Song: Already Gone- Sleeping At Last

It's not Friday, but this chapter is really short so I figured I'd publish it a day early(:

Hinata figured something was up when Sugawara and Daichi appeared at his doorstep the very next day.

(Kenma was waiting in line at Gamestop for a new video game to release, so Hinata welcomed the boys in and apologized for the messy room.)

Daichi looked uncomfortable from the get go. Hinata noticed but decided not to ask. "What's up?" He crawled onto his bunkbed, unconsciously putting distance between himself and his friends.

Surprisingly, it was Daichi that spoke.  With arms folded and a determined look, he began, "Hinata, Suga and I, we're... Worried."

Here we go again.

"About what?" Shouyou flipped the pages of a magazine, pretending to be distracted. He was, in reality, extremely focused in on the situation around him.

"You haven't come to club meetings lately, and-"

He was cut off by Suga, "You haven't been answering my texts!"

Hinata kept his face blank. Pretended to be half listening. "Oh? Sorry, I've had my phone turned off for a while."

Liar.

He'd gotten every single message that Koushi had sent him.

"What about the meetings?"

"Hmm? Oh, I just need time to catch up on my homework." He saw the nervous looks on his friends' faces. "Really guys, don't worry about me. I'm fine!"

Liar.

"Okay, well, as long as we know you're okay..."

Neither one expected the radiant smile that Hinata sent them. It was like he was the personal embodiment of the sun. "I'll make sure to try and go to the next meeting, I promise."

Liar.

He looked so happy in that moment that both boys wondered if they'd read between the lines too much.

Maybe in another time, another life, that could've been true.

Maybe in another time, another life, Hinata could've been happier.