Chapter Text
“Damn,” Oikawa cursed, clicking his tongue in annoyance. Holding the volleyball against his hip, he looked down at his right leg, his brow furrowing a bit as he attempted to move his foot. The setter barely moved it before pain shot up his entire calf and he practically hissed. “How troublesome.” He looked over at the clock hanging on the wall, frowning slightly. It was nearly four in the afternoon meaning he’d already been practicing on his own for a good hour since practice ended. “Well, I’ll give it one more.” He’s just about to throw it in the air for one last serve when a voice cuts him off.
Bokuto holds a hand up to his mouth, “Oi, Oikawa!”
Straightening his form, Oikawa looked towards the direction of the voice and saw his teammates, Bokuto and Kuroo. They were standing in the doorframe of their university’s gym looking freshly showered, towels around their necks and hair dripping with water. “You’re still practicing?” Kuroo asked incredulously with an annoyed look. “Give it a rest already.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah!” The wing spiker agreed. “Let’s go home!”
Oikawa playfully flashed them a peace sign as he shifted his weight over to his good foot. “One more,” he promised. Granted, if his foot hadn’t been aching as badly as it was right now, he honestly would have given it three or four more serves. And only good serves at that, they were after all, one of his weapons.
The former ace of Fukurodani gave him a look before shrugging good-naturedly. Seeing as there was no way to convince Oikawa, Bokuto grinned. “Hurry up then! Let’s see this serve.”
“Yes, yes,” Oikawa replied back. Pivoting lightly on his foot, he faced the net. Bringing the volleyball up to his forehead, he inhaled slowly, centering himself. He allowed himself a moment to focus before exhaling just as slowly and just like that, the glint in his eyes sharpened dangerously. Tossing the volleyball upwards into the air, his brown eyes followed its movements, watching it intently. His feet moved naturally; his right leg first, followed by his left, right, and then left again. Oikawa’s arms extended outwards like wings and when he pushes off with his right foot, it’s an explosive movement that puts incredible pressure in his legs. It hurts of course, but when he begins to ascend upwards, he doesn’t even feel the pain. “Ah,” he thought to himself, “This feels like a good toss.” He waits for just the right moment before slamming the ball over the net with the palm of his hand. He aimed for the straight along the line and upon hearing Kuroo whistle appreciatively, he knew he made it in.
“Nice,” The middle blocker said.
“Okay, I’m done. Let’s go home,” Oikawa smiled cheekily.
“It’s about time!” Bokuto admonished, crossing his arms with a huff.
“Yes, yes,” the brunet sang out, waving a hand dismissively. Stretching out his sore limbs in an effort to cooldown, he raised his right leg briefly and frowned. The pain was a bit worse this time, traveling from the very sole of his foot and up his calf. His brows automatically furrowed at that. “Did I push myself too hard…?” He took a small step forward and not even a second passed before he felt something inside him shift. “Shit,” Oikawa hissed, gritting his teeth. There was something wrong with his foot, but then again, there always seemed to be something wrong with it. Taking another experimental step, he tried to offset his weight, putting more of it on his left foot and while that did seem to alleviate some of the pain, it still hurt. The setter faced forward, eyes scanning form left to right. He still needed to clean up everything. Cursing softly under his breath, he feigned another smile once he turned back around to look at his teammates. “I’ll clean up. You guys can go on ahead without me.”
Bokuto tilted his head to the side and shrugged. “We’re already here, might as well help.” Setting down his gear, Bokuto walked over to the net and began cranking it down. He managed to get only halfway down before excitement seemed to fill his chest. “The faster we finish up here, the faster I can go home and call Akaashi!” There was a grin on his face now as he hurriedly began cleaning up, a newfound eagerness in his step.
Oikawa hid a small smile at that, “Of course.” Taking another step forward, he grimaced once again and was just about to take another when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at the middle blocker beside him and saw him studying him intently. It was a little unnerving honestly, Kuroo’s eyes bore into his like that of a knife. “What’s this?” Oikawa asked, his tone careful but playful, almost as if he was trying to feign ignorance. “If we don’t hurry, Bokuto’s going to miss his little date –”
“I got it,” Kuroo cut in swiftly. His amber eyes trailed down lower to Oikawa’s right ankle before sighing and shaking his head. Without another backwards glance, he walked forward and duked under the net, cleaning up after Oikawa’s serves. “Just go do your stretches and cooldown.”
