Chapter Text
BAM! The ball hit Suga’s arms with a satisfying sting.
“Nice receive!”
“Got it!” Noya shouted, setting the ball perfectly to Asahi.
Suga watched as Asahi’s whole body tensed as he jumped and pounded the ball onto the other side of the net.
Ukai blew his whistle.
“White teams wins.”
“Yeah!” Tanaka and Noya screamed as Tsukki gave them his signature “tsk.”
“Wow!” Hinata breathed, “Asahi-senpai that was amazing!”
Suga smiled to himself as Asahi spluttered out thanks. Although he may be their terrifying ace on the court, off it, he was timider than a middle schooler.
“Ok!” Sensei yelled, clapping his hands, jolting Suga out of his thoughts. “Let’s meet over here!”
“Yes sir!”
Suga jogged over to his usual spot next to Daichi.
“Nice receive at the end,” He said, and Suga let out a beaming smile.
“You too.”
“Not really. I should have gotten Asahi’s last few serves,” He replied, suddenly serious, and Suga frowned. Time for a change in strategy.
“Although you did end up losing in the end.”
“We just let you win this time,” Daichi said, sparkle returning to his eyes.
“Ah. So that’s why you’re so drenched in sweat.”
Daichi let out a laugh, and Suga gave himself a mental pat on the back.
“Oh yeah,” Suga said, snapping his fingers together, “I had an idea.”
“What is it?” Daichi said, serious again.
“I’m going to tell you, idiot,” Suga said, hiding the small glow in his chest. Even if he wasn’t the official setter anymore, it felt good to have his ideas taken seriously.
Daichi remained silent, waiting.
“Seeing Hinata play today made me think that if we really polish up his receives, he could be useful even when he’s off the front row.”
Daichi frowned, and Suga hurried to explain.
“I mean with his speed and reflexes he may be able to reach the balls even Nishinoya can’t get.”
Daichi leaned back. “Hmm. That’s an interesting idea. We’ll have to worry about him getting too tired though.”
“Nevermind. It wasn’t the best--”
“No, no, that’s not a bad idea.” Daichi said, waving his hand, “I’ll bring it up with Coach.”
“Right,” Ukai said, cutting off their conversation. “Time to talk strategy.”
Several moans rose from the team, mostly from Hinata and Tanaka.
Daichi’s grin turned to a smirk. “Good luck convincing him to practice receiving more.”
Suga let out a sigh.
“I suppose I can’t insist that it’s the captain’s duty to assign practice recommendations?”
“Nope. This is all you, vice-captain.”
“Hmmm. How about a wager?”
“I’m listening.”
“If you can get Hinata to practice receiving before I can, I’ll buy the pork buns tonight.”
“Deal.”
Suga braced himself for the back slap that he knew was coming, but still flinched at the impact. Daichi never held back with him.
“So as I was saying,” Ukai said, shooting the two of them a glare. “We’re going to talk about a new defensive strategy I want to try out.”
Suga felt the blood rush to his face.
“Sorry Coach,” Daichi said, also blushing.
“So, here’s the basic idea.” Ukai whipped out a marker and tried to draw a circle.
“Hmmm,” He muttered, trying a few more times before banging it on the board a few times, causing Yachi-kun to jump.
“Must be dead.”
He tossed the dried-up marker into the bin and reached for another only to find it empty.
“Sensei,” He called, “Can we get some more markers here?”
“Of course!” Sensei said jumping at the opportunity to help. Kiyoko-san stepped forward to take the keys, but Sensei’s reach to his pocket became a frantic pat-down.
“I’m so sorry!” Sensei cried, bowing, “I must have left my keys in the office.”
“That’s fine,” Ukai said, rubbing the bridge of his nose like he did when he really wanted a smoke. He must have really wanted to discuss the strategy. “We’ll just have to wait till tomorrow.”
“Coach, I can go out and buy some new markers,” Suga said, standing.
“I can do that,” Kiyoko offered, turning to him, “You should stay here and practice.”
Suga gave her a grin.
