post/137881944581/imaginethehaikyuukids-imagine-disabled-hinata

include definitions

Heyo!

So this is based on a prompt I found at the tumblr imaginethehaikyuukids

Summary: Hinata shōyō has had half of his left leg since he was ten, but after seeing the small giant on tv he decides that he's going to play volleyball no matter what. Armed with a prosthetic leg and a whole lotta firepower, he keeps everything a secret so he can continue playing. Of course, secrets never stay that way for long…

Pairing(s): mild pre-slash Kagehina

Word count: 8366

Warnings: swearing, and my knowledge on prosthetics is limited to what I could research so it's not much, and it's un-beta'd, but thank you to for checking over it for me.

Disclaimer: I can't draw.

Definitions:

K-level:"K-levels are defined by Medicare based on an individual's ability or potential to ambulate and navigate their environment. Once it is determined in which K-level an individual resides, it can be determined which prosthetic components are covered by Medicare." The scale ranges from 0-4.

Vacuum suspension: There are two other kinds of suspensions for prosthetic legs, but this one is the best for lost of activity. It works by sucking all the air out of the socket, but I don't know much more than that sorry.

Enjoy!

—

"He is surely a Small Giant!"

Hinata can't explain what he's feeling. Something's bubbling up inside him and it's all gwaa! and eeeep! and it feels like his chest is about to explode. He wants to run around, jump, hit something- anything to expel this energy building up inside him. More than anything, he wants to play volleyball.

A stabbing pain just below his knee. That's what catapults him back to reality. Or rather, a stabbing pain where his left leg ends.

The gwaa! feelingturns into a horrible sludge sinking into his stomach. What was he thinking. He has one fucking leg. There was no way Hinata Shōyō was going to play volleyball. Ever.

He turned his head away from the dazzling screen - something was trying to pull him back, no, it said, watch till the end, watch till the end! But he didn't listen - and, with the sludge-like feeling sinking ever deeper, Hinata kept a white-knuckled grip on his crutches as he hobbled back home, determinedly avoiding the pitiful stares from passersby.

When Hinata was ten, he was in an accident. There he was, walking across the road without looking. There were no cars coming - he was fine!

He was fine, until he wasn't.

He tripped - probably over fucking nothing - and, because it was just his luck, a car came speeding round the corner and it was really surprising how the driver hadn't noticed him because have you seen his hair-

Crunch. Pain.

Hinata doesn't remember the feeling of the car running over his leg. He remembers that it hurt, oh hell had it hurt, so much that he couldn't think straight.

He had screamed until he lost his voice, and by then was so loopy on morphine Hinata just fell asleep.

The reason he was using crutches instead of a prosthetic now was because do you know how much they cost?

He shook his head. Thinking about that day never did anyone any good. A ghost ache flared up in a limb he didn't have, but he shook his head, dispelling it.

The walk home gave him lots of time to think, however. Lots of time to decide that he was going to play volleyball no matter how many useable limbs he had. Lots of time to say fuck you to the pitiful stares and annoying whispers.

Hinata Shōyō was going to get himself another fucking leg.

His mother was suprised at first, when he told her - wide-eyed shock, then a smile, then a teary nod.

"Oh Shou," she had said, before engulfing him in a warm hug, making him loose his balance and lean entirely on her. She didn't mind.

Apparently, She had been saving up for the entirety of the three years incase Hinata ever asked that question, and he didn't know how to thank her. Words were never really Hinata's thing anyway.

Hinata didn't start junior high along with everyone else that year. He was homeschooled so his learning could compromise with his therapy sessions.

Therapy sessions. The notion was new and exciting and the gwaa! feeling was returning, except there was a lot more aaAAAH and bfffahnfdmf mixed in there as well.

it was two days before the appointment came around. Hinata could barely sit still as his mother explained that he wanted to be able to play volleyball

He would have two legs. Two fully-functional, totally jump-able legs. Legs he could walk with, jump with, soar with- and no he was not crying fuck you.

He knew that it would be a while before he could 'soar' - months and months and months of therapy - but he was going to do it, no matter what.

Well, that's what he said, but he hadn't known how much it would hurt. Not the I have a paper cut between two of my fingers kind either, more like the my leg is being pressed against hot coals. Well fuck, variety.

And that was only the beginning. His first year of rehabilitation - he didn't like the phrase year in this sense because what he did in that year, all the pain and sweat and torn muscles he endured could not possibly be captured by a four-letter word - involved only three things. One of which was memorising how to desensitise his leg (Hinata refused to call what was left a stump. That sounded stupid.).

It was a complicated ritual of towel-dabbing, compression-bandage-using and rubbing and pulling in random places, which seemed really weird, but he did it anyway because he did not want anything to hurt any more than it had to.

Next came how to get from random places - e.g. his bed - to the wheelchair.

Oh how Hinata hated the wheelchair. Do you know how hard it is so move a wheelchair? One tiny bump and bam! you're stuck. Forever. Or, until your prosthetist comes over to pull you away gently, murmuring in your ear how "backing up and going over it all in one go usually helps."

After that came the bit that hurt.

