Shouyou has the worst luck.

It's Karasuno's first preliminary game of the season, and he's stuck at home recovering from a stupid cold. It's not like he's really even that sick anymore, and he could at least watch, but Sugawara went all mother-hen on him and made him stay behind because apparently Shouyou can't be trusted not to overwork himself, even if he's only sitting on the sidelines.

He's resigned himself to downing another half a bottle of cough syrup before curling up in his bed to stew in his misery. There's not much he can do about it now, and even if he could, there's no way he would willing bear the wrath of Sugawara for trying.

He chugs the medicine quickly and huddles back up under the covers, but before he can even try to fall asleep, his mother calls him from the living room. "Shouyou!"

"Yeah?" He yells back, reluctant to leave his warm bed.

"Come here!" He sits up at that. She sounds frantic. "Shouyou, you need to see this!"

He throws his blanket off, rushing out of his room to find his mom, who's sitting straight up on the couch, eyes fixed on the television even as she beckons him toward her.

"What? What is it?" He asks, slightly winded, but not from running.

"Look." She points at the screen, where the news is playing, volume low.

He isn't sure what she wants him to see at first. All there is on screen is a report about a bus accident at an intersection. The rear of the bus was t-boned by a car, causing it to spin off the road and tip onto its side. It cuts to a video of the bus and several emergency vehicles surrounding the accident. A reporter talks over the video, saying that the bus was carrying mostly high school students and two adult men, all on their way to a volleyball competition, and-

"What?" Shouyou asks. His head is spinning. It's such a weird coincidence, that a bus carrying another volleyball team got into an accident the same day his team is heading to prelims. It's unsettling.

"Shouyou..." His mother reaches out a hand and rests it on his.

"I don't understand," he says to her, finally meeting her eyes. The way she looks at him doesn't make him feel any better. "What happened?"

And then, all at once, it clicks into place; the news report, his mother's face, the uneasiness in his stomach. It's not just some coincidence. That's his team.

"The driver of the car was mostly unharmed, but four of the bus's passengers were taken to a nearby hospital. There is no word on their condition just yet."

"We have to go," Shouyou says, already rushing to the front door and pulling on his shoes.

"Shouyou!" His mom shouts from behind him, and he can hear her stumbling after him.

"I'm going," he tells her, meeting her eyes unblinkingly. "I get if you don't want to drive me. I don't think Natsu should come, and you can't leave her by herself. I'll run."

Her face softens, and she looks at him almost wistfully, like she's just now seeing him for the first time.

"It's okay, baby," she says gently, eyes crinkling at the corners. "Natsu's at a friend's house, remember? I just wanted to tell you to bring a jacket."

He nods briskly, grabbing his Karasuno volleyball team windbreaker from where its hanging by the door. He pulls the door open roughly, and when his mom follows him out, he darts for her car. He's relieved she drives him. It's a lost faster than running.

"What hospital is it?" She asks as she backs out of their driveway.

"The one closest to the school," he says, recalling the scene of the accident. God, they barely made it anywhere. He's not sure if he should be glad or not.

"Okay. Buckle up," she says. He does so immediately. He's not taking any chances.

The car ride feels like it takes hours, and a part of him wonders if running would have actually been faster. When they finally arrive, Shouyou is out of the car immediately. He just wants to see his team. The car ride gave him way too much time to think.

"Shouyou, slow down!" His mom yells, but she has to know that there is no way he was ever going to listen.

He pushes his way into the hospital, practically bolting toward the reception desk. The receptionist looks up as he approaches.

"Can I help you with something?" The receptionist asks, greeting Shouyou with a smile.

"The volleyball team," Shouyou sputters out, winded from pushing himself so hard when he can barely breathe out of his nose. "Did you admit anyone from a volleyball team?"

"Um," the receptionist starts, raising a brow. He leans forward and narrows his eyes at Shouyou. "Are you sick?"

"Shouyou!" His mom has finally caught up, and she comes up behind him and rests a hand on his shoulder. Before she can say anything else, Shouyou's already talking again.