“Thanks, but the store is pretty far. I brought my bike, so it won’t be that long.”
“I can go!” Hinata said, jumping up, “I brought my bike too, and I can bike really fast!”
“Hinata,” Suga said, gently, “I think your receives could use a bit of work if that’s alright with you Coach.”
“Besides,” The little voice in his head said, “It’s not like I’m going to be on the court long enough to make a difference.”
Daichi shot him a frown.
Shoot. He had forgotten about Daichi’s uncanny ability to tell when those thoughts crossed his mind. Scratching his head, he grinned sheepishly, knowing he was going to get one hell of a lecture later.
“Yeah,” Ukai said, bringing Suga back to the situation at hand, “Receiving practice is as good as anything.”
Suga shot Daichi a triumphant smirk who in turn gave him a silent slow clap. It looks like he wasn’t going to be paying for the pork buns tonight.
“Suga you go to the store. We’ll practice until you get back.”
Hinata deflated, and Suga gave him a sympathetic pat on the head.
“Don’t worry Hinata-kun. If all works out, we may have another important role for you to play.”
“Really?” He said, perking up.
“Yep, but only if you get better at receiving.”
“Ok! I’ll practice really hard, Sugawara-senpai!”
Suga gave him another pat, smiling at his enthusiasm.
“Suga-senpai!” Tanaka said, face grave, “Please hurry. If you don’t get back soon we’ll all be as good at receiving as Yuu-chan.”
Tanaka and Hinata shuddered at the thought.
Suga shook his head at them, but ran outside and quickly hopped on his bike before biking away as fast he could.
Panting, he arrived at the store 10 minutes later. He parked his bike before running into the store.
“Sorry!” He called to the woman that he startled as he ran past.
“Markers, markers, markers,” He muttered to himself, “Where would they put--- Aha!” He held up a pack of dry-erase markers triumphantly. His celebration was cut short by the slam of the door and a yell.
“Hands in the air everyone!”
Suga turned to see a masked man pointing a gun right at him. The markers fell from his grip and hit the floor.
“Looks like I’m going to be a bit later than expected.” He thought grimly.
The sweat-soaked brow and panting breaths made Suga suspect the man of running from someone, and the sounds of sirens slowly increasing in volume and the sack in the man’s right hand confirmed his suspicions.
Suga froze, mind whirring in disbelief.
“Robber,” Suga heard the police say on a megaphone, “Please exit the store with both hands visible.”
“Don’t come in!” The man shouted, voice ragged, “I’ll shoot them. I swear I will!”
Suga felt his heart rate jump. His gaze flitted around the store. 2 older women, a middle-aged man, the store clerk, and, his eyes widened, a mother and her child. All within range.
Taking a deep breath, he spoke up.
“Excuse me, sir,” The man’s gaze shot to him, and his grip tightened on the gun.
“Don’t say anything, kid.”
Suga felt a brief surge of anger. He was basically a university student. He wasn’t a kid anymore.
“Sorry sir, I just really need to get back to volleyball practice.” Suga said keeping his eyes locked on the man and his voice steady, “You see my captain will be very upset if I don’t make it back in,” Suga brought his arm up to check his watch, “10 minutes.”
He cautiously took a step forward, feeling the eyes of everyone on him. The man tensed and kept the gun trained on Suga.
“What are you doing?” He snarled, aiming the gun at Suga’s head, hands shaking. It would be an unsteady shot, but it was hard to miss at such a close range.
“I’m just going to stand over here now.” He said, side-stepping his way with both his hands up to a spot where the robber’s back was to everyone else.
If he kept the robber’s attention, maybe one of the others could take him by surprise.
Still keeping eye contact and speaking as one would to a frightened child, Suga began again.
“I need to go to practice. Will you let us leave?”
The man stared at him, a desperate gleam in his eyes.
Suga studied him more closely. His clothing, while a little beat up seemed to be of good quality, and the gun he held was in pristine condition.
Why would someone like him need to rob a bank?
The man shifted his grip on the gun, jolting Suga out of his thoughts.
He tensed, ready to hit the floor if necessary.