"Casual Walking," they called it. There was nothing casual about Casual walking.

They had fitted him with a practice leg - a skin-coloured thing with a big metal pole sticking through it - and his prosthetist had set him up on one end of a set of bars.

While Hinata was in the wheelchair, the task seemed easy - walk to the other end of the two-or-three-metre lane, using the bars for support.

That was what? Ten steps? Thirteen? Piece of cake.

Until he stood up.

(That's where the my leg is being pressed against hot coals. Well fuck. feeling came in)

The thing is, when you have a prosthetic, it doesn't negate the fact that you have half your leg missing, so you have to compensate for not having those muscles. The muscles that are pretty necessary for walking.

Hinata gritted his teeth, and grasped the bars on either side of him, arms taking as much of his body weight as they could, muscles quivering dangerously.

He didn't even make it a step before he collapsed.

He got better though. It took so very long and it hurt so very much, but he got better.

In Hinata's first year of rehabilitation, he walked, and the first time he made it all the way to the end of those god-forsaken bars, collapsing to the floor in a heap of sweat and elation, all he could say was "I fucking walked," before relenting to his heavy eyelids, and falling asleep right there in the hospital gym.

What he got for christmas that year, was his first actual prosthetic. It was sleek and black and it bent where his foot should be and when the prosthetist showed him Hinata had to remind himself how to breath.

Hinata had seen the Paralympics. It was the kind of prosthetics athletes had.

It was a weird feeling, putting it on for the first time. It was different hearing 'vacuum suspension' versus experiencing 'vacuum suspension.' The sock-like thing came up over his knee, and all the air was sucked out of the socket. It was the weirdest feeling he had experienced.

During that first, life-changing appointment, the prosthetist had asked him a bunch of questions - what do you want out of this prosthetic? How much excersise do you want to be doing? When was your last growth spurt? What where you doing prior to needing the prosthetic? - and ran a bunch of tests - I have a K-level of four fight me - before explaining that for his level of activity the prosthetic would be hard to hide, and looking at it now, Hinata understood why.

The bend of metal where his foot should be was wide, so much so that he was going to have to wear bellbottoms or something like that to keep it hidden.

He had already decided he was going to keep his prosthetic a secret, because he knew that most people would never let a kid with one leg play.

There was a vast difference from the practice leg he was walking with before - a lump of flesh-coloured plastic and unbalanced metal that he could barely control - to this one. He felt like he could actually move with it.

This, he thought, beaming as he stood up for the first time, the gwaa! feeling rising in his throat again, with this, I can jump.

"Are you sure about volleyball though?" his prosthetist asked, "I'm not saying anything against it - but with your height, and all that jumping and running around for long periods of time could really put a strain on your residual limb."

"Fight me," was Hinata's immediate response, "I'm gonna play volleyball."

Hinata Shōyō trained harder than he ever had in his life. He spent ages jumping, running, getting his mum to do - really quite bad - tosses so he could spike them. With each slap of the ball, and the stinging in his red-raw palm, he smiled so hard his cheeks hurt, the aaaAAAAAAAHH feeling more prominent than ever.

Hinata Shōyō started his second year of junior high on two legs.

He also started it in a school, which was new. Over halfway through the school year, but that didn't matter Yukigaoka Junior High was it, he was finally going to play volleyball with a team in an actual match.

As is turned out, if he wore long pants, it didn't look like he was wearing a prosthetic at all. Putting a show on the end of it, however, after all this time of going - for lack of a better word - barefoot, was the strange part.

"I'm… the only member?"

The teacher chuckled good-naturedly. "Yeah, the boy's volleyball 'club' has been decreasing in members each year - it's only an appreciation group now, that's why you don't need any more people."

Hinata's world split.

"and…" he continued, looking over his student records, "are you sure you can even play volleyball?"

Hinata puffed out his chest. "I may be small, but I can jump!"

The teacher smiled. "It's not that…it's your prosthetic leg."

No.

"I can jump," he reiterated.

"Well, you're welcome to play with the girls, but for now you are the only member," the teacher sighed, glancing at his left leg.

Hinata walked out of the teacher's office with a fiery determination in his chest and a volleyball in his hand.

From then on, he practiced anywhere he could - hallways, in the corner of the gym, on the edge of sports fields - and repetitively ambushed his friends to beg ask for a toss.

(He had friends. This was new. Homeschooling doesn't give you very many opportunities to meet people)

"Three… first years?"

Third year of junior high. Spring.

"It seems that they played a little in elementary."

They could have no idea whatsoever how to play volleyball, and Hinata wouldn't have cared.

"Uwaaaaaa we did it!"

—

There's tons of people here, the gymnasium's huge and…

"The smell of Air Salonpas!"

"Hey Shou-chan, aren't you too nervous?"

"What are you, some country hick?"

Hinata pouted. "Th-that's because we're really starting out in a tournament!"

The words echoed around in his head, sweat beading at his forehead already - although that was because it was way too hot to be wearing long pants, but he managed to keep his prosthetic a secret - he was finally, finally here. A tournament. The first, and last, of his high junior high school life.

"Izumin, Kouji, thanks for coming to help," he told them gratefully.

