The next week went by in a flash but also it felt incredibly slow for Hinata.

His family were OK which was his biggest relief. His phone charged at home and despite the splintered screen it worked. He then did an Oikawa – and called everyone. For some reason, he could not bring himself to tell anyone about Oikawa. He knew it would pose too many questions, knew he would get flustered answering them and a part of him liked that it was a secret, that it was something no one knew…

But, in the aftermath of the aftermath, after all of Hinata’s complex new tumbling emotions, before he even had time to process what he had been feeling around Oikawa, a new set had barraged their way in. A deep-seated gnawing sadness like nothing Hinata had ever experienced before seemed to settle around him like an invisible cloak. He couldn’t see it but he felt it every day that week, all the time.

That Sunday, hearing his teammates’ voices was as soothing as honey was to a sore throat. They relieved him and he relieved them – they’d all been so worried when they couldn’t get hold of him. But – Hinata found out that Kageyama’s father had broken his leg during the earthquake: he’d been climbing down stairs when it had begun and fell. Sugawara was the only one Kageyama had spoken to since Friday. He didn’t call back after Hinata called and texted. Hours later he replied with a series of insults via text instead. Strangely, this eased Hinata’s worry about him.

Benjiro, Hinata’s friend that he was supposed to meet at the cafe that day, cried on the phone, apologetic, having been held up by an argument with his brother and then was convinced Hinata had died in the earthquake. Relieved and forgiven, they agreed to reschedule their catch up, this time in Natori, for next week Sunday.

Hinata missed the first day of school. His mother had taken him to a doctor who confirmed that everything was OK, he’d only slightly sprained his knee, that he should go slow, and commended the bandage on Hinata’s thigh.

‘You must invite Oikawa round for dinner at some point! That boy is a saint!’

The next day back at school all everyone talked about, and for the rest of the week, was the earthquake. Kageyama didn’t return until Wednesday and when he did, he looked like a zombie having taken on the role of head of the household in the emergency. When he saw Hinata outside he started with his usual insults – insults out of anger that he couldn’t get through to Hinata’s phone.

‘Hinata you moron the whole team was pointlessly worried about you –  you could’ve at least texted someone to let them know you were OK -!’

‘My leg was bleeding, I thought I might die and a chunk of the ceiling almost fell on my head and you wanted me to text someone?’

They argued over nothing and neither could say they were relieved that the other was OK. Moments later Kageyama asked –

‘Hey. You were in Sendai, right? Was your friend, Benjiro, OK?’

Hinata turned red and looked away, not meeting Kageyama’s gaze. ‘He was fine. I ended up at his house for most of the weekend during the blackout. Were the rest of your family OK?’

He escaped. No one dug. And he didn’t say. Everyone was so keen to share their experience of the earthquake Hinata gladly let his secrets stay safely locked in his heart… Although in a way…

He hadn’t escaped. Not one bit. Because every minute, every second, every moment since parting on that Sunday morning there was only one person constantly on Hinata’s mind. 

Consciously or even in the background, a name was always there, and a lingering feeling Hinata could not, and did not, want to shake off, followed him around like a lovesick ghost. He smiled over it, laughed over it, and went through the motions of the day but even a moment when he was not interacting with anyone, his mind wandered, and wondered what Seijoh’s number one captain was doing, and how he was, at Aoba Johsai.

Not to mention at night, every night, when he was alone, in bed, in the dark, his hand would move down into his boxers, remembering those eyes, nose, lips, hands, arms and body that had encased his, that breath on his neck, that delicious scent, over and over and over again…

He dreamt of the same person every night and every morning his mind bloomed the feeling he had had, like he’d just been kissed…

Had Oikawa kissed him? No. Of course not. It was just a dream. A vivid dream. Like the one he had had the night before about falling through the ground and not being able to hold onto anything. It was because of the earthquake. That was all. Hinata felt ridiculous even considering it: why would someone as beautiful, popular and talented as Oikawa kiss a short nobody like him? Hinata scolded himself for thinking such a thing. 

