Chapter Text
First team up is Nekoma! Hope you all enjoy!
------------------------------
Hinata never had the best sense of direction. Even as a young kid he would always get distracted and wander off. He was naturally fast and athletic so catching the boy was much harder than one could imagine. As he grew older you would think he would have learned… But most who know him could plainly see that somehow it got worse. Hinata was a great teammate and an even better person in general on and off the court. But sometimes he needs a lot of help.
Karasuno was invited to a special tournament. Something fur for them to do. But even if it was for fun you knew that the team would still go all out. When they all looked through the bus window they could tell there were a lot of people coming to watch. Kageyama’s gaze immediately landed onto the short ginger and made sure he wasn’t about to spill his guts. Even Suga took the time to glance over at the shorter boy. But they were all relieved to see the sparkle of determination in the boy’s eyes and not that usual nauseous look.
“Everyone we know is going to be here… Nekoma, Aobajohsai, Date Tech, Fukurodani, Johzenji, Shiratorizawa, and everyone else! I can’t wait to see them all! Let’s win this thing!” Hinata yelled through the bus and everyone smiled soon yelling and cheering with the small ball of energy.
“Yeah! Let’s do this guys! Karasuno is gonna win this thing!” Noya yelled from his spot on the bus next to Asahi and everyone jumped up and cheered once again. At the front Ukai was smirking, ready to see what these boys could do out there. Knowing in his gut they had a fighting chance and could win this thing.
Once the bus came to a stop the team noticed the other buses that were parked nearby. Nekoma and Aboajohsia were the closest teams to them. Hinata and Noya were bouncing around with Yachi watching over them while the taller team members unloaded stuff from the bus. Kiyoko asked Yachi to stand with the two boys so they wouldn’t run off due to their excitement. Kageyama was helping Kiyoko with the water bottles and Tanaka was pulling stuff out of the trunk with Asahi. Suga and Daichi were looking through the bracket of teams once again and also watched the times of the other teams, trying to see if there was a way to meet up and hang out at any point.
“Alright! Everything’s put up and ready! Let’s go everyone!” Ukai yelled out and everyone smiled and headed towards the building where the event was going to take place. They let the people carrying their supplies go first while the others followed close behind.
Once everything was unpacked they began to roll all the supplies towards the building. It was hard to move through the huge crowd and it was even harder to hear through all the yelling. As soon as they realized that Noya, Hinata, and Yachi were being pushed around the entire team tried to grab them. Yachi was taken by the arm by Kiyoko, Tanaka cheering for the girl as she saved the blonde girl from getting buried underneath the people walking through the hallways.
“I got Yachi… Asahi grab Noya before he gets buried,” Kiyoko said as he lightly put her hands on either one of Yachi’s shoulders and kept the shorter one infront of her.
Asahi was able to grab Noya by the back of his jacket. Asahi pulled the much smaller boy between him and Tanaka with less effort than he thought. Noya was soon able to keep up pace with his two friends, giving Asahi and Tanaka a thumbs up once he caught his footing. The two kept the boy next to them the best they could as they made their way through. Tanaka had his “scary” glare on his face, leading away other people so he wouldn’t get bumped. Asahi on the other hand was avoided because most thought he was a scary adult. Noya just chuckled and patted the taller boy on the back as they kept walking.
Kageyama was trying to do the same with Hinata. But no matter how close the spiker got, Hinata was pushed away by some force. It was like he was in a raging ocean with no way out. Kageyama touched fingertips with the young middle blocker but was torn away as soon as the feeling came. Someone had knocked into the ginger and soon Hinata found himself falling forward. But then was pushed backwards and back onto his feet, beginning to flop between other people like a game of ping pong. Once Hinata focused himself he found that his team was getting further and further away from him by the minute.
“Come on Short stack! Move it or lose it! You can do it little buddy!” Tanaka yelled, at that same time he had to push back at some other team that was also trying to squeeze by. On the other hand Asahi was looking down at the ground as people were willing to push together so they wouldn’t bump into him.
“Hinata! Tanaka stop joking around! Does anyone see Hinata?!” Daishi yelled over the swarming of people around them.
“Hinata! Hinata where are you!? Guys! Look for him! Hurry up we don’t wanna be late for our first match! Wait... I see him over there near that sign! Tsukishima you’re the closest! Try and grab him!” Suga yelled from the front and the blonde just sighed and tried to reach his hand over the crowd and grab the visibly scared Hinata.
Hinata could see the hand reaching forward to grab him but it came too late. Hinata was pushed by the crowd and was led into a whole different part of the building. He could hear people yelling his name but it blended with all the other loud voices in the area. His neck strained as he tried to peer over the heads and spot Tsukishima or Asahi’s hair over the people. But the colors and all the different movements were making it hard to lock onto one thing. Hinata couldn’t even jump and ended up just walking with the wave of the crowd. His goal now was not to get stepped on and to get out of this mess before he loses his team completely.