"Does it matter?" He asks, and a part of him alights with anger because who cares about him right now.

"It's just, we usually don't want people who are sick coming in," the receptionist clarifies. "It could spread to the patients."

"But my friends are here," Shouyou insists. His chest feels tight. Will he even be allowed to see them? "I have to see them. They were in an accident. It was on the news. The Karasuno volleyball team, on their way to preliminaries."

The man finally looks at him, really looks at him, and seems to notice his bedraggled appearance: his flushed face, his pajama pants, his volleyball jacket. His hair hasn't been brushed in two days, and he was in such a rush to get here that he didn't even put on a binder before he left.

"What's your name?" He asks, catching Shouyou off guard.

"Hinata Shouyou."

The receptionist nods and then looks away from him and to his computer screen. "I don't know where they took any volleyball team. I'll need names to search for."

"Okay," Shouyou says. He's too scared to ask about the first name that pops into his head, so he goes with the second. "Sawamura Daichi."

There's silence for a moment as the receptionist taps away at his keyboard. His eyebrows pinch together. "Sorry, there's no Sawamura Daichi being cared for here."

"What about, um, Sugawara Koushi?" Shouyou asks instead. Surely, if Daichi isn't hurt, he'll be with the others. If he can just find them, everything else will be okay. Daichi and Sugawara can make anything okay.

"Ah," the receptionist says, and something sharp pokes at Shouyou's chest. He's not sure if it's a good or bad feeling. "There's a Sugawara on floor three. He's sharing a room 315 with two others. They're also from the accident."

"Who?" Shouyou asks, heart thudding in his ears. Who else of his friends is hurting?

"Tanaka Ryuunosuke and Azumane Asahi," the receptionist replies, then adds, "They're all only mildly injured, though. Third floor patients are on their way out."

"Thank you," Shouyou says. He wants to ask him more, wants to know right now if any of the others have landed themselves in more serious trouble, but he's too scared to find out. He can't ask this stranger. He needs to find his team first.

"Shouyou," his mom speaks up again, grasping his shoulder. "Do you want me to go with you?"

He shakes his head without really even thinking. He loves his mother, but this somehow feels like something between himself and his team, a moment that shouldn't be shared with someone else right now.

"Okay," she says, and her eyes soften in a way that make him think she must understand. "Be careful."

"I will," he says, and he's gone.

The elevator ride feels like it takes forever, even longer than the drive here. He watches the bright red numbers change instead of paying mind to the other visitors. They do the same. Shouyou gets the feeling that they're all on the same mission.

When the doors open on the third floor, Shouyou darts out of the elevator and frantically searches for room 315.

He finds Nishinoya first.

"Nishinoya-senpai!" He calls, skidding to a stop before the shorter boy.

"Shouyou?" Nishinoya says, eyes wide, arms full of bags of chips. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I saw the news," Shouyou says, breathing deep through his mouth. He immediately feels better just seeing a familiar face.

"The news?"

"Yeah, they were covering the accident."

"Ah," Nishinoya says, face smoothing back out. "And you came all the way here?"

"Well, yeah," Shouyou says, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed at Nishinoya's tone. "They said… Well, it looked really bad, and-"

Shouyou is cut off by the opening of the door they're standing in front of. He looks up and comes face-to-face with Daichi.

"Hinata?" Their captain says. "I thought I heard you out here."

"Hinata's out there?" Sugawara's voice drifts out from the room. The tone might have made Shouyou shiver if he wasn't too busy being relieved to hear it. "He should be resting!"

"That's what I said!" Nishinoya shouts back, pushing the door open the rest of the way and making his way to Tanaka's cot, tossing the chips in his arms at the other boy. "Behold! Sustenance!"

"Aw, yeah, Noya-san!"

"Hinata," Sugawara meets his eyes now that the door is open enough for him to see Shouyou. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, Sugawara-san," Shouyou apologizes, bowing his head slightly to hide how flushed his cheeks are. That definitely won't help his case. "I just- Well, I heard about the accident on the news-"

"So you decided to rush over here yourself," Tsukishima interrupts, leaning against the far wall with a bandage wrapped around his left hand and one of Yamaguchi's wrapped around his right. "Tch. Figures."

