Red Winter - /Haikyuu/

2. A More Serious Time

(just stick with me here. I SWEAR IT'LL GET INTERESTING. Also Hinata is out of character on purpose)

"Alright, boys, just... Practice hard, okay. I gotta take this phone call." Coach Ukai spoke up, walking out of the gym. Sugawara furrowed his eyebrows together, his face displaying just how worried he felt. Hinata watched Suga, quite confused, before approaching him.

"What's with the weird face?" He asked calmly.

"Coach seems pretty off. It must have been hard for him, to lose an old friend like that." Well that makes two of us, then, Hinata thought to himself.

"I guess." The ginger mumbled, before yelling, "I'm coming Kageyama, give me a minute!" Kageyama had been calling his name so they could practice setting and spiking, respectively.

The boys practiced for at least an hour before things had started to go awry. Takeda got dragged out of the gym by another teacher. Hinata pressed his ear to the door as he listened to their conversation.

"Come on, Hinata, we gotta practice." Daichi said in a disapproving manner, to which Hinata completely disregarded.

He could only catch hushed pieces of their conversation.

"...things are getting a bit serious... more and more... cancelled.." Daichi sighed and gently pulled Hinata from the door.

"Awe, but it was just getting good!" Hinata whined in utter disappointment.

"Well? What did they see?" Nishinoya popped up out of nowhere, eagerly awaiting his answer like a puppy wanting a treat.

"I didn't actually get to hear much.. but it sounded really serious." He replied, causing Suga to wince with worry.

"I just feel like something bad is gonna happen. The entire atmosphere is changing. And have you guys seen the teachers? They're all acting weird too." Suga expressed his concerns, and Daichi's lips curled into a bit of a smile.

"C'mon, Suga, I'm sure everything is fine. You know you're a worrywart." Daichi tries to comfort everyone after the playful aura in the gym turned quiet and as cold as the weather outside.

Tanaka nodded to show his agreement. "Yeah, it's probably just the chilly weather that's got people like this. They do say that winter makes people tired." Noya shrugged his shoulders, rolling them.

"I dunno about that, cause my energy feels really boundless right now." Noya said, before he grabbed a stray volleyball that was on the floor, tossing it in the air before lightly bumping it. "Let's get back to practice guys."

Everyone collectively started playing again, and before they all knew it, practice was over and it was time to head home. Hinata once again rode home. In the back of his mind, he couldn't stop thinking about what Suga said, even after Daichi's and Tanaka's reassurances. Maybe it was because he knew exactly what Suga was talking about. Everything was so off lately.

Hinata desperately wished things would go back to normal, too much was changing at once and it was hard for him to handle it. But, as he pedalled on home, he made a mental decision to revert back to his normal, ball of sunshine self. Maybe that would help lift people's spirits. And it would bring a little bit of normalcy back into his life, too.

He was determined now, and as the evening stars lended him their light, guiding him home, he still couldn't shake that feeling of a shift in reality.

At least his own reality.