‘How do I get out of this mess? I can’t even fight against all these people. Where did Suga say we were warming up again? Dang it… I can’t seem to remember,’ Hinata thought as he looked up and saw the sign leading to the cafeteria. Hinata just let out a sigh and pushed through the sea of people. Soon he was able to find the open archway leading into the cafeteria and he broke away from the crowd.
Hinata stumbled into the cafeteria, his footing somewhat off as he finally forced his way through. He twisted around to look behind him. But his feet couldn’t find steady ground and he fell backwards. Though it felt like his back had hit a wall, making him lurch forward. Hinata finally regained his footing and slowly turned around, only to see Nekoma’s team captain standing there with his team close behind.
“Hey Shoyo,” Someone said from behind Kuroo and Hinata peered around the tall blocker to see Kenma looking up at the ginger from his phone.
“Hey Kenma! Hey everyone! It’s great to see you all again! It’s been awhile!” Hinata called and in a flash the whole team was surrounding the boy, asking him questions and greeting him in their own way.
“What are you doing here? We were about to go watch your match. Shouldn’t you be with your team? Did you get lost or something?” Lev asked and Hinata just let out a nervous laugh while rubbing the back of his neck.
“Well… About that! I was kinda pushed away from my team. The huge crowd outside was too powerful and ended up separating me from the group. The cafeteria was the only open area I could escape to! I have to get back! Everyone is probably really worried about me! But I don’t know how to get to the court,” Hinata said and Kuroo just put his hand on the boy’s shoulder.
“Why don’t you come with us Chibi? We can bring you to your team since we’re heading over there to watch you play. Hey! Yaku! Do we have any extra jackets or something?” Kuroo asked and Yaku nodded, running over to a black duffle bag. Hinata just tilted his head in confusion, wondering why they would need an extra jacket.
“Here Hinata! Take this!” Yaku said with a smile and handed the boy a Nekoma team jacket. “This is so you don’t stand out! If you walk close to us and wear this people will think you’re on our team and stuff! Then they won’t try and bump into you. You can walk with me and Kenma behind Lev and Kuroo. We usually use them to clear the way with Inuoka and Yamamoto in the back to help control the traffic around us.”
Hinata took the jacket from Yaku and threw it over his head. He pulled off his Karasuno jacket and let Yaku hold it as he got situated with the red Nekoma one. Once he had put it on he noticed the team looking at him. Their eyes were sparkling and most were smiling. Hinata gave them a thumbs up as the jacket fit just as well as his Karasuno one. He wrapped the black jacket around his waist and let Yaku take his hand. Yaku was able to lead the boy into the middle of the Nekoma grouping with Kenma on his other side.
“You look great Hinata! Red really suits you!” Inuoka said with a smile that Hinata couldn’t help but return.
“Thanks for the jacket. I really like it and it’s just as comfy as my last one! But I really need to get back to my team… Thanks though!” Hinata said with a smile as he bounced in place raising the smiles of the team in front of him.
Soon they were walking towards the sea of people once again. Hinata was a bit nervous as he walked between the other shorter boys of the Nekoma team. But Yaku was there with one hand on Hinata’s shoulder. Kenma was willing to pocket his phone and held the boy’s hand for comfort. Hinata peered behind him to see Inuoka and Yamamoto keeping the crowd away in the back, Inuoka sneaking in a wink at Hinata. When the boy looked forward he saw Lev and Kuroo standing tall using their full height so they were seen.
“I hate saying this but since we’re shorter than the others we’re kinda the ones that need protecting. We don’t need a lot of it when there are less people but at this time of tear? We have to walk around the hallways like this all the time. We just follow each other like a train with Kuroo as the leader. Since Lev is new to this stuff and his sense of direction is trash he just follows Kuroo’s lead,” Yaku said with a shrug and Hinata nodded but let out a small squeak as the three were pushed over a bit.
“It’s alright Shoyo. You’ve just gotta trust the taller people and hope they can get us through. It’s just like how you trust your team will be there with you during a game,” Kenma said squeezing Hinata’s hand to get his attention. The ginger just nodded and took a deep breath and let the Nekoma team guide him towards the court. Soon he heard the sound of shoes squeaking on the polished floors and the sound of volleyballs bouncing on the ground.
Hinata was so focused on the familiar sounds he didn’t even notice that Lev and Kuroo made a sharp turn to the right. Kenma had to pull the boy along while Yaku gave him a nudge in the right direction. Hinata soon regained his thought and walked a bit faster to keep up the pace that Kuroo and Lev had set. Then out of nowhere the clicking of the door echoed through the hallway and the light flooded onto the team. Hinata smiled when the smell of the court flooded his senses. The rest of the Nekoma team couldn’t help but smile with the burning sunshine himself.