The pair looked surprised.

"Quit it! That's awkward!"

"We're one step closer to the end of the tournament, huh?"

Hinata smiled, tears welling in his eyes as he turned to the first years. "And you three miraculous first years too! Thanks so much for joining!"

"Ah yes! Though we're basically still novices."

A menacing aura. A large group of people walked past, all wearing matching jerseys. Kitagawa Daiichi.

Their first opponents.

"King of the Court."

"Favourites to win."

"Incredible…"

There was a stabbing pain just below his knee, shooting up his thigh. Hinata passed it off as nausea.

He hobbled down to the the bathroom, limping and trying to keep his weight off his prosthetic. Sitting down in the stall, Hinata rolled up his pants and slid the liner and sock down as far as he could before squirting some lotion on his hands and massaging what he could. It felt a lot better after that, but he knew it wouldn't totally relief the pain.

It was fine. This kind of pain he was used to.

Letting out a harsh breath through his nose, Hinata tugged the liner and sock back up - rubbing some more lotion so it wouldn't slip down - and opened the stall door.

"-Yukigaoka Junior High? I've never heard of it."

Snapping his head around, hinata saw three boys filling up water bottles.

"More like, didn't they have hardly any players? No libero either!"

"Not to mention half of them were elementary students."

"Hah?! They're first years aren't they?"

"They're practically elementary students. How do they plan to compete against us, huh?"

Hinata was fuming. Did they know what he did just to be here, standing firmly on two legs like everyone else?

"Oi you lot!" he called, making them flinch in surprise, "Don't look down on us!"

They turned to face him.

(Pain. Did rubbing it do anything?)

"Once my… stomach settles down, you better be prepared 'cause we'll really give you…"

(Pain.)

"…Something to.."

(Pain.)

"Cry about during the… match…"

( . )

"ugh….uuugghhh.."

There was a beat of silence. Then they laughed.

"Are you serious! We'll be looking forward to it!"

"It's an elementary student!"

"but he's wearing the captain's mark isn't he? He's the captain!"

Hinata gripped the fabric of his shirt. They're making fun of me.

"Oi second years!"

They all turned to face the person who spoke.

Gwah! That's the King of the Court!

"We're starting the official warm up," he scowled, "hurry up and get to it."

"Crap, it's Kageyama-san."

"Sorry, we'll get back right away"

The setter turned to glare look at him. Hinata flinched back.

"Even if we filled them up, there's no way we'd drink this many - I mean, those Yukigaoka guys are our opponents!"

"Haha for sure!"

"Wha-?" Hinata's attention was drawn back to the mouthy second years, leg still aching, "What'd you say!"

"You lot," the King of the Court started, "You're on the bench. Do you really expect to get stronger by looking down on your opponents? Don't ride on the coattails of your school's name."

Uwaa he's scary…Don't get overwhelmed! Say something Shōyō!

"I wa.. was just about to say that you know!"

(Pain.)

"…urgh."

Kageyama turned his head slighty. "It's only natural to be prepared for a match," he said coldly, "guys who can't even manage their own bodies-"

Oh you did not just say that.

"-Shouldn't say such self important things. Just what did you come here to do? Make memories?"

Now he was angry.

"I came here to win, of course!"

Kageyama stopped side-on and looked at him. "You say that as if it's something easy. You came here despite knowing that height is essential for volleyball?"

"It's true I'm not very tall," Hinata agreed, "but… I can jump!"

I can jump and that is so very amazing because do you know how hard it was?

Before he knew it, he was bowing. His head came down lower than any of his team mates because he was that much shorter, but he didn't take his eyes off the King of the Court.

We haven't lost yet we haven't lost yet. Hinata chanted the words in his head like a mantra. The game was in shambles, even he could see that, but still he ran, he jumped, he dove and it was amazing his shoe didn't fall off.

It hasn't fallen yet, we haven't lost yet, jump, jump, j u m p!

"That guy took a point from us!"

Kageyama. The King of the Court. He was taking them seriously.

Hinata smiled, the ache finally dissipating from his leg. He leaned in it experimentally. Good, he thought, now I can really jump.

Izumi reached his hands up, palms spread out wide and elbows bent slightly, but just when he was about to set it to Hinata, his fingers bent backward and the ball sailed off behind him.

"Shou-chan it's up too…" he trailed off, craning his neck back and eyes wide.

Hinata squared his shoulders. I can jump.

He took off, reaching the other side of the court faster than he thought he could. Tension built in his thighs, and Hinata Shōyō jumped, his right leg propelling him into the air, arms twisting his body around, palm coming to meet the ball…

Thwack!

It was out. The match ended.

"Shou-chan it's time to line up."

Hinata didn't react. He could feel the pitying eyes of his teammates on him, as well as the glare of the King of the court, but all he could do was stand there, his mind reeling.

"What have you been doing for the past three years?!"

How.

Dare.

You.

That was the first, and last match of my junior high school life. It lasted a whole 31 minutes and the number of sets won was zero, but these last three years I have gone through hell just to be standing here.