Holding his breath as the gun remained trained on him, Suga didn’t dare break their gazes. Slowly, the man’s eyes changed, and for a moment, Suga thought he had convinced him.
“Robber, we have you surrounded!”
Instantly, the animal-like fear returned.
The man grabbed Suga and pressed the gun tightly to his temple.
“That’s going to leave a bruise.” Suga thought, squinting at the searchlights shining directly in his eyes.
“Don’t come any closer!” The man cried, “I’ll shoot!”
“Sir, excuse me for speaking,” Suga said, impressed by the stability in his voice, “but I don’t think whoever you’re doing this for would approve of this.”
The man’s eyes widened. So he had been right in guessing that this man wasn’t just someone wanting to get rich.
“If I don’t, they’ll throw me in jail, and I can’t take care of her then.”
“If you do do this, sir,” Suga said, looking at him out of the corner of his eyes “You won’t be able to take it back. Ever. Do you think she wants you to become a murderer?”
The man faltered.
“I’m not…”
“Sir, if you put the gun down and return the money, you can come back from this. You can be there for her.”
The look in his eyes from earlier returned, and the man became quiet, fighting with himself. After a few minutes, the man looked up and ground the gun harder against Suga’s head.
“Shut up,” He snarled, “If I kill you, they’ll have to take me seriously. Then I can help her. I can save her.”
“Release him” The officer ordered, “Just put the gun down, sir.”
The man’s face tensed. He had decided, and Suga closed his eyes.
Maybe Daichi wouldn’t kill him after all. It’s pretty hard to kill someone with a bullet hole through their head.
BANG.
The pressure on his temple was released, and Suga fell to his knees.
The man lay unconscious at his side.
Mind whirring, he looked up to see one of the older-women wielding her purse like a hammer. He turned and felt his heart stutter. A few inches away from where his head had been was a small, smoking hole.
“Are you alright?” The women asked, hands shaking.
Suga got to his feet, feeling strangely numb.
“Yes, thank you, ma’am.”
“No, thank you. I would never have been able to do that if you hadn’t distracted him.”
Distract. Was that all he was trying to do?
“How did you stay so calm?” The middle-aged man asked, voice quivering.
“It helps when you’re terrified.” He replied causing a weak chuckle to go around the room.
The store clerk opened the door and the police rushed in, carefully sweeping the room and securing the robber.
“Are you alright, kid?” One asked, taking him by the arm.
“I’m fine,” Suga said, walking to pick up his markers. He held them tightly, trying to keep his hands from shaking. “Now if you would excuse me, I have to go to practice after I buy these.”
“They’re on the house kid,” The clerk said, “Hell, I’ll pay for them.”
“Thank you very much!” Suga said, bowing to him before checking his watch.
“We still need to check up on you.”
Shoot. He had 15 minutes before practice was over.
“Can you do it after practice?”
“That would be very---,” The officer stammered.
“Karasuno High School. We’ll be in Gymnasium #1.”
He saw the officer give him a slight nod before thanking the clerk again and running out to his bike.
“Kid, where do you think----” Another officer asked, approaching him.
“Sorry, I have practice! The officer inside knows where to find me.”
He pedaled even faster than on his way there and arrived with 7 minutes to spare. When Suga arrived, however, they had already started to pack up.
“I’m sorry I’m late!” He said running in.
“Suga!” Ukai said, crossing his arms, “Thank you for finally joining us.”
“Sorry Coach, I got…” His voice faltered, “... lost.”
“Lost,” Daichi repeated, brow furrowing.
“Yeah,” He said, struggling to come up with a reasonable excuse.”I took a wrong turn somewhere and had a hard time figuring out where I was.” He gave what he hoped was more of a sheepish grin than a pained grimace. His temple was beginning to throb.
“I see,” Ukai said slowly, “I’ll send someone more familiar with the area next time.”
“Yes sir,” Suga said bowing as he felt his cheeks redden.
“Suga-senpai!” Hinata squeaked, “What happened to your head?”
The rest of the team looked up at this, as Suga touched the tender area and winced.