Yamamoto was the first to spot Karasuno as he could hear his buddy Tanaka yelling from where he stood. He also saw the blinding beauty that was named Kiyoko standing on the side lines setting up the water bottles and towels with Takeda. Yamamoto pointed out the crows and they all made their way towards them. Suga was the first to notice their approach and handed the ball to Yamaguchi before running up to Kuroo. Hinata noticed that he was being covered by Kuroo and Lev, standing in their towering shadows.
“Hey! Kuroo! I thought that your game was later… Anyways! We need your help! We lost Hinata on his way here and he doesn't know how to get to the court!” Suga said in a panicked voice as the smile he had on the court faded away. Lev couldn’t help but laugh as he thought Suga looked like a worried mother.
“Oh yeah! About the squirt! He’s right here! We ran into him in the Cafeteria and thought that we could bring him back to the nest,” Kuroo said, stepping to the side as he pushed Lev in the opposite direction so Suga could see Hinata.
The ginger waved at Suga who let out a relieved sigh but then looked at Hinata with a double take. He then tried to hold in his concern and unspoken aggression, turning to face Kuroo once again. Suga was surprised when he saw Hinata holding hands with Kenma and letting Yaku hold him firmly and on top of all of that he was wearing Nekoma’s signature red jacket. He needed answers and he needed them now. If not then his brain was going to be a train wreck for the rest of the day. That wasn’t a good thing when you have to take care of a bunch of highschoolers daily.
“Why is he wearing a Nekoma jacket?” Suga asked and Kuroo was trying so hard not to shake underneath the other third year’s gaze. “You better not have done anything to Hinata here or I swear!”
“Don’t worry Suga! We just needed him to wear the jacket so he blended in with the rest of the team. We thought that if other people thought that Hinata was on our team they would let him through while we walked past. No harm came to Hinata over here,” Yaku said while he ruffled the boy’s hair and nudged him towards Suga. Hinata reluctantly let go of Kenma’s hand and walked towards Suga, standing next to him and looking up at the Nekoma team.
“Well in that case! Thank you guys for bringing him here. Hinata… I’ve got to talk to Kuroo for a second. Why don’t you go warm up with the others and show them that you’re safe,” Suga said and Hinata nodded with a smile and turned to run off. But before he did he paused and walked back up to Yaku, taking off the jacket as he did.
Hinata was about to pull the jacket off his shoulders but Yaku stopped him. Hinata was confused but Yaku and Kenma just smiled at him. Yamamoto ruffled Hinata’s hair like Yaku had before with a smile while Inuoka gave him a thumbs up and a wide smile as well. Hinata knew this was their way of saying good bye and just let them have their way. But whenever he tried to take off the jacket to return it to them they just shook their heads.
“You can keep it Shoyo. To remind you that you’ve always got friends here on Nekoma,” Kenma said and Hinata smiled even wider and tackled him and Yaku in a hug. Inuoka and Yamamoto wrapped themselves around the three smaller boys. But they soon let go and let Hinata run over to his own team who welcomed him back and gave him weird looks because of the jacket he was wearing.
On the other hand Kuroo was pulled to the side by Suga. Before Kuroo could ask any questions Suga shoved a slip of paper into the older boy’s hands. Kuroo unfolded the small paper and saw Suga’s name written on it with a jumble of numbers underneath. Kuroo just looked at Suga and then back down at the paper confused.
“You know if you wanted my number you could have just asked. I’d be happy to give it to someone like you. No need to make a big deal about it,” Kuroo joked and Suga just let out a sigh but was unable to hide his smirk of amusement.
“It’s so you can contact me whenever you need help. Either that or I can contact you if Karasuno needs help. I can tell this isn’t going to be the last time we lose Hinata during an event. So if we ever need to look out for him then this can give you a way to contact us and tell us that he’s safe. We both care about him and this is a way to protect him,” Suga explained and Kuroo just nodded and pocketed the paper.
“We look forward to playing you and your team Suga. We’ll be cheering and watching you in the stands for now. But later? It’s going to be the classic cats and crows showdown. We won’t hold back… No matter how close of friends we are,” Kuroo said with a wink as he made his way back to his team.
“I’m counting on you to give us a challenge,” Suga said with a smile and walked back to his own team, his determination burning brighter than ever.
Suga noticed that the team was hugging and surrounding Hinata. But they were also looking at the jacket he was wearing. Suga felt bad for the boy as he had to explain what had happened to him. Kageyama slapped him across the back of the head more times than Suga could count. Nishnoya was jumping up