"If you're the reigning 'King of the Court,' then I'll overthrow you from your title and I'll be the one who stands on the court for the longest!"

"If you want to advance, try growing stronger."

That was what the Kin-Kageyama Tobio told him, and so he did. He trained with the girl's volleyball club, the neighbourhood mothers- anyone. He would stand on his own two feet because he finally could and he would overthrow the King of the Court.

Miyagi Prefecture's Karasuno High School. Spring.

Hinata had gotten a bike for Christmas, one with an odd-looking left pedal so it would be easier for him to ride. He has a shoe on, and he still trips more than he doesn't but he's getting better.

"I'll overthrow you!"

The words rang in his head as he rode into his new school, beaming at the background chatter and how he can hear the upperclassmen trying to get new members for their clubs.

This is it. I'm finally here.

"He is surely a Small Giant!"

Karasuno High.

Buzzing with excitement, Hinata locked up his bike and sped off towards the gym, ducking around various people - including one that wanted him to join the… soccer club? Basketball club? He didn't really pay attention. He was so close, he pushed open the doors and…

"Why are you here?!"

Kageyama Tobio had come to Karasuno.

No no no, this isn't how it was meant to go!

They fought. A lot (and knocked the vice principal's wig off s). So much so on just the first day that the captain kicked them out and told them not to come back until they learned to get along.

Which was never going to happen so why bother? Hinata just wanted to play volleyball. He didn't see the point in getting along with Mr. I want so receive, spike and toss all by myself, but to be able to play volleyball. Actual volleyball on an actual team, he had to at least pretend.

They were going to have a 3-on-3 match, with the other first years.

"Tomorrow's practice starts a seven am, right?"

They glared at each other.

Be here at five. Don't you dare be late!

It's you who is going to be late.

In actual fact they were both there promptly at 4:55 am.

Ah good, Hinata thought, the idiot's wearing long pants as well- hey so is Tanaka-senpai!

They practiced for an hour, and during that time Hinata managed to fall on his face more times than he had before. Kageyama's fast passes were so fast, compared to the ones his mum threw him in the hospital gymnasium, or his friends threw him back in junior high.

"Hey Hinata!" Tanaka-senpai called, "aren't you getting hot in those long pants? You brought shorts right?"

"N-no, I'm good," was his shaky reply. That was a lie. It was so incredibly hot, Hinata could feel the sweat dripping down, onto the metal and he offhandedly wondered if his prosthetic could rust. It probably could.

The last thing he needed was Kageyama finding out he only had half of his left leg. He would probably click his tongue and say something along the lines of: "A person with a leg missing shouldn't be anywhere near the court, dumbass. Why are you even trying? You can't play volleyball like that."

Hinata's heart clenched. No, he would keep this a secret.

He trained with Suga-senpai that lunchtime, working on passes and receives.

He pointed out the difference between 'strongest enemy' and 'strongest ally,' which reminded Hinata that Kageyama told him he wasn't necessary for victory and he got pissed off again, so he just bushed off the words.

For the next two days, he practiced with everyone in the mornings - the early mornings, it may as well be night time - and Suga-senpai at lunch times. Lunch times were his favourite practices because Suga-senpai was so nice and good at teaching and it was a welcomed change from that tyrant.

Thursday. 5:30 am.

Hinata clenched his teeth in an unconscious scowl, receiving the ball every which way Kageyama threw it. His leg was aching slightly from the long hours, but it didn't matter, he was doing it.

The ball went just over Kageyama's head, and the setter hesitated.

"Don't you go easy on me!" Hinata yelled.

The setter looked pissed off. "Fine by me!" he retorted, before grabbing the ball and slamming it down onto Hinata's arms.

They kept going, the sound of his own ragged breath roaring in his ears.

"You won't be able to take this any longer-"

"The ball hasn't dropped yet!" Hinata yelled, huffing and puffing and glaring at the King of the Court.

The ball flew over his head.

No.

No way am I letting that drop.

Not now.

He was crouched on the ground, his prosthetic against the floor in an awkward angle but something pwah and grrr filled his chest and Hinata used his right leg to get a good footing, before shooting off towards the ball.

I'm not gonna make it I'm not gonna make it-

Dive!

The ball bounced off his wrist, and went straight back to Kageyama.

Who, to his surprise and joy, tossed it in the air, high above the net.

Hinata was tired, but with one final burst of adrenalin, he ran at full speed towards the net before jumping up and..

Wham!

There was a stinging sensation in his palm, his chest was moving up and down rapidly and he was almost certain he was going to puke, but Hinata had never felt better.

He had spiked a toss from an actual setter.

"On Saturday," he heard Kageyama start, and he looked up. The bastard was barely even puffing, "let's win it."

Let's win it.

Not I'll win it, or don't get in my way, or you suck, but let's win it.

Both of them.

"Because for you, he is the 'strongest enemy'…" he remembered Suga-senpai saying.

For me, he is the 'strongest enemy,' but now he's become the 'strongest ally.'

He still felt sick, and his leg was really hurting him now. He could deal with the enemy vs ally crap later.

—

Hinata had come to the swift and precise conclusion that Tsukishima was a dick.