"Why don't you come in, Hinata?" Daichi offers, motioning toward the room. "You're already here, so you might as well."

Shouyou nods, ducking his head lower and walking inside. He stops a few steps into the room, and Daichi shuts the door behind him and goes to sit at the end of Sugawara's hospital bed.

"You should have stayed home, Hinata," Sugawara says, and Shouyou doesn't look up, but he's sure that if he did, Sugawara's eyes would be sharp. "You're in no condition to be running around right now."

"My mom drove me," Shouyou corrects, but when he finally meets Sugawara's narrowed eyes, he figures that's not what he meant.

"He's not wrong," Asahi chimes in, resting against the back of his bed, head and right arm bandaged. He gives Hinata a small smile when he looks at him. "This is a hospital. You shouldn't visit when you're not feeling well."

"I know," Shouyou says, sniffing through his stuffed nose. He glances around the room from underneath his bangs. Someone's missing. "I just…"

"Need to be in the middle of the action," Tsukishima finishes for him, clicking his tongue and holding his bandaged hand closer to his chest. "We know."

"It's not that!" Shouyou says, words grating roughly against his sore throat. "It's just.. Well, I saw the report on the news, and it just… The bus looked pretty beat up, and the reporter didn't know anything about anyone's condition, just that you guys were taken here, and I just thought- I don't know, I thought that maybe the worst had happened, and I got kinda scared, an-and I-"

"Hinata," Sugawara stops him mid-sentence.

"Yeah?" Shouyou looks up, finally, and- Oh no, his throat is getting tight, and his eyes are starting to burn, and-

"Come here." Sugawara sits up more and pats the bed beside him, waiting for Hinata to sit down before putting an arm around his shoulders. "It's okay. I get it. Don't get all worked up, okay? I shouldn't have yelled."

Shouyou nods against Sugawara's shoulder, trying to take deep breaths but choking on quiet sobs instead. In a shaky voice, he asks softly, "Where- Where's Kageyama? Are they okay? I was gonna ask the receptionist, but I- Maybe i-it's dumb, but I got scared that- that-"

"Shhh," Sugawara hushes him quietly, carding a hand through his hair. "It's okay. I understand. Don't worry. Kageyama's okay."

"A-are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know what happened to them? Why aren't they here?"

"They broke their arm," Nishinoya pipes up from Tanaka's bed, mouth full of half-chewed chips. "And they were unconscious at the scene. Coach Ukai had to go with them in the ambulance."

"Yuu!" Asahi scolds harshly.

"What! That's what happened!" Nishinoya replies defensively.

"You don't have to be so blunt, Noya-san!" Tanaka hisses, kicking him roughly in the thigh.

"Ow! Hey!"

"Enough," Daichi booms, and Tanaka and Nishinoya immediately straighten up. "Everything's okay, Hinata. Ukai-san came by earlier when Kageyama woke up to tell us what was going on. Their arm is broken, but it was a pretty clean break. Everything should heal just fine."

"Takeda-san went to contact everyone's parents, but I think he's having a hard time reaching Kageyama's family," Ennoshita chimes in. "It's been over an hour, and the last time he was here, he seemed pretty much at his wits' end."

"Okay," Shouyou says, and he finally relaxes into Sugawara's side and just focuses on the fingers running through his hair.

"What, you're not gonna ask about when they can play again?" Tsukishima asks, leaning forward now and being held back lightly by a worried-looking Yamaguchi.

"Tsukki…"

"Tsukishima!" Daichi says sharply.

"No," Shouyou says, looking up to meet Tsukishima's glare. He recognizes that face, the pinched skin around his nose, the way his eyes narrow. It's the same face Shouyou wore when he was talking to the receptionist earlier, he's sure. "I'm just glad they're okay. I know they'll be fine now, that their arm will heal, but when I saw the news… Well, I thought that something really awful happened. They didn't- Nobody knew anything, and even when I got here, I couldn't ask about Kageyama because I was just- so scared, you know? I just kept thinking that something had gone really wrong, and I was just safe at home, tucked in bed. I think… Honestly, I think I could have accepted if Kageyama could never toss to me again, a-as long as they were o-okay."