But… it had felt so real. And also… Oikawa-san had been about to kiss me…  

It was the moment Hinata kept going back to: Oikawa holding his hand on the sofa, eyes smouldering, suddenly kissing the side of Hinata’s neck, then his cheek, then the closeness, the tilted head, closed eyes –

Hinata’s heart beat rapidly every time he remembered. And he remembered it a lot. Just like whack-a-mole, one thought went for another to pop up: Oikawa holding his ankle and cleaning his leg. Oikawa snatching his wrist by the sink. Oikawa stroking his back. Oikawa crying – Hinata felt a pang in his chest every time – and kneeling before him…

Hinata followed the doctor’s orders and refrained from playing volleyball for the rest of the week. But that didn’t stop him from hanging out at Karasuno’s gym after school. Especially because if he didn’t he would be obsessively checking his phone to see if a certain opponent had texted him back…

‘Whoa Hinata, what happened to your leg?’ Ennoshita asked noticing the brace and bandage.

‘My leg got cut and I sprained my knee during the earthquake.’

‘Should you even be here? How did you get that cut?’

‘I… think I fell on some glass.’

Kageyama didn’t say anything but Hinata knew that he was listening.

On Thursday night, Oikawa texted back:

How is your week going chibi-chan? I have a friend who can lend us the gym at Shokei Gakuin University which is probably closer to you or I know a spot outdoors in Mikamine Park that’s usually empty and always has a volleyball net up between two trees. Which do you prefer?

Hinata stared at the text. Four days. Oikawa hadn’t replied for four days since he’d texted him straight back on Sunday afternoon. Hinata’s heart deflated. So… he really has gone back to his full life. Does he even want to meet me? Is this just a duty for him because he feels  like he owes me?

Hinata texted back:

Hi Oikawa-san! Lets meet in Mikamine Park as it’ll get stuffy if we play inside. We have practice after school so anytime after six and I’ll see you there! How are your hands?

Hinata waited. And waited. And waited.

On Saturday night, after one in the morning, Oikawa texted back:

I’ll pin drop you the location. Around 6.15pm sounds good! See you then!

Hinata read the text on Sunday morning and the sickening feeling of sorrow he’d been carrying around all week only deepened. He gripped his phone. He’s not even texting back properly… Maybe I am just a burden to him. The thought felt like a slash against Hinata’s heart. This is just an obligation because he feels like he owes me his life… I guess we’ll see on Monday.

Finally, Monday came. After school Hinata partook in volleyball practice. The cut on his thigh had healed to a thin bloodied crust, and Hinata didn’t bother wearing a bandage over it anymore. He didn’t tell anyone but he was rattling with nervous excited energy and every few minutes kept glancing at the clock – soon it would be six and he would leave. As best as he could Hinata tried to push tonight’s meeting with Oikawa to the back of his mind and hit each ball with all his might.

‘You’re on top form today Hinata! You’ve been storing up all that energy, huh?’ Suga smiled, giving him the thumbs up. ‘But are you sure you should be playing? You’re still wearing a knee brace -’

He had taken the brace off on the weekend and had been out with his sister and his leg had felt as good as new. But he…

‘My knee feels mostly better but I’m just wearing it for insurance!’

… liked wearing Oikawa’s brace.

At six Hinata made some excuse about meeting a friend near the Tomizawa ward and had to dash otherwise he was going to be late.

On that fateful Friday, Hinata had cycled to the cafe in Sendai and had completely forgotten all about his bike after the dramatic events of that day. He’d figured the bike was destroyed or damaged and his mother had kindly given him money to buy a new one, which he had done, on the weekend just gone.

Hinata cycled furiously to the location Oikawa had sent him and got there bang on at 6.15pm. It was a spot near the corner of the park, surrounded by trees. As he was still a way off, he saw Oikawa already there. Hinata’s heart pounded in his chest – from the rush, from cycling, from seeing Oikawa once again.