There they were, practicing like usual - the ball was in the tree and they were arguing - when some tall, blond four-eyes comes along with his high-pitched shadow, grabs their ball and calls him an elementary student.

Well fuck you too.

The bastard tells them he'd gladly throw the game, which pisses both of them off and by the time it's just Hinata and Kageyama again, he's pretty sure all four of them have come away from this encounter annoyed.

Aside from the part when Hinata jumped over his stupid blond head and grabbed the ball. That was pretty cool.

Now it was Saturday - Tsukishima was still a dick, Hinata saw the beautiful girl they had as a manager and it didn't smell like Air Salonpas, but Tanaka-senpai's enthusiasm, as well as Kageyama's intensity made it seem as real a match as any other.

The pretty manager blew a whistle, and the game started.

Tanaka-senpai took the first point, spiking it so hard the cocky bastard didn't have a chance to block it. The ball hit his hand and went straight down to the floor, scoring a point.

Hinata smiled, something buzzing in his feet and swelling in his chest.

I want to spike I want to spike I want to-

"Hinata!" Kageyama yelled, tossing the ball perfectly to him.

Keeping that same determined smile on his face, he ran up towards the net, arms swinging out behind them before jumping high in the air, his palm connecting swiftly with the ball and…

…Was promptly blocked.

There's another high, high wall.

"It surprised me yesterday too, but you really can jump," Tuskishima told him, and Hinata could just tell he was being looked down on, "now only if you were a whoooole thirty centimetres taller, you'd probably be a real superstar."

Dick.

Again and again, Hinata was blocked. He didn't even bother keeping track because it happened every time.

It was getting really hot under his long pants, and his prosthetic wouldn't stop hurting. This must be why I keep getting blocked, Hinata thought, because it hurts, so I'm not jumping high enough.

He shook his head. I can't blame my leg on everything. There's something else… but what?

"Oi Chibi-chan, do you know why this guy is called the King?"

Hinata thought the answer was obvious. "It's 'cause he's really cool, right?" he answered immediately, "and guys from other schools are scared of him."

"The nickname was actually given to him by his own team," Tukishima smirked, "because he is a selfish, egotistical King - a tyrannical dictator."

What did that matter? Why was he being told this in the middle of a match? He had to figure out a way to get past the tall bastard's blocks!

"It's just a rumour I heard, but one time he took his oppressiveness to an extreme and was forcefully benched."

Well that was unexpected. Hinata looked over to Kageyama, who avoided his gaze.

"But that's just a story about junior high right?" Hinata announced, he was just stating the obvious but why did they look so surprised? Hewas sure everyone's changed since junior high. Images appeared in his mind of the first few casual walking sessions he went through, struggling and sweating and crying- "since you toss the ball to me properly and all, that stuff doesn't matter to me."

As long as he got to play volleyball.

And knocked Tsukishima on his smug ass. That was important too.

There was a free ball, and both he and Tanaka-senpai called for it. Kageyama was half way into saying the second-year's name when Hinata jumped behind the setter.

"Kageyama!" he exclaimed, his body twisting in preparation for the spike, "I'm here!"

The decision seemingly not passing through any sort of thinking process, except for maybe some vague surprise, Kageyama tossed the ball to Hinata.

There was a rush of air, and Hinata didn't feel like he hit the ball nearly as hard as he should have, but he scored the point nonetheless.

Kageyama whirled around. "All of a sudden you-"

"But I was right there to receive the ball!" he interjected, "I don't care about any of that stuff from junior high! For me, no matter what toss it is, it's one that I really wanna receive! I'll jump anywhere! Hit any ball! So.."

Hinata turned to face Kageyama. "Keep on tossing it my way!"

I still want to stand on the court. Despite my height, despite my leg, I'll become a Small Giant and see the view on the other side of the net!

"Things like disadvantages and disability don't matter to me at all," he announced firmly, a hand to his chest and pain in his leg, "With this body, I'm gonna fight, and win, and keep winning - I want to stand on even more courts!"

"You think 'feelings' can fill the height gap?" Dick-With-Glasses replied, "You might want to consider becoming a libero."

"Clearing the wall in front of the spiker," Kageyama chimed in, his voice low and determined as he came to stand behind Hinata, "is what a setter's for."

Once the confrontation had ended, Kageyama turned towards him, finger pointed at his chest and the same haughty look on his face. He had a plan.

"If you can't return the ball, then dodge. Using all of your physical ability and reflexes, hit my toss."

It was a good plan. In theory.

Those tosses were just too damn fast.

After many, many failed spikes, Kageyama got a talking-to from Suga-senpai, and Hinata didn't understand a word of it but it must of been something because soon enough Kagaeyama was also blurting out strange things:

"I'm jealous of your physical ability!" he announced abashedly, "that's why you, who has the ability but is still horrible, annoy me!"

"Hah?"

"I will have you show all of your ability!"

"The heck?" Tanaka-senpai asked rhetorically. Hinata agreed.

"At your fastest speed, perform your highest jump, and I will get the ball to you!"

Hinata grinned. Now he was talking sense. Not only that, but he was talking about something that might actually work.

