"Nekoma's captain and Karasuno's manager hugging in the hallway?" Someone interrupted the two of you. "If anyone else saw you, they would think you had a forbidden love."
The one interrupting the two of you was Nohebi's Daisho.
His girlfriend next to him stated that she would go look at souvenirs while he spoke to Kuroo.
"Welcome to the losing side~!" He teased as he stuck out his tongue to make an ugly face. His rude personality was showing itself once more.
"Geh!" You exclaimed. Daisho was definitely one of a kind.
After their bickering, Kuroo brought you back to Karasuno.
"I found this one walking around." The male stated as you walked towards your team.
"Oh? Thanks for bringing her back." Sawamura stated nonchalantly.
Kuroo waved to you and left.
"Fraternizing with the enemy, you're bold." Tsukishima hovered over you. He was obviously very upset that you went crying to Kuroo and not him.
"I-I need to go find Aki!" You announced before turning to walk away. There was actually something you had to tell the older Tsukishima.
"He's not in the stadium right now." The blonde informed you as he grabbed your wrist. "He went out to eat."
You racked through your brain for another excuse but couldn't find one.
"Sorry Kei." You muttered, knowing full well why he was upset. "For crying to Kuroo."
His eyes widened. To be honest, he admitted it was better for you to have Kuroo comfort you. Tsukishima knew that he was awkward with the whole consolation thing. This was why he couldn't be too upset with you.
He placed a hand on your head and tousled your hair. "Well, it can't be helped. He does have those dad-vibes since he's so old and all." The blonde teased, causing you to chuckle in relief.
Sugawara frowned. He was the same age as Kuroo... did Tsukishima see him that way too?
After lunch and a short nap, everyone went to watch Fukurodani's match against Mujinakaza High.
"A top three ace versus a top five ace." Was what everyone was calling it.
It was the middle of the first set and Bokuto was being shut out.
You had to wonder if he was in his depressed state yet.
But what surprised you more was the fact that Akaashi seemed troubled.
You watched as the setter moved for a dump, but got blocked from doing so.
"AH! Akaashi!" You unconsciously yelled, earning a glare from Tsukishima. "...-san. Akaashi-san."
The first set was about to end and you could tell that something was wrong with their setter.
"Akaashi-san's panicking." Tsukishima told you as he stared at the court with narrowed eyes.
It was odd for the both of you to witness a rushing Akaashi. He was usually so calm.
The whistle blew and you witnessed a player change for... NUMBER 5?!
Tugging on Tsukishima's arm, you pointed to the court. "They're subbing out Akaashi-san, Kei!"
"I can see that." He pushed up his glasses as you continued to hold onto him. Secretly, he was happy that you were touching him the way you were.
"(Name), come!" Shimizu waved her hand. She was having a small meeting with Takeda-sensei and Coach Ukai.
You let Tsukishima go and approached them.
"Have you noticed any injuries with the players?" Takeda-sensei asked.
Today was going to be the first day Karasuno was playing two games in a row, and he wanted to make sure everyone was in tip-top shape.
"I haven't noticed anything off so far." You shook your head. From what you could see, everyone was playing just fine.
"Okay good." Coach Ukai nodded. "Then we'll keep the formation we have as planned."
You stared at the sheet he was writing on and agreed. "Our opponent is Kamomedai, right?"
Karasuno had seen their match yesterday.
"They have someone like Hinata with crazy jumping abilities." You informed them. "We have to be careful with how we proceed."
With that, Karasuno was taken away from spectating and thrown into their own court.
"Ah! Tenma-nii!" You waved to your brother in the stands as you helped Karasuno with warm ups.
He flinched at the sight of you, but reluctantly waved back.
"Your brother hasn't changed a bit." Tsukishima stood beside you as he waved to his own brother.
You announced to Hinata that your brother had arrived and he ran to meet the male.
"Oh? (Name)! I see your brother up there!" Tanaka pointed to the raven haired male.
You simply stared at him to say you already knew.
Shortly after Hinata's return, the match began. You and Yachi returned to your respective places. There was an extremely high level of intensity at the very start.
"Woah!" Yachi gulped. "So this is the top eight."
You had to agree with her. There was no resting for the team as soon as they stepped onto the court.
~*~*~
It was the middle of the third set when Hinata suddenly crumbled to the ground.
That was when you realized you forgot... about his fever.
You immediately rushed to the open area right outside of the court.
Blaming yourself was probably the last thing anyone wanted you to do, but you couldn't help it.
It was you who let him play with a fever and forgot to report it. It was you who allowed for this to drag on for so long.
Shimizu, who was tending to Hinata, shook her head as she stared at you.
Yachi covered her mouth from her position by the scoreboard.
Hinata can't play anymore.
Was what Shimizu's expression said.
You bit your lip as tears fell from your eyes.
'It's all my fault.' You clenched your fists so tightly that you felt your nails digging into your palms, but you didn't care.
Yamaguchi and Tanaka helped bring the male over to you. It took you a minute, but you wiped your eyes before walking off with him.
"Here Hinata." You placed a towel over his head. "We need to wipe your sweat."
He weakly placed his arm over your shoulder and followed along with your slow footsteps.
"I'm sorry." The orange-haired boy mumbled with his head down.
"I'm sorry I even let you play for this long." You blurted. "I should've told you to take better care of your body instead and pulled you out."
He stayed silent for a moment. "Thank you for letting me play for this long."
You could tell that Hinata had no regrets about playing, but he clearly regretted leaving the match so soon.
"Next time I'm totally going to pull you out." You sniffled as you cried along side the boy.
"Thank you, Udai." You felt his grip on you tighten as the two of you made your way into the hallway.
You allowed for yourself to wipe at his face with your free arm.
"Stop crying." You smiled sadly. "It'll make your fever worse."
The two of you made your way to the waiting area where other teams would warm up.
"If you need help, let me know." You stated, giving him his bag. "But I need you to change out of your wet clothes right away."
"Okay!" He nodded as he took off his jersey.