“Oh, this? It’s nothing.”
Ukai said nothing but grabbed Suga’s head, studying the bruise closer.
“It doesn’t look like nothing. How does your head feel? Are you dizzy?”
“I’m fine, Coach.” He said, wrestling himself from Ukai’s grip, “I just ran into something on the way back. Can I go help clean up now?”
“Are you sure you don’t need to go to the nurse?” Sensei said, also taking Suga’s head into his own hands, although much more gently. “That can’t feel good.”
“It’s better than getting hit in the face with one of Asahi’s serves.”
“I’M SO SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!” Asahi said, bowing so quickly that Suga was afraid that he was going to fall over.
Sensei laughed and let Suga go.
“Ok, go help clean, but if you feel anything at all, tell us. We don’t want you to be benched for our next game.”
“Not like it matters,” Suga thought before meeting Daichi’s glare.
“Yes sir!” He said and quickly turned away to help collect balls.
They were just about finished when the door to the gym flew open. Suga quickly bent over, hiding his face when he recognized the officer talking to a very concerned Sensei.
He glanced up for a second and made eye contact with him.
“Maybe he’ll just call me over?” Suga hoped.
“Ah, there he is. How are you feeling kiddo?”
Shoot.
“Fine. Thank you.” Suga replied shortly, hoping that the officer would pick up on the fact that he didn’t want to talk about it here.
“Are you sure? No need to act tough. You were almost shot tonight.”
“What?” Ukai asked, voice becoming scarily soft.
“Oh, he didn’t tell you?” The officer said, looking uncomfortable. “There was an armed robber at the corner store, and the kid was used as a hostage.”
“You were what?” Daichi asked, his knuckles whitening on the broomstick.
The rest of the team flinched.
“It’s not a big deal!” Suga said, not meeting his gaze.
“S--Su-Suga” Asahi stammered, “You-you were….”
“Asahi, I’m fine. Look at me.”
“Su-Suga… are you--are-ar you--”
“I’m fine. Ok? Take a breath.”
“Well, I just need to get your testimony for the trial.” The officer broke in, looking even more uncomfortable.
Suga quickly walked past the team, watching him with mouths hanging open in disbelief. As he opened the door, he let out a sigh of relief, but he knew he was just delaying the inevitable.
“Thank you for your time.” The officer said, snapping his notebook shut.
“Can I ask you something?” Suga asked.
The officer looked up at him.
“Yeah, kid. Do you want to talk about it?”
“No. I’m still fine. The man who….” He hesitated, “who tried to shoot me. Did they ever figure out why he did it?”
“I’m not supposed to say.” The officer hesitated, “But if you promise to keep quiet about it…”
“I promise.”
“Turns out he had a young daughter who was sick with …. I forget what disease, but she needed a transplant badly, and well I’m sure you know how it goes.”
“He was going to buy an organ?”
“Yeah. Now, remember to keep this on the down-low. I could get in a lot of trouble if people found out what I told you.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” Suga promised.
“Well, between you and me, kid, what you did today in that store was extremely brave.” The officer hesitated before patting him on the back, “Well done.”
The officer left as awkwardly as he came. As soon as he had gone, Suga went back into the gym to help mop the floor.
“What… the hell… happened?” Suga looked up in surprise to see Sensei standing in front of him, eyes blazing.
“Uhh…When I went to the store, a guy with a gun came in and told up to put our hands up,” Suga said in a small voice, “I talked to him for a bit,”
“Wait,” Tanaka broke in, “You talked with the guy with a gun?”
“Yeah, he wasn’t a bad guy. Well, besides the whole almost shooting me thing.”
“He tried to shoot you?”
“Tanaka.”
“He took me as a hostage and tried to shoot me until this lady knocked him out with her purse.”
Yachi squeaked, looking almost as if she were about to faint. Sensei didn’t look much better.
“Sugawara Koushi,” Ukai said slowly, “Why didn’t you tell us what happened?”
“I’m sorry. It just… didn’t feel real.”