Jump as fast and as high as you can where there's no blocker. Then, hit with all your might. You don't need to see my toss. You don't need to connect with the ball.

When he said this, there was a different air about him - something not 'king-like' at all, more… 'captain,' or 'team mate,' so for now, Hinata would trust in the genius setter. He would trust in Kageyama.

So he ran.

Hinata Shōyō ran, painfully aware of the different feeling his left leg made as it thumped against the wooden floor, and then he jumped, closing his eyes tight so he wouldn't see the ball, swinging his hand with blind ferocity.

Slap. Sting. Thwap!

He opened his eyes wide, smiling from ear to ear at the sensation.

"Alright!" cheered Kageyama.

"I hit it! With this hand!"

With this I can get past the blockers!

Daichi-san looked shaken. "Just.. Just now, from the moment he jumped to the moment he swung at the ball, Hinata had his eyes closed."

"WHAT?"

Of course he did. Otherwise he would have seen the ball, right? Hinata voiced this thought to the others and didn't understand why they were so shocked.

I'll get the ball to you next time too, so believe in me and jump, Hinata repeated the words in his head ruefully as he was hit in the face, sure Kageyama.

Now the setter was grinning.

"Oi, why're you grinning?" he asked, annoyed, "Don't screw with me! That's the second time it's hit me in the face!"

Haaah, I need to get better at this.

"No matter how many time you toss it to that shortie, it'll end up in failure, if you only target Tanaka-san then.." Tsukishima trailed off as Hinata ran towards the net fast, "Yamaguchi! You come too! We'll stop it together!"

"A wall. Listen, if you can't return the ball…" Hinata's right foot was parallel to the net, stopping only briefly as he changed directions, "dodge it."

And he did. Back around Kageyama and all the way over to the other side of the court. He could see Tuskishima running towards him, but before he could get there Hinata closed his eyes and jumped, swinging his arm out in front of him.

Slap. Sting…

Then now, in this moment alone. This is the highest point. Before my eyes, it blocks a path. A high, high wall… What sort of scene is it on the other side? How can I see it? By myself I will never be able to see it, this is…

Hinata opened his eyes, and saw the sunlight glaring in through the windows, the doors on the other side of the gym, Daichi-san moving in slow motion towards the ball, knees bent and arms in the middle of stretching out for the ball, Tsukishima's desperate expression, arm extended as far out as it could, but it wasn't even in sight of the ball.

…The view from the top.

Thwap!

The ball landed hard on the floor, and there was a beat of silence as everyone turned to stare at them.

"Alright!"

—

"You're thinking of something weird, aren't you dumbass?"

Hinata's thoughts came flying back to the present. It was summer. The time was 5 am. He and Kageyama were just about to race to school. He had a better prosthetic (because despite what everyone said he had grown, just a little bit) and Karasuno had just been defeated by Abajōsai in the Interhigh Preliminaries.

"Oi, dumbass, did you hear me?"

Suddenly Kageyama's face was way too close and Hinata's cheeks felt way too warm.

He let out an exclamation of surprise, backing away. If it wasn't sunrise, Hinata would have thought the setter's cheeks were a bit red as well. But it was sunrise, so he didn't.

"I-I heard you Bakageyama!" Hinata yelled, "and I wasn't thinking of anything weird!"

"Oh, what were you thinking about then?"

"…The day we made the freak quick."

Kageyama stopped in his tracks for a few seconds, and Hinata wondered if he was going to say something, but then he just kept moving.

Okay, so they weren't racing today. Hinata steadied his bike, putting all his weight on his right foot to get off…

…When the bastard broke into a sprint towards the school.

"Bakageyama!" he yelled, clambering back onto his bike and peddling like crazy to catch up to his setter.

His setter? Ugh that's gross. I'm gross. Why do I even like him?

Hinata had found a better way of packing his sneaker, so it didn't feel as weird when he walked on it, but it was a feeling he didn't think he would ever get used to.

(Pain.)

He winced, before shaking it off. It was fine, just the usual random spikes he got when riding his bike - the circle motion he had to do with his feet sometimes made the prosthetic… uncomfortable, but it was the fastest way to get up the mountain.

When they arrived at Karasuno, they were both panting, drenched in sweat, and the sun was newly risen in the sky.

"It's… so… hot," Hinata complained as Kageyama unlocked the gym, "why don't we have air con? We should have air con."

They both moved into the locker room, where hinata removed his jacket, and Kageyama took off his jacket and changed into shorts.

"You know if you're that hot, then you should just roll up you pants, or bring a pair of shorts," the setter told him sternly, "I don't think Daichi-san or the others would mind of they weren't the actual PE shorts."

Hinata gulped. "I… um… you see, the thing is I," he babbled nervously, scrambling for a good excuse, "… have a really embarrassing scar!"

"A scar?" Kageyama repeated curiously, "from what? Can I see it?"

"No!"

There was way too much anger and seriousness in his tone, and Hinata realised his mistake too late when Kageyama took a step back.

"Um, I mean… it's super embarrasing! Like, my mum and my sister have seen it and that's it!"