Oikawa was in his Aoba Johsai school uniform – beige checkered trousers, blue shirt and – Hinata’s heard skipped a beat – that brown-maroon tie he had laced around Hinata’s cut. Was it because it had  been over a week? He looked even more dashing than the last time Hinata had seen him.

‘Nice to see you chibi-chan! How has your week been?’

Hinata walked, his bike on the side, getting closer to Oikawa. The setter, even from a slight distance, Hinata could tell, was smiling. I must not seem sad, Hinata told himself, I don’t want his reactions out of pity –

‘Grand King!’ Hinata called and forced a smile.

Hinata stopped, not too close, not too far, from Oikawa. The setter’s kind eyes and smile were genuine and it broke Hinata’s heart.

‘How – how have you been?’

‘I asked you first chibi-chan! It’s great to see you’re not wearing a bandage anymore. How has your leg been? Does your knee still hurt?’ Oikawa asked, noticing that the brace was still on. ‘You’re in your volleyball uniform so I take it you were in practice today – how was it?’

‘I’m really good thanks – practice was good – my leg is mostly healed but my knee is still slightly recovering but I feel much better! What about you?’

Oikawa placed the back of his hands on his waist and Hinata noticed that his hands were still in bandages.

‘Yeah today was fine – I feel like all everyone’s been talking about is the earthquake. I haven’t been to practice because I’m still recovering too so I’m really looking forward to being your teacher, chibi-chan,’ Oikawa’s eyes glinted. ‘I see you’ve brought a ball with you. I know this isn’t an ideal setup but it will do.’

Hinata looked past Oikawa. The dimensions of the clearing amidst the trees kinda were like a volleyball court. It had thereabouts the right length and width with a long eroded volleyball net going through the middle, between two trees.

‘I’m not going to be able to touch the ball but I’ll try and instruct you as best as I can,’ Oikawa untangled himself from his bag while Hinata put his bike down, and got the ball from the bike’s basket.

In the next hour Hinata learnt that Oikawa had the patience of a monk. After many failed attempts at throwing the ball up and trying to hit it as it was falling down, and hit it straight ahead as opposed to down or diagonally, in the last ten minutes of the hour, as the sun had started setting, Hinata managed to hit the ball forward, hard – and straight into the net.

‘Well. This is how we all start. But don’t lose hope chibi-chan I’ll make your serves the best at Karasuno.’

Hinata couldn’t help but turn towards the setting sun, melting into the tops of trees, turning the day into gold, pink, purple hues. There were no lamps around this mock-court. They were headed towards total darkness. Just like during the blackout.

Hinata, still holding the ball, turned to Oikawa. Their eyes met and Hinata felt the butterflies. Oikawa was a good three meters away from him and hadn’t made any attempts to get closer. 

Hinata had held up well in the beginning but as the time had gone on he couldn’t stop his mask from slipping; he never was good at hiding his emotions. Oikawa had noticed – he hadn’t at first but as the time had pressed on he could sense there was something on Hinata’s mind, and that that little ball of sunshine an hour ago wasn’t as sunny as he’d made himself out to be.

‘How is your leg? Are you feeling OK? Shall we stop?’

‘Why,’ Hinata gulped and looked down. He squeezed the ball tighter and forced his gaze back up to meet the setter’s. ‘Why did you take four days to text me back?’

Oikawa’s mouth fell open and he was unable to hide his incredulity. Surely that can’t be what this is about?

‘I – I couldn’t,’ the setter replied, remorseful. ‘Because of my hands. I went to the doctor the next day after you left… turns out I had shards of glass trapped in the scars. I was sent to a specialist and they had to tweeze and get out the remaining glass and my hands bled all over again. It wasn’t pretty. My mother drove up on the Monday and came with me – she’s here for two weeks – she was so worried. I wasn’t at school last week. It’s been pretty painful to be honest but it feels better every day.’

Hinata’s fingers had dug into the ball so tightly it was bound to leave marks. He fought with all his might to stop his face from contorting and furiously blinked back tears.

‘Why didn’t you tell me!?’

‘I couldn’t.’

‘Well why didn’t you call me or ask your mum to call me and tell me?’