His throat is getting tight again, and he starts blinking rapidly to hold back the tears. Dammit, he didn't mean to get all worked up again.

"Don't ever think I wouldn't toss to you, you idiot."

"Kageyama!" Shouyou bolts from Sugawara's side, immediately engulfing his best friend in a hug as best he can with Kageyama towering over him.

"Hey! What are you doing!" Kageyama shouts, lifting their arms up to keep them from touching Shouyou. Their right arm is sporting a green cast.

"Oh, sorry," Shouyou says, backing away and looking a little sheepish. "Did I hurt you?"

"No." Kageyama waves a hand at that. "I just don't want you to touch me. It's weird."

"Why?"

"Because I don't like you."

"Kageyama, please be nice," Sugawara says, looking tired.

Kageyama sighs and rolls their eyes, glancing back at Shouyou. Their eyebrows furrow. "Are you crying?"

"What? No!" Shouyou looks away from them, scrubbing at his eyes. "I- Well, I was, but, like, n-not anymore!"

"What were you crying for, stupid?" Kageyama asks gruffly, almost shouting.

"Well, it was an emotionally charged situation! I have a crappy cold, I downed half a bottled of cough syrup, and I'm about to go to sleep when my mom calls me into the living room to watch the news and shows me my team's bus turned upside down on the side of the road, all smoking and blazing and stuff, and the news can't tell me anything about if they're alright or even who's hurt so I have to drop everything and get my mom to take me to the hospital in nothing but my pajamas and a windbreaker just to talk to a receptionist that doesn't know anything either and probably thinks I'm just some stupid little girl who doesn't know how to dress herself or brush her hair, and when I finally find my team I realize that my best friend isn't even with everyone else and could be dead for all I know and-"

"Hinata."

"What?!" Shouyou yells, his voice breaking. When he meets Kageyama's eyes, soft for probably the first time he's ever seen and crinkling at the corners just like his mom's, that's what finally does it.

Finally, after fighting it since he first saw the story on the news, Shouyou just lets his face crumple and tears come as they may, falling down his cheeks and hitting the floor with soft little thumps. He finally just lets the sobs he's been holding back this whole time tumble out of him.

Shouyou can feel snot dripping down his face, can feel his body shake with half-suppressed coughs, and he knows he must look a sight, but instead of just scowling and barking out an insult like usual, Kageyama wraps their arms, cast and all, around Shouyou's shoulder and holds him tight while he cries.

Kageyama still scowls, still mutters half-assed insults, but Shouyou knows it's only because Kageyama doesn't know how else to really show that they care. This is his best friend, after all. Shouyou knows that Kageyama hugs him because they know that's how Shouyou likes to show affection, and Shouyou feels warmer at the verbal jabs because he knows that's how Kageyama likes to show theirs.

"Shouyou!" Comes a watery cry from Nishinoya.

Shouyou expects the hug before it comes, but nothing can quite prepare a person for the unstoppable force that is Nishinoya Yuu. The libero wraps his arms around Shouyou's waist from the side, squeezing with what feels like all his might.

"Group hug!" Nishinoya shouts.

"Yuu, some of us are injured," Asahi gently points out, and Shouyou can hear a shifting from the cot behind him that is presumably Tanaka laying back down in disappointment.

"Fine! I'll hug him enough for everyone!" Nishinoya declares, hugging him impossibly tighter, not that Shouyou minds much.

"Me, too," Kageyama quietly returns the sentiment, tightening their embrace as well.

And for the first time since he saw the news report, Shouyou actually feels okay.

…

"I'm sorry, but- How much cough medicine did you take?"

"S-Sugawara-san! I-"

"Just let it go for now, Koushi."

"Daichi, he chugged cough syrup!"

"Just let them have their moment."

"Fine. We're talking about this later, though, Hinata."

"Y-yessir!"