“So sweet, Kuro-kun,” Oikawa replied, adding in the nickname and honorific teasingly. He watched the retreating back briefly before frowning. “I’ll have to be more careful around him,” he thought. Kuroo was smart, perhaps too smart, but the last thing Oikawa needed was a roadblock on his path to finally defeating Ushijima. “This happens all the time. I’m practically used to the pain by now,” Oikawa thought as the he and his teammates took to their tasks. Oikawa did as he was told, stretching out his sore limbs while Kuroo and Bokuto busied themselves with cleaning up after their star setter. It didn’t take long and after they were finished, they made the drive back home to their apartment. Kuroo drove, naturally, and while Oikawa would normally take the front seat to mess with the radio, he opted for the back row this time. “I just want to stretch out my legs some more,” Oikawa laughed, rubbing the back of his head.
The former captain of Nekoma frowned once again while Bokuto just shrugged indifferently. They made it home relatively quick after that and after getting his things, Bokuto walked away to open the front door. Oikawa made a move to grab his bags out of the trunk when it was swiped by Kuroo who shouldered it quickly. “Oi,” Oikawa warned, “I don’t need to be babied.”
Kuroo merely smirked, not at all fazed. “You sure? Sometimes kids don’t learn to stop until they break.”
Oikawa chuckled a little darkly at that as his eyes narrowed dangerously. “You know Kuro-kun, you’re being quite annoying.”
“Oh, is that so?” Closing the trunk and locking the car, Kuroo let out an amused grunt. He pocketed his keys and walked towards the front door of their shared apartment. A little irked and annoyed, Oikawa remained silent as he followed the taller boy. Turning his head slightly so he could look at Oikawa over his shoulder, Kuroo’s smirk was replaced with a genuinely concerned frown. “I’m serious Oikawa, just be more careful okay?”
The setter looked away. “I know.” The dark haired boy let the matter drop and gave his friend another stern look before nodding slowly. They entered their shared apartment together and with a cheery wave, Oikawa retreated to his room. Shutting the door behind him, he leaned back against it briefly before sighing inaudibly to himself. His foot was really starting to bother him again and it was enough to make him wince slightly. ‘I’ll just soak in the bath,’ he thought.
“You home, Oikawa?” Iwaizumi’s voice suddenly asked.
Hiding a fond smile, the brunet floated over to his desk where his laptop was. In front of him sat Iwaizumi through a somewhat pixelated video call. He was dressed casually as he sat at his desk with only the desk light on. He looked as though he had been waiting for Oikawa’s return but the homework in front of him told him otherwise. “I’m home.”
“Welcome home.”
Oikawa collapsed onto his desk chair with an overly dramatic sigh. Folding his arms and burying his head inside it, he let out a groan as well. “Iwa-chan,” he whined. He could hear shuffling coming from his laptop and could practically see Iwaizumi leaning back in his own chair. He honestly couldn’t quite remember when exactly they started leaving their Skype calls up but he’s glad they did. It was nice, going to bed together via webcam and then waking up together (if they were lucky) in the mornings. Coming home and seeing one another almost made the distance between them a little more bearable. “I’m tired.”
Iwaizumi huffed, the quality of the video call pixelating slightly. “Speak clearly,” he instantly reprimanded. “I can’t understand you”
“I’m tired,” Oikawa said again, this time a bit more childishly.
“We’re all tired, Oikawa.”
“But I’m tired, Iwa-chan,” the brunet whined out. He heard a grunt from Iwaizumi and smiled coyly knowing his best friend wouldn’t see. “I’ve been working on my serves –”
“When aren’t you working on your serves?” Iwaizumi retorted with a roll of his eyes. He pointed a mechanical pencil at Oikawa from his side of the call, jabbing at the air as he spoke but even still, Oikawa could see the excitement in Iwaizumi’s eyes. He knew his best friend loved the thrill of a good receive and the feeling of returning one of Oikawa’s powerful serves. He then sees his best friend cup his face in his hands as he returns to his homework before, “Tell me about your day, I need some background noise.”
“So mean, Iwa-chan!”
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.
.
“One more,” Oikawa said with an arched brow. It was after hours again and while his teammates were on their way home, he was still practicing his serves. Bokuto and Kuroo were both still in the showers but he figured he could get in a couple good serves before they chased him out of the gym. He just couldn’t get it right; he wasn’t hitting it nearly as hard as he wanted and it wasn’t going where he needed it to go. “I’m not a genius,” he told himself. “That’s why I have to practice.” Oikawa serves again and it’s painful but he ignores it, pushing onwards. He has to keep going, one more and maybe another one after that. “I’m not genius,” he said out loud this time. It was almost becoming a mantra for him now, not to calm him, but to push him even further. An image of Ushijima flashed in his mind and with gritted teeth, the setter slammed the volleyball with the palm of his hand. The force and power behind the serve was there but the accuracy was not and as it connected cleanly with the top of the net, an overwhelming sense of failure and dread filed him. The ball falls but he won’t, he’ll keep going. One more, once more, again and again.