“Are you ok? Do you need anything? Oh my gosh. You were almost shot.” Sensei spluttered, “One of my students almost got shot.”
“Su--Suga,” Asahi stammered, taking Suga by his shoulders with hands shaking so badly that it felt as if he were shaking Suga as well, “you- you… gun”
“Sugawara-senpai,” Hinata cried, “Please don’t die!”
“Sugawara-senpai’s gonna die?”
“No! Suga!”
“Guys!” Suga finally shouted, “Enough! There is no need to overreact. Everything’s fine now.”
“No,” Daichi said, eyes blazing, “No, it’s not.”
The room fell silent. Even Sensei’s cries were silenced at Daichi’s terrible voice.
“You lied to us about getting lost. You...you,” Daichi’s voice became a whisper, “you were almost…”
The room went even quieter.
Suga looked around at the faces around. It had actually happened. This wasn't a dream or something he dreamed up in his head during chemistry class. This was real and he had almost been shot, had almost been killed.
Suga put a hand to his mouth and felt tears begin to pour down his face.
Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. The faces around him shifted from anger and worry to fear.
He saw people’s mouths moving but heard nothing. He was on the floor although he didn’t know how he got there.
His heart felt like it was going to tear itself from his chest as his body heaved with each breath.
He couldn’t breathe.
The gunshot played again and again in his mind.
Was he dying?
His eyes searched for something, anything still to look at.
He met someone’s gaze.
Tsukki looked at him and calmly, slowly mouthed the words “Match my breathing.”
Suga laughed, a choking sound that caused a spark of frantic activity.
Tsukki inhaled counting up to four on his fingers and Suga struggled to do the same.
“Hold,” Tsukki said and Suga tried, but someone pulled him from his laying down position.
Suga’s dilated pupils met Daichi’s frantic ones, and he felt his chest begin to heave again.
“Hold on” Daichi was shouting, “Hold on, Suga. Help is on the way.”
A new pair of arms surrounded him and gently sat him so that he was staring directly into Tsukki’s eyes again.
Suga closed his eyes.
Inhale.
One. Two. Three. Four
He opened his eyes.
Hold.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.
Exhale.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight.
Inhale.
Together with Tsukki, he partly slowed his erratic breathing.
Suddenly exhausted, he pitched forward, hitting Tsukki’s chest.
Sound suddenly returned to Suga’s world, loud and everywhere and too much.
“You did well,” Tsukki said softly in his ear.
“Is he alive?” Kageyama was asking as he heard Sensei’s frantic shouts in the background.
“Shut up all of you,” Tsukki ordered tightening his hold on Suga, and surprisingly, they all listened. Suga decided that Tsukki was his new favorite person in the whole world.
He kept breathing until he peeked under Tsukki’s arms to see Asahi’s terrified face looking back at him.
“Asa--Asah” He croaked.
“S-Su-Suga.”
“Do..don’..t cry,” He managed, “yo..you wi..mp”
Tsukki smirked at this.
Ukai and Sensei entered his line of sight.
“Sugawara, there’s an ambulance here.” Ukai explained as Sensei was crying, “They’re going to take care of you.”
A new pair of faces joined.
“We’re just going to give you something to relax you, ok?”
Suga tried to nod. He felt someone take his hand and turned his head to see Daichi sitting right next to him, apology forming on his lips.
“Do..n’t y...ou ..d...ar..e,” He croaked.
Daichi stopped, and looked away but not before Suga saw the tears there.
He squeezed his hand, hoping to convey all the things he couldn’t get his throat to say, and Daichi squeezed back.
He felt a stab in his arm and the world fade to black.
Daichi felt Suga’s grip slowly relax and had to suppress the growing panic inside him.
“Sir, you need to let go of him,” One of the paramedics said, gently prying his hand off of Suga’s.
He watched, numb, as Tsukki carefully lifted Suga’s body into the arms of another paramedic.
He looked so frail, so weak, almost as if he were….
No. Suga wasn’t dying. Still, his own breathing became ragged.
“Do I need to teach you how to breathe too?” Tsukki asked, raising an eyebrow.
