A Life Without The Sun

He Glows Softly

"Honestly Tsukishima, I'm surprised you managed to pull this off!" Ukai gleamed, patting him on the shoulder as he climbed back onto the bus from the hospital.

Tsukishima was sat in his usual spot next to Yamaguchi and looked very smug to say the least. One eyebrow raised, he crossed his arms and sat with a smirk on his face.
"Well, it was easy really. My father funds the hospital you see, so it was simpleto pull a few strings." He announced, looking over at Yamaguchi who was staring at him in awe.

Kageyama clambered up the steps and held out a hand for Hinata as he reached the top. Gripping his tightly, Hinata forced himself out of the wheelchair that a nurse was pushing for him, and hobbled up the stairs. When they had both reached the top, the team whooped and clapped at Hinata, which made him laugh so hard he thought his sides might split.

The nurse, who had long, auburn hair tied up into a neat ponytail and beautiful green eyes, spoke to Ittetsu before they left, explaining when Hinata needed to take medication, how to adjust his oxygen tank if he needed it and more. He nodded his head firmly, etching mental notes into his brain. After the long talk, he boarded the bus and began to drive away from the hospital.

Kageyama stared out of the window of the bus as they passed a field filled with wildflowers. The sun shone brightly onto them, sending beams of light through each petal and creating a huge horticultural stained glass window. Every colour he could spot reminded him of Hinata; orange, the same colour as his stupid spiky hair, pink, the colour his cheeks would flush when he watched his favourite film or talked about something he was passionate about, yellow, the radiance which gleamed out of him whenever he spoke.

Or at least, these were the colours of the former Hinata. His stupid spiky hair seemed like a dim orange now, sometimes he swore he could see light blonde or possibly grey sprouting out in places. The most colour his cheeks ever saw now was the natural ashen shade that sat on his face, maybe with a tinge of green if he was particularly nauseous that day.

But one thing remained, and honestly, Kageyama was so glad that it was this that was the thing that stayed - the yellow of his glow. He wasn't even sure if what he could see was real, or it was just the aura he omitted, but it was the epitome of comfort for him. Sure, the light was slightly subdued now, but it was still there. And as long as it was there, Kageyama continued to be as optimistic as possible.

He would sometimes look at Hinata just to check if it was still there, just as he was doing right now. When his eyes met Hinata's face, he breathed a sigh of relief to see it was in fact there, but the sullen and exhausted face which juxtaposed it truly broke his heart. And yet, Hinata was smiling. He was joking with Tanaka and Daichi about a hot doctor at the hospital. While the rest of the team may not have noticed his fatigue, Kageyama did.

In response, he did the only thing he could think of doing - rubbed his back gently. Hinata quickly turned around, alarmed at what Kageyama was doing and why. But he soon relaxed, allowing him to continue as he carried on fooling around with his teammates. It had been so long since they'd all been together that he didn't want to stop, no matter if he was tired or not.

After all, he wasn't sure if there would be a next time.

-

"The Russian Team should already be in there, so go straight in and get changed boys." Ittetsu yelled over the rowdy boys as they barged past him to get to the changing rooms.

The smell of aftershave and volleyball shoes quickly filled Hinata's nostril as he sat back in his wheelchair, inhaling all the memories he had of the sport he loved.

"Why aren't you getting changed?" Noya asked.

"Me? I can't play!" Hinata said, tugging at the oxygen tank on his wheelchair and rolling his eyes.

"So what? You're still part of the team, aren't you?" Suga replied calmly, pulling his jersey over his head and smiling warmly at Hinata.

The frail boys' eyes filled with tears at these words. All this time he thought the team had forgotten about him, perhaps replaced him even. Narita's spike height was almost as high as his, and Ennoshita was surely as fast as him, so it wasn't as if they didn't have options.

He felt a huge hand grip his shoulder tightly and he looked up to see the kind eyes of Asahi gazing down at him.
"Hinata, you know we could never replace you, right? Even though we're rivals, I've got to admit it's hard playing on the court without you. You're the greatest decoy after all!"