Chapter Text
Ukai new today was going to be a bad day. Something just felt off. He woke up this morning with a painful ache deep in his chest. He stumbled to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror, a haggard reflection glancing back at him. Ukai cleaned up and then went to make breakfast, only to realize that his eggs were expired. Maybe the gods wanted to taunt him today. Well fuck them. The morning hadn't been great, but it wasn’t terrible either. He was currently at volleyball practice, watching his team as they set up the court for a six-on-six game. Hinata was joking off with Kageyama, the latter had his usual scowl etched onto his face.
“Let’s hurry it up boys!” Ukai shouted, his thin patience finally wearing out.
The team scurried to get ready and into position. Daichi was on one side of the court, already getting into a receiving position. Both Asahi and Noya were on the other side of the court with Kageyama and Tadashi. Ukai stood up and went over to the scoreboard before bringing his whistle up to his mouth. He blew it and the ball went flying up into the air.
“I got it!” Noya yelled, diving to the right to receive the ball. The ball made contact with his arms and flew back up into the air. Kageyama raced underneath it and sent it towards Asahi. The ace jumped up and slammed the ball back down over the net. It hit the ground right before Tanaka’s hand.
“Nice kill!” Noya and Kageyama shouted.
Asahi grinned as Noya clapped him on the shoulder. On the other side of the court, Hinata stuck out his bottom lip, pouting.
“Don’t worry guys,” Daichi said, “we’ll get the next one.”
The practice match continued on, both teams playing their hardest. Asahi’s team had somehow taken the first set, thanks to Kageyama’s sets and Noya’s defense. Daichi’s team wasn’t far behind though. With some great plays from Suga and Hinata, along with blocks from Tsukishima, they were already in the lead for the second set.
It was Hinata’s turn to serve and he successfully set it over the net. He smiled a little to himself. Noya dived forward and landed on his stomach, somehow still receiving the ball. It flew backwards out of bounds. Tadashi raced back wards and sent it back towards his teammates. Both Kageyama and Asahi went to slam the ball down, not noticing that the other was racing towards it. Ukai’s eyes winded once he realized what was going to happen.
“Watch out!” he cried out.
Ukai’s warning was too late and the two players crashed into each other. Kageyama went down. Hard. His head snapped backwards and crashed into the floor. There was an audible “crack” noise that echoed off the gym walls. Then, the screaming started. It was shrill and laced with pain at first, until sheer panic eventually bled through the hysteric tone.
Everyone froze for a moment, trapped in a nightmarish trance. Ukai was the first to move, quickly running onto the court. He crouched down next to Kageyama, his face losing color just by the sight below him. The boy was screaming, his mouth wide open and his eyes full of fear. Kageyama was holding both hands behind his head as he involuntarily curled into himself.
“Takeda,” Ukai shouted, “call an ambulance. Daichi, find any spare towels and bring them to me. Everyone else, just stand back.”
The players and the assistant coach all seemed to snap out of their trance before chaos ensued. Takeda snached his cell phone and began typing in the emergency numbers. Daichi had run off with Suga in search of towels, both of them shaky on their feet. All the rest of the players had either come up behind Ukai or had crossed underneath the net. Ukai tried his best to ignore them as he reached his hands down towards Kageyama.
“Can you hear me Kageyama?” Ukai asked the boy, trying to get a response out of him.
Kageyama said nothing, his voice finally tapering off while more tears started to pool down his face. Daichi came up behind Ukai and placed down towels. Ukai nodded a quick thanks and picked up a fluffy, white towel.
“I need everyone to back the fuck up right now,” he shouted.
Most players started to back back, Noya and Tanaka steering Hinata away from his friend. Asahi refused to move even after Daichi started to grab his arm. The ace was too shocked for a physical reaction.
Ukai looked down at Kageyama and sucked in a breath. “Kageyama, I need you to move your hands okay?” The setter mumbled something horsley, not moving his hands away. Ukai had no other choice then to bend down and carefully remove the hands himself. Once he got them away, he pressed a towel to the back of Kageyama’s head, keeping a steady grip.
“His hands,” Hinata choked out.
Ukai looked down and noticed Kageyama’s hands. Both were stained a dark red color with small clumps of blood stuck between the skin crevices and under his nail beds. Suga’s face turned green and he turned around towards the bathroom.
“Where’s the fucking ambulance Takeda!” Ukai shouted.
“It’ll be here in five minutes!” the assistant coach replied, suddenly crouched down next to Ukai. “Hey Kageyama, can you hear me?”
The setter groaned, but he moved his eyes to look at Takeda. His breathing was getting quicker and his face seemed even paler, becoming a pasty milky color. Kageyama seemed to go still for a second before convulsing forward.
“Fuck” Ukai said as a small stream of bile flowed down Kageyama’s face. “We need to move him over so he doesn’t choke on the vomit.”
Takeda nodded and brought his hand up behind Kageyama’s head, switching places with the hand Ukai was using to hold the towel down. Ukai started to push Kageyama over onto his side, careful to keep his movements slow to not jostle his head too much. Kageyama convulsed again and more vomit spewed from his mouth onto his shirt and the floor. Daichi appeared on the other side of the setter, bringing with him a clean towel. He used it to wipe down Kageyama’s mouth, hoping he could get all the vomit off.
The team waited for a few minutes, the only things being heard were the scratchy whimpers and dry heaving of their injured teammate. Ukai swore softly to himself, cursing himself for tempting the gods today. He knew something wasn’t right. The sudden wailing of an ambulance cut off his internal ramble and he looked up. Red and Blue lights flashed through the auditorium windows. Fucking finally.