Daichi let out a sob-laugh. Tears were still coursing down his face.
When Suga broke down, none of them knew what was going on. All Daichi saw was Suga, crying, and all of the angry words inside him disappeared, replaced with a fear one hundred times more intense, and when Suga hit the floor….
Daichi squeezed his eyes shut.
“Pull it together Captain,” He thought, shaking his head, “Keep your head. Your team needs you now.”
Daichi wiped his eyes on his sleeves and stood up.
Ukai and Sensei were talking with the paramedics. Ukai had his arm around Sensei who was still crying. Daichi’s gaze floated back to Suga’s still, pale, face and he felt a growing urge to vomit.
Daichi shook his head again. Not here. Not now.
“Coach,” Daichi said, voice raw, “What’s the plan?”
Ukai looked at him, and Daichi’s eyes widened. Ukai looked like he had aged 10 years in the past few minutes.
“Sensei will ride with Sugawara to the hospital in the ambulance,” Ukai said, giving Sensei another pat which seemed to cause him to cry even harder. “The doctors say that the shock probably wore off here, so he’s not in any danger anymore. Still, they want to keep an eye on him.”
Daichi nodded, focusing his thoughts on the fact that the doctors said that Suga was going to be fine.
“And what about us?”
Ukai blinked.
“How are we going to get to the hospital?”
Ukai frowned, almost as if he hadn’t expected Daichi to ask this.
“I guess I could take one of the buses…”
“Thank you,” Daichi said, bowing, “I’ll see who wants to come.”
He turned his gaze to the rest of the team and flinched.
Tanaka and Nishinoya were trying to get Asahi to calm down, but they both quieter than normal. Hinata was staring at the ambulance, tears also flowing down his face while Kageyama stood behind him, hand placed on his shoulder. Tsukki had his arm around Yamaguchi.
Everyone looked pale and badly shaken.
Daichi exhaled. One thing at a time.
He kneeled next to Asahi, whose shoulders were still shaking.
“Asahi,” Daichi murmured, wrapping an arm around him, “Can you hear me?”
Asahi gave a half-nod.
“He’s going to be fine, Asahi. The doctors say he’s going to be fine.”
“But what if--” Asahi started.
Daichi playfully shoved his shoulder.
"What would he say if he was here right now?"
Asahi’s mouth twisted in a small smile.
“Negativity begone”
Daichi sat with him until Asahi’s shaking subsided.
“How are you two?” He asked Nishinoya and Tanaka.
“Fine,” Noya replied, looking away.
“When are we leaving?” Tanaka asked.
“What?”
Tanaka clenched his fists.
“Idiot, when are we going to the hospital?”
This caught the rest of the team’s attention.
Daichi sighed, wishing more than ever Suga was with him now. He always knew what to say to get everyone to calm down.
“I’m taking a bus in 10 minutes,” Ukai said, placing a hand on Daichi’s shoulder. “Whoever wants to come can come. Still, try to keep the numbers down.”
“I’m going,” Asahi said, wiping his face on his practice shirt. “Daichi, I--”
“I know Asahi, you can come.”
“Daichi-senpai,” Hinata said, eyes blazing, “Please let me go!”
“Me too!” Kageyama added, bowing.
“Me too!” Yamaguchi said, joining in.
“Try and stop me,” Noya said, looking Daichi straight in the eye.
“Everyone calm down,” Tanaka said, surprising everyone, “There’s room enough for everyone, so everyone can come.”
Daichi nodded in agreement and gave Tanaka what he hoped was an encouraging smile.
“We shouldn’t bring too many though,” Tsukki finally spoke up, “We don’t want to overwhelm Sugawara-senpai.”
“We’ll deal with that when we get there. I’m sure the hospital has some sort of policy.” Ukai said, looking around, “Alright, who wants to come?”
Everyone raised their hand.
Ukai sighed.
“Alright, text your parents. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
When Suga woke up, he was no longer in his practice outfit which in itself raised questions. He was in a hospital gown with strange stickers placed on his chest and arms. Machines surrounded him, beeping at random times. But his gaze fell on the group of people sleeping around him.