Tossing the ball upwards in the air, he watched it peak slightly before dropping and it was like time began to slow. Right leg, then left, right once more, and when he bent his knees to jump, the pain worsened. He pushed off with his foot, the explosive movement spreading from his heel to his calf. It hurt, it hurt so bad but just as he hopes he can recover from it and reset, that’s when it happens –
The ball goes up, and then it falls.
Oikawa collapses and it’s like something inside him shatters; he’s shaking, clutching at his leg. He’s screaming and crying, tears spilling out from the corner of his eyes. ‘M-My leg!’ he thought frantically, his whole body going into shock. He’s practically hyperventilating at this point, his chest rising and falling at an accelerated rate and his breathing coming out in short quick bursts. He sprained something, that had to be it, but as he tried to stabilized himself and get up, the pain got so much worse. Like needles stabbing the back of his foot by the heel, he was in utter agony. He shouted and screamed, fumbling slightly. Biting his lower lip, he struggled to control his breathing, exhaling out through his nose and inhaling quickly. His eyes slowly opened but his vision was hazy, the shock and pain affecting him greatly. “I-I need to get to my p-phone…!” Using his elbows and arms, he began to pull himself along the floor. Crawling like that of a child, he slowly made his way over to the benches where his cell phone was. His muscles were straining and his vision was blurring now, his right leg completely useless at this point. Every time he would move, his right leg would knock against the wooden floor and it would send even more spasms of pain throughout his body. He’s sure his knees were bruised at this point with how violently he kept try to crawl across the floor but he didn’t care, to be honest he couldn’t even think. Oikawa’s shoulders were heavy and could his body convulsing but he still had so much more to go. Digging his nails into the floor, he curled his fingers inwards, raking his nails along the floor in an attempt to pull himself along. “J-Just a bit further…”
“Oikawa?! Oikawa!”
With no strength to even lift his head, the setter collapsed once more, hitting the floor with a loud thud. His head rolled slightly, laying slack against the gymnasium and amongst the blur, he could barely make out two people running towards him. He was in such pain, he just wanted to sleep. He was so tired, he just wanted to sleep. He felt himself being picked up carefully and as he looked up, his eyes were half-lidded.
Black hair and tan skin.
Black hair and tan skin.
Black hair and tan skin.
Oikawa feebly reaches out to grasp at the collar of the other’s shirt. “I-Iwa-chan?” He fists the fabric, a stream of tears falling from his eyes. “I-Iwa-chan, Iwa-chan, Iwa-chan,” he cried. “Iwa-chan, my leg…” He makes a move to grab onto his injured leg but a firm hand wraps around his wrist and as the brunet looks up, he sees two piercing yellow eyes before his vision swims once more and he fainted in the other’s arms.
“Oikawa?! Oikawa!” Kuroo shouted, shaking his friend. The setter was unconscious as he laid motionless in his arms and with a thunderous look, he looked towards Bokuto who was already sprinting towards their coach’s office. “Bokuto, get the coach and call 119!” Knowing he shouldn’t move Oikawa anymore any than he should, Kuroo sat ramrod straight, holding his friend as gently and as still as he could. Scanning Oikawa’s body from head to toe, he began to analyze and study his friend. Everything from the waist up seemed relatively fine but it wasn’t until he looked over at Oikawa’s foot that he visibly paled. Something inside of him was utterly shattered, not broken, shattered – ripped even. The bone (or was it a tendon?) that was usually present at the back of a person’s leg was gone and no longer was there any visible form of support. “His leg?” Kuroo said breathlessly. “Or is it…?” An injury like that would render anyone unconscious. Oikawa must have been delirious from all the pain; it would explain why he had originally thought it was Iwaizumi he was speaking to. Although Iwaizumi had warned him of Oikawa’s destructive tendencies, Kuroo never thought it’d ever get this far. He had seen him practicing on his own after practice but Oikawa was a smart guy, not as smart as him, but he at least thought the other would have enough common sense not to over train and not to overwork himself. “You idiot,” the middle blocker angrily swore. He then heard loud footsteps and looked up to see Bokuto and their coach running towards them.
“What happened!?” Their coach questioned, more so demanded as he bent down to get a closer look at Oikawa.