All he got was a raised eyebrow in response. Kageyama didn't believe him at all, but shrugged anyway and began making his way outside.

(Pain.)

His knees buckled and Hinata was sent crashing onto the floor, landing hard on his left leg.

What's wrong with me? It's not usually this bad.

"Hinata! Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine!" he called back, "what, are you worried?"

"… Of- Of course not, you dumbass!" Kageyama exclaimed, and if Hinata didn't know better he'd say the setter was blushing. But he did, so it was obviously just his own wishful thinking.

He was a guy. A guy with one leg - why in all the world would Kageyama ever like him?

Throughout their early morning practice, Hinata felt like he was continually off his game because his fucking leg kept sending arrows of white-hot pain up his leg and shit that hurt.

Hinata could only grit his teeth and keep going, because even though Ukai let him play - he had all the medical records of the players, so Hinata assumed he must have proved himself enough to play regularly - he couldn't afford to fall behind. He couldn;t miss a day of pract-

(Pain. Pain. Pain. PAIN.)

Shit. Today was just not his fucking day.

For the first time in his life, Hinata wished volleyball practice could just be over.

The rest of the team arrived and he was counting down the minutes.

He really can't afford for this to happen right now. They were just beaten down by Abajōsai, and Hinata can't be benched for the Spring High Tournament. No way is he letting that happen. He has half a leg for fucks sake, it doesn't mean he can't play.

But what if they don't think that?

This was always in the back of his thoughts, always nagging at the euphoria of hitting Kageyama's tosses, at the amazing feeling of being in an actual match…

What if they take one look at you and kick you off the team? Shove you into the cheering squad? "Hey Hinata, how about you become the next manager?"

This was why he endured the heat of the sweatpants he always trained in, why he pushed through al the pain of moving like he did with the prosthetic, why he trained harder than anyone- except maybe Kageyama.

Hinata shook his head, refusing to go down the path of what Kageyama might think. Nope. Not going there.

(Pain.)

Daichi-san called for everyone to split up and do receive training, but he called some other names to go do something else and Hinata didn't know or didn't care because his nae wasn't mentioned and it was all he could do to keep throwing the ball at Tanaka-senpai for him to receive.

(P a i n.)

Oh this was too much. The pain felt like like he was being held above an open flame. His brain started to throb and all his focus was on his residual limb. It was like the world faded into white noise wile his left leg burned. The world was white noise, just background stuff, and the pain was someone screaming right next to his ear.

"Oi Hinata," Tanaka-senpai called, "you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, his voice coming out strained, "just going to take a bathroom break, okay?"

With that, he limped off as fast as possible to the locker room. Hinata collapsed on the floor, sweat beading down his forehead. He took off his prosthetic - knowing very well that it would be anoying to put back on - and grabbed the lotion out of his bag, before squirting a liberal amount onto his residual limb and kneading it with his knuckles, trying to relieve the pain.

—

"Don't you think he's been in there a while?" Tanaka asked Daichi, who was trying to point out where Kageyama's serve needed improvement.

"Who's been in where a while?"

"Hinata," he answered, taking a gulp from his drink bottle, "he went to the toilet like twenty minutes ago."

Daichi looked surprised, and it even caught Kageyama's attention. "Really?" the captain asked, "that's strange - it's really not like Hinata to skip out on training."

Tanaka laughed. "You got that right! He didn't even go to the toilet - he went in the complete opposite direction to the toilets… maybe to the locker room?"

There was a beat of silence between them, before Kageyama headed out towards the door. "I'll go check on him."

"You need to practice," Daichi shot down, "Tanaka, you go look for him."

Kageyama rolled his eyes, picked up a stray volleyball and got into position as Tanaka hefted himself off the floor and walked towards the locker room.

—

The movement of Hinata's hands was becoming slower, more force behind them as he worked away at his leg. He hated this, the pain, but he hated not being able to play volleyball more. He hated not being able to soar.

He let out a sigh, and it seemed to echo in the empty locker room. He wanted to go back and practice, but he wasn't sure how much running around his leg could take - how long had he been up here anywa-

"Hinata you in here?"

Something hard and cold dropped to his stomach as the door swung wide open, and Tanaka's eyes went from his face, to his left uh… thigh. His eyes grew wider and wider along with his mouth and Hinata closed his eyes tight, bracing himself for what he knew was coming.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

—

At the sound of Tanaka yelling screaming, the team dropped whatever they were doing and ran up to the locker room to find…

Tanaka leaning over Hinata, brandishing a large metal thing that looked very sharp. Tanaka was yelling in indecipherable bouts of HOW THE FUCK and HINATA GET SOME HELP.

"What is it?!" Kageyama broke the flabbergasted silence of the rest of the team, "Why does Hinata need help?! What's wrong?"

Any other time this would have been cute and they all would have rolled their eyes at the pair, but when Tanaka backed away from the first-year, all their minds were blank, save for one or two curse words.

Hinata was missing half of his left leg.

What Tanaka was waving around a prosthetic.

HOW THE FUCK-

Daichi was just about to open his mouth - to say what, he wasn't sure exactly - but he was stopped short as Hinata groaned and doubled over, clutching at what was left of his leg and gasping in pain.

