A Field of Dandelions (KageHina)

22: i'll find you

Kageyama was running through the pouring rain, running as fast as his legs could take him. He didn't care that he would probably catch a cold the next morning. All he cared about was getting to the person he loved.

The tone of voice Shoyo's mother used was heart shattering. It was absolutely terrifying. She had sounded like she was on the verge of tears, as Tobio could hear the slight cracks in her voice. There was also a bunch of commotion happening in the background, while they were spouting medical terms that Kageyama couldn't understand. So, he was running like his own life depended on it.

The rain that was pouring down was blurring Kageyama's vision, as the water was mixed in with the tears forming in his eyes. For once in his life, he was absolutely terrified.

There were so many things he wanted to do with the shorter boy, so there was no way he could lose him. It doesn't matter what happened in the past, what matters now is what memories they would make in the present time. But he couldn't do that if he lost Hinata.

"You better still be there when I get there you idiot." Kageyama huffed, running, and attempting to not let his tears spill out. 'I can't lose you, Hinata.'

---

SLAM!

"...Kageyama." Hinata weakly muttered, laying in his bed when Kageyama slammed into the room. The smaller boy's mother told Tobio he was allowed to go in because Shoyo was desperately begging to see him. "You came!" He smiled, stretching his arms out for the taller boy to hug him.

But Kageyama was too panic-stricken to move. There was Hinata, attached to a bunch IV's, and there was tubes inside of him. It was scary. He's seen Shoyo at his worse, and all the medications and things like that but, this was a new and frightening sight.

He's seen this before, but with his grandpa.
When he was so desperately fighting for his life.

"Hey...stop standing there and give me a hug." Hinata grumbled, flailing his arms that was attached to an IV. Kageyama's legs just started to move on his own, as he dashed into the shorter boy's arms. "I'm sorry I ditched you at the cafe." He was still lying on his back, holding Tobio within his embrace. He could feel the coldness from the rain emanating through the taller boy's skin, and he could feel him slightly trembling.

Hinata looked pale. It looked like someone stuck a syringe in the smaller boy, and sucked all the color and life out of him. His bright brown eyes, were now a murky color, and the only thing with color was his eccentric orange hair. His eyes had dark eye bags under them, and his face looked malnourished.

"Ar- Are you okay?" Kageyama panicked, sitting besides the pale boy.

Hoping for a confirmation that the smaller boy was okay completely shattered when he saw the heartbreaking look inside Hinata's eyes. A huge wave of devastation crashed over Kageyama as his eyes startled to well up in tears.

"I'm so sorry Kageyama. I really tried, I really did." Hinata whispered, his eyes starting to water up as he saw tears start to stream down Tobio's face.

"But...w- why?" Kageyama was so overwhelmed, he couldn't even comprehend what was going on. If he were to lose the smaller boy, it would be the second time someone close to him slipped out of his fingers. So of course he was heartbroken when he saw Shoyo attached to a bunch of machines, and on the verge of crying.

"I'm so tired Kageyama. Fighting is just so exhausting." Hinata held back his tears, not wanting to cry in front of Kageyama.

"Hinata...please-" Kageyama was going to plead for him to keep fighting but, as he looked into Hinata's eyes, he saw the desperation and pain within them. That pain and tiredness came from fighting for 11 years of his life, and there was never a sign of him getting better. All of the treatments, all of the medications, and all the bad news can take its toll on a person.

It drains the life out of someone.
It sucks everything they have out of them until there's nothing but a lifeless corpse.
This disease was a curse.
A curse placed down upon someone who never deserved it.

It was placed upon a person who deserved the world.

"I've made so many promises to you, and other people that I haven't been able to fulfill. I'm sorry Kageyama. I'm sorry I couldn't graduate with you, nor could I spend my lifetime with you. I'm sorry I couldn't be the person you deserve, Kageyama." Hinata wept, finally letting all of his suppressed tears out. But Kageyama wasn't mad. He wasn't upset about the unfulfilled promises, or at the fact he couldn't spend his life with the smaller boy.

Because like his mother said, he cherished the moments he made in the present.
The beach.
Volleyball.
Kissing under the moonlight.
Even reacquainting with the boy who made him smile in his lowest of times back at the dandelion fields.

The shorter boy had done so much for Tobio. Even if Shoyo didn't realize it, he had saved Kageyama countless times.

So, if letting go was one of Hinata's wishes...
How much of a monster could he be to keep holding onto him?

He would save Shoyo by letting him go.

"I'm so proud of you Hinata. Thank you for fighting as long as you have been." Kageyama clutched Hinata's pale hands into his, giving them a kiss. "There's no one I would have rather spent my past months with. If you want to let go, I'll stay with you until your last breaths." Tears of relief mixed in with tears of devastation, but Shoyo was so happy that he was able to meet someone like Tobio. There was no one else he'd rather spend his last moments with.

Nobody in the world.

"We're soulmates, Kageyama. So, I don't know how, and I don't know when but one day, I'll find you." Hinata stubbornly promised, joking around, and connecting his lips with Kageyama for one last time. He whispered something into the taller boy's ear after parting their lips.
"Thank you Kageyama. Truly. Thank you for loving me." He said with his last breath, until all of the life finally left his eyes.

Following that sentence was an ear piercing sound of the EKR machine flatlining, signaling that Hinata was gone.

"I'll hold you to that promise, Hinata." Kageyama whispered, his heart aching. Tears fell from his overfilled eyes, as he sobbed.

And with that, that was how their story ended.
It wasn't a fairytale.
It wasn't a disney movie.

One of their lives ended, while one of them still had to continue on.

Whether it be for himself.
Or it be for his love that he just lost.

Kageyama would keep fighting, just like Hinata had been.

END