Defeated, Bokuto and Kuroo frowned. “We don’t know.”
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“We’re home,” Sawamura called as he, Iwaizumi, and Akaashi tiredly entered their share apartment. It was late, nearly eight or so at night and they had just returned from volleyball practice. The coach had them do suicide side runs today all along the perimeter of the campus to build up more their endurance and stamina and they were all exhausted. Thankfully they had showered before coming home and honestly all Iwaizumi wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep.
Sugawara smiled from his position on the couch. “Welcome home,” he said warmly. He was studying in the living room with his laptop in front of him and a variety of textbooks and papers sprawled out in front of him. He welcomed the kiss on the cheek that Sawamura gave him and gathered up some of his papers to make room for the others. “How was practice?”
“Tiring,” Akaashi replied back as he took a seat beside the other setter. “I’d sleep if I didn’t have so much to do tonight.”
Iwaizumi listened to their exchange briefly before giving them all a small wave. “I’ve got some homework to do too, thanks for all your hard work today.” The others responded in with their goodbyes as the wing spiker retreated to his room. Dumping his gear onto the floor, Iwaizumi let out a tired sigh before collapsing onto his bed. The laptop on his bed bounced slightly and the video quality of the skype call deteriorated slightly. He waited for Oikawa’s usual welcome but when he didn’t get it, Iwaizumi clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Oi, Oikawa. I’m home.” He waited a few seconds and was met with silence. “Oikawa?” When he didn’t get a response that second time, he lifted his head to finally look at the laptop screen. His best friend wasn’t there, that much was obvious, but where was he? “Is he still at practice? It should have been over by now.” Shuffling over to his bag, he fished around for his phone and got back into bed. He usually kept it on silent during practice since he didn’t want any distractions but when he pressed the home button, he really wished he hadn’t.
12 missed calls
4 new texts
8 voicemails
He blinked in confusion, his brow furrowing. “What the hell?” Sliding his thumb to unlock his phone, he figured he should read the unread messages first as they were quick and straight to the point. “Three texts from Kuroo and one from Bokuto.” Granted, he didn’t know them very well but he gave his number to them when they first met. When he found out that Oikawa would be rooming with them, he thought to exchange contact information in case they needed to reach him or vice versa. Deciding to go from the latest to most recent, he saw the subject line and frowned. “Oikawa, Oikawa, Oikawa…” They all seemed to be about Oikawa and it isn’t until he opens the first message that he feels an awful ache in his chest.
From: Kuroo
Subject: Oikawa
- - Something wrong with Oikawa, he’s unconscious. We’re taking him to the Tokyo Hospital, call me as soon as you can.From: Kuroo
Subject: Oikawa
- - Where are you???? We’re at the hospital now.From: Bokuto
Subject: Oikawa
- - WHERE ARE YOU?From: Kuroo
Subject: Oikawa
- - OIKAWA. HOSPITAL. CALL ME
Iwaizumi doesn’t even finish reading the rest of it before he’s calling Kuroo and grabbing his car keys off the night table. Kuroo thankfully picks up on the first ring. “Kuroo?! It’s me.” Throwing open the door, he ignored the worried looks his roommates gave him and ran for his shoes. He doesn’t even bother to lace them and bolts out the door towards his car. Somewhere behind him, he can faintly hear Sawamura and Sugawara yelling for him but he doesn’t care. They didn’t matter right now, Oikawa did. “What the hell happened?!” He practically demanded into the phone as he got into the driver’s seat and hurriedly put his seat belt on.
“Holy fuck Iwaizumi, where have you been?! We’ve been trying to contact you for hours now!” Kuroo’s admonished.
“What happened?” He growled out, not even bothering to answer the middle blocker’s question. His question came out in a short staccato, aggressive and straight to the point. He drove quickly, being somewhat mindful of traffic laws, and felt something in his chest tighten when the younger boy spoke.
“Oikawa collapsed after practice.”
The grip he had on his steering wheel tightened and his knuckles went white. “What?” How could Oikawa have done that? Was his ankle acting up again? Was he overtraining himself again? Was he working too hard? Was he not getting enough to eat? What was that idiot doing to himself? The wing spiker had always known about his best friend’s self-destructing tendencies but how could this have happened? “Is he okay?” His voice was small as he said this, that painful ache in his chest constricting him slightly. He heard shuffling from Kuroo’s end and a brief siren before paling visibly. “Kuroo?”
There was a brief pause before, “We don’t know.”
His heart stopped. “I’ll be there in twenty.”