And so, Daichi scrapped the mismatched blur of what he was going to say in favour of panicking.

"Oh god Hinata are you okay?" he gushed, running over to his bag for a heat-cold pack, "how the hell have you been playing? How could you run - or jump - like that with… with a…"

"A prosthetic leg?" Hinata finished, grimacing out a smile as he took the pack from his captain and pressed it against his leg.

That sent everyone else into disarray. They grabbed various towel and cans of Air Salonpas, standing around with their minds reeling as they tried to compute the fact that their strongest decoy was doing everything the were and more…

…With a prosthetic leg.

It didn't seem real. This situation is something you'd see in an anime or a drama or one of those feel-good sports movies, it didn't belong in real life.

"uh… could someone please um… take me to the infirmary?" Hinata asked meekly, white-knuckled hands gripping at his residual limb.

Suga pushed Asahi towards the small boy, who gathered him in his arms and took off towards the infirmary, closely followed by the rest of the team, Tanaka still holding the prosthetic. They must have been quite a sight - the entire boy's volleyball team being extremely loud as they moved through the corridors in a bundle of nerves and yelling.

Needless to say, the school nurse was extremely surprised when they basically busted her door down. She had silenced them with a few taut words, told Asahi to put Hinata on the bed while she prepared something over on the other side of the room.

Kageyama, not knowing quite what to do, found himself right beside the bed. Hinata's face was scrunched up in pain, and not the kind of pain you feel after losing a match, but the kind you feel when someone stabbed you through the gut.

And Hinata looked like someone was stabbing him through the gut. Very slowly and very painfully.

Kageyama had never felt more powerless, so he did the first thing he thought of: Kageyama drew one of Hinata's hands away from his limb and held it tightly in his own.

"Squeeze my hand the more it hurts," he murmured, ears burning and extremely glad no one had said anything about it (it was only a matter of time though).

Hinata's grip was crushing, and Kageyama finally let the amazement sink on of Hinata has a prosthetic leg and yet he can play like that? Like he's the an ace?

The nurse gave Hinata a localised aesthetic and an IV drip, called his mother to tell her what happened and left - not before warning the volleyball club not to break anything in her absence.

It was silent for a few seconds, before Hinata took a deep breath, and began to speak:

"I… um, guess I have a lot of explaining to do?"

With that, Hinata revealed everything that happened from when he was ten years old and had been run over by a car. He told them about seeing the Small Giant on tv, about the long sessions and the gruelling trials he had to go through and what it was like to stand on two legs for the first time in years.

He told them about the homeschooling and the casual walking, and the feeling of running and jumping in his first match ever, which he couldn't explain without telling them about his complete and utter hatred of Kageyama. None of them believed that for a second and Kageyama held Hinata's hand through the whole story.

"What have you been doing for the past three years?" he remembers asking.

Oh, he really shouldn't have asked that.

"Y-you're amazing," Suga-san stuttered in awe.

"Right?" Nishinoya agreed, "I can't believe our Shou-chan is that cool!"

Hinata laughed awkwardly and gripped Kageyama's hand tighter. "So… I guess I'm gonna have to stop playing now?"

Kageyama's head snapped up. "Why would you have to go and do that, dumbass?" he exclaimed.

"B-because I have the… prosthetic," Hinata pointed out, eyes wide and gold and staring right into Kageyama's.

"And you've had the prosthetic this entire time, what would us knowing do anything about it?" he retorted sharply, "Keep trusting me, keep jumping as high as you can and I'll keep tossing to you."

Tsukishima snickered. "'As long as I'm here, you're invincible' huh King?"

Kageyama's cheeks flared up and he whirled around. "No! That's not- I mean, I just-"

The door burst open.

"What's going on?!" Ukai yelled, panicking as they all were not twenty minutes ago, "I come to the school only to find out you lot have gone on a rampage!"

"Uh… sensei," Suga-san started, moving out of Ukai's vision so he could see Hinata on the bed, "there's a perfectly good reason for it - we found out about Hinata's prosthetic leg."

"Hinata's WHAT?!"

"Prosthetic leg," Hinata repeated, "you know already, don't you sensei? Because of the medical records?"

"I skimmed them! Why do you have a prosthetic leg?!"

"Car accident. When I was ten." Hinata was feeling strangely calm about it all now.

"You're not kicking Hinata off the team because of this," Kageyama said firmly, and everyone nodded.

"Of course I'm not! You idiots! We need our strongest decoy for the Spring Tournament!" Ukai yelled, "but how the fuck have you been playing all this time with that? Don't prosthetics hurt?!"

"Yes. A lot," Hinata agreed, still holding Kageyama's hand, "but I am going to become the ace after all!"

—

Endings? How to?

Ahh this is my first work in the Haikyuu! fandom ^u^

Anyway I wrecked my sleep schedule even more to finish this, so please tell me what you thought, and don't hesitate to point out any mistakes - especially regarding the prosthetic. I couldn't find much on taking off and taking off the leg so I have no idea how that works but I hope you found it realistic enough?

As always,

Thornsword.