The team had stayed the night for him.
Suga tried in vain to stop the tears from flowing. A machine to his right began beeping rapidly causing Ukai to jolt awake.
“Doctor!” He said, stumbling out of his chair before he saw Sugawara’s opened eyes. “Help…”
“You idiot,” He said tears forming in his eyes, “You damn near gave us a heart attack.”
“S-Sor-Sorry,” Sugawara managed. The beeping continued.
“Yuu!” Tanaka groaned, “Turn off your alarm before I smash it.”
“It’s not mine!” Nishinoya said, opening his eyes, “And I swear if you break anoth--” His voice died down.
“Sugawara-senpai!” He cried jumping at Suga.
“Nishinoya!” Ukai snapped, “Careful.”
“Don’t scare us like that, moron,” Nishinoya mumbled into Suga’s chest.
“Sorry.”
“Ahhhhh, Sugawara-senpai,” Hinata cried flinging himself on the bed, joining Nishinoya, “You’re not going to die are you?”
Sugawara laughed despite his tears.
“Alright, enough,” Ukai said, “Off, both of you.”
“Nooo,” Nishinoya moaned, snuggling closer.
“It’s fine. I’m not in any pain.” His gaze met another member’s. “But I may be if you join them.”
Asahi was also laugh-crying.
“Su--Suga!”
“I’m fine, you big softy.”
“Hinata! Get off Sugawara-senpai! Idiot!”
“It’s fine Kageyama,” Suga replied, wiping his face with the sleeves of the hospital gown. “Do you want a hug too?”
“I don’t want to ---”
“Get in here Kageyama.”
Kageyama reluctantly bent down so Suga could hug him too.
“No need to worry,” Suga said reading his eyes, “I’m fine.”
“Tsk” Kageyama muttered, burying his face into Suga’s chest as well.
“How are you feeling?” Yamaguchi asked, flitting on the sides of his bed.
“Great! Thanks to Dr. Tsukishima here.”
“Idiot. I didn’t do anything.”
“Still, I owe you a hug. Get in here.”
Tsukishima glared at him.
“No,” Hinata said, grabbing onto Suga, “There’s no more room for him.”
“There’s always room in a Suga-hug,” Tanaka said, stretching. “It’s a Suga- hug.”
“Get in here, both of you.” Suga ordered, opening his arms, “You too Yamaguchi.”
“SUGAWARA!” Sensei cried, causing everyone to jump. “Are you ok? How do you feel? Do you need anything? Ukai-kun where’s the doctor?”
“Ah yes, the doctor.”
“Thank goodness. I couldn’t breathe in here with all the people.” Tsukki said, awkwardly clinging to Suga.
“Tsukki! You’re hogging him!” Nishinoya whined. “Suuuuuga!”
“Calm down, all of you.” Suga looked past the army of children gathered on his bed. “You can join too if you want.”
Suga felt more air forced out of him as Asahi took him up on the offer.
“Don’t ever do that again.” He muttered.
“Yes, sir,”
“Agreed.” A new voice spoke up causing Tsukki to scramble to stand up, knocking off Yamaguchi in the process.
“Captain,”
Hinata and Kageyama also stumbled out of the hug.
“haHA!” Nishinoya cried, “You fools! Suga is all mine now.”
“Nishinoya,” Asahi said, warning in his voice.
“Fine, I’ll share.” He said very reluctantly climbing off the bed.
Suga had to look up to see Daichi which he thought was just cruel. He wasn’t that much shorter than him.
“You better never ever ever do that ever again.”
“Daichi,” Suga sighed, “Don’t worry. This was a freak accident. I won’t leave you guys. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
“Good. I hope this finally drove that lesson through your thick skull.” Daichi said, kneeling next to him so that they were eye-to-eye, “No one can replace you, Sugawara Koushi.”
The group around him nodded their agreement. Daichi, riding on their support, spoke again.
“And you’re never going to a corner store during practice again.”
Suga pouted for a bit.
“Yes, Captain.”