It was bad enough Hinata hadn’t heard from him, the overshadowing sadness, the inexplicable longing, the waiting to hear back from Oikawa but – hearing that Oikawa was still in pain, and had had an awful week, and that Hinata didn’t know and couldn’t even offer to help the person who had so wonderfully looked after him – it cut through Hinata’s heart like a jagged saw.

The tears had brimmed over and were spilling down Hinata’s face but he didn’t seem sad, no, he seemed – angry. Oikawa weakly clenched his fists and the cuts stung him – his natural instinct was to go the crow, to hold Hinata and it took everything within the setter to fight that urge even if the spiker was mad at him.

‘Because I… figured you had a lot going on too with your health and at Karasuno… I didn’t want to interfere while you were catching up with everyone. Besides. I knew I’d be seeing you today.’ Oikawa said.

‘You didn’t have to. If you’re in pain, you shouldn’t feel like you have to -’

‘Hinata.’

Hinata wiped the tears from his face. Those molten-chocolate eyes Hinata had thought of for the past seven days stared at him with that beautiful intensity Hinata now knew so well.

‘I was always going to come today,’ Oikawa said, his eyes sincere. ‘I wanted to see you.’

‘I wanted to see you too.’

Oikawa glanced at the navying sky. ‘We should go. I haven’t been here for a while and I don’t want to lose you in the dark.’

Hinata picked up his bike while Oikawa picked up his bag. The two of them walked in silence, the bike between them, to the main entrance of the park. They stopped at the main road.

‘Same time next week?’ Oikawa asked, his eyes squinted with his smile.

Is this it? Hinata thought to himself. An hour a week. That’s all. 

He didn’t want Oikawa’s pity; he didn’t want anything Oikawa did for him to be out of obligation but still –

If that’s the only way…

‘Oikawa-san.’

The sharpness in Hinata’s voice slapped that pretty smile off Oikawa’s face.

‘Will you text me this week and call me? Even if you have to get your mom to do it for you. Can you let me know how you are?’

Oikawa stared at that fierce expression on the fluff bird’s face, and recognised it well – it was the same determination he had in the blackout, when he encouraged Oikawa that everything was going to be OK. But. Oikawa had to know, he had to make sure –

‘Why?’ Oikawa asked.

If Hinata’s voice was like a slap then Oikawa’s question was like a fatal blow. The shock was apparent on the crow’s face as the cobra observed every minute reaction. But in less than a second Hinata had considered the question, and looked up at Oikawa with the same ferocity.

‘Because I’m concerned about you and I care how you are. I spent all of last week worried and I don’t want to spend all of this week worried  about you too!’

And that, Oikawa grinned, was all I needed to hear.

‘OK chibi-chan. You’ve got yourself another deal. Although you do know that if you really want to, you can call me too?’

Hinata’s face lit up. ‘I can… call you?’

Hinata didn’t notice but Oikawa stepped back on his left foot, leaning his weight there to stop himself from finally giving in and hugging that cute creature.

‘Sure. It may be hard for me to answer right now as the touch-screen doesn’t respond well to bandages and it's hard to type with the backs of my fingers, but in the future, of course.’

‘OK!’ Hinata’s face transformed into a smile and Oikawa felt like his legs were about to turn to jelly.

‘You better get home, I don’t want to get in trouble with your mom -’

‘Oh OK,’ Hinata reluctantly clambered on his bike, ‘although I’m sure she won’t mind. She knows I’m with you. She wants you to come over sometime.’

Well how about that.

‘Sure. We’ll organise something.’

Hinata looked at Oikawa. A whole week. Feeling how he’d felt. Only for it to be temporarily relieved by an hour’s interaction. And even now, on the cusp of another goodbye, Hinata didn’t want to leave. No hug. They hadn’t touched. Oikawa hadn’t made a single move toward him.

‘Right! I’ll see you next week.’

‘See you.’

Oikawa watched Hinata cycle off. Only when he was out of view did Oikawa feel his whole body relax, the grip on his bag ease.

So, Oikawa thought, it begins.