help you two with?”
“How’s Kageyama?” Daichi asked quietly. He turned his head to the side, his ears turning red. “We heard you talking to coach, so we thought you’d heard something.”
Takeda took a deep breath in. “Well, the good news is Kageyama was discharged today.”
“That’s great!” Sugawara said, his lips curling upwards in a smile.
“The only thing is…” Takeda trailed off, his voice clipped. He turned to look at the boys, meeting them in the eyes. “There’s been some serious after-effect from the surgeries. I think it’d be best if you guys went to visit him. He’s exempted from any sports activity for a while, so you’re company would be welcomed.”
“Alright then,” Daichi said. “I guess that’s what we’ll do.”
Takeda nodded his head and began walking out with the two third years flanking him. They passed a few students and a couple of other staff but eventually made their way out across the parking lot. Daichi and Sugawara walked ahead and entered the gym, both glancing back just for a moment. Takeda waved them on and took a second to lean against the doorframe. He rubbed at his glasses before straightening his posture and quirking his mouth upwards. Takeda took a step forward and entered the gym.