Song: Sleep Thru Ur Alarms- Lontalius

Finally, a legit chapter...

When Sugawara Koushi burst through the door, Kenma nearly got trampled on and had a heart attack at the same time.

"Where is he?!" Other boys, all friends of Hinata's from the garden club, trickled in behind Suga. They were clad in odd volleyball jerseys (custom printed names on the back and a picture of a flower on the front- very manly, indeed). Kozume's eyes went wide. He hoped Hinata (if he was even on campus) hadn't seen the outfits.

"He's been gone since break started."

Everyone collectively groaned. He wasn't at his dorm, he wasn't at the arboretum, he wasn't in class... Where the hell was Shouyou?!

***

By the time everyone decided that they wouldn't be able to find Shouyou and went home, the sky was already a rich navy blue. (Suga had made everyone promise to call him if they heard news of the boy's return.)

Everyone went their separate ways, and Tobio would've done the same, but he didn't feel like talking to Oikawa right now. He needed alone time.

He let his feet carry him along, and by the time he looked up, there it was.

The same park that he'd chased Hinata to.

He sighed. Even thought Kageyama wasn't terribly close to Hinata, he still knew that Sugawara had crossed a line, especially now that he knew the truth. The look Hinata had given him back in the arboretum had been one Tobio had given to his own teammates in high school: pleading for a friend, yet finding none.

Before he knew what was happening, Tobio was sprawled across the ground. Pain shot through his hands. He'd used them to try and break his fall, and now they were all scratched and flaky. "Fuck." He mumbled, brushing them on his dark jeans and standing up to see what had made him fall.

He found the culprit not even a foot away: Hinata Shouyou's hat. Purple, knitted, and probably made by his grandma, with a big puff ball on the top.

Kageyama's eyes became saucers.

"Hinata?" His voice rang out around the seemingly empty park.

Just before he was about to leave, having heard nothing, the sound of a raspy cough whispered through the air.

Kageyama froze.

"Hinata, is that you?"

The person tried to stifle their wheezing, but it didn't work. Tobio had them clear as day. He ran over to where the sound was coming from. Sure enough, sitting inside the top of the slide, otherwise hidden from view, was Hinata Shouyou.

And he looked like shit, in the nicest way possible.

This was even worse than the time Kageyama had talked with him at the cafe. Red eyes still puffy and sensitive from crying. Body shaking uncontrollably. Wheezing breaths. Dark circles under his eyes. Pale, pale skin.

Kageyama couldn't help but draw back slightly.

When Hinata saw Tobio, he jerked away, clawing himself backward. Now the slide blocked both of their views of one another.

"Hinata... I'm here to-"

Between gasps, Hinata rasped, "G-go away!"

Tobio took another step back. From here, he saw a flash of the boy's bright orange hair peeking out from behind the slide. "I'm just trying to help you! Why-"

"P-p-please, just l-leave." Hinata tried to hold his hands together to stop them from shaking. Nothing worked. Banged his head softly against the slide top, over and over. "G-go."

Memories. Images. Words. Guilt. Hatred. Denial. Pain.

So. much. pain.

Tobio didn't know what to do, what to say. What was going on in Shouyou's head? Would it be better for Kageyama to leave like he said?

He stuffed his hands into his pockets, where the hat was. Hinata must be freezing. It could've been no more than 35 degrees outside, yet how long had he been out here? How much was he going to suffer?

"No one can help you if you don't let them in, you know."

Silence.

Tobio took a step forward, tried to get a look at Shouyou through the slide's slots.

"I know what happened."

Four words.

That's all it took, just those four words, and Hinata Shouyou broke down in front of a friend for the first time.

He knows. They all know. They hate me. She hates me. You're a piece of shit. You killed her. You killed her, it's all your fault!

His body began to shake uncontrollably, his vision began to fade, his lungs constricted, his chest felt like it had an anvil resting on top of it.

Loud gasps escaped his lips. Was this what his sister had felt? Was this how much she'd suffered?

Hinata let the pain in, let the emotions take over him, allowed himself to be destroyed by his own being because in his head, he thought he deserved it.

For the second time that night, Hinata let the darkness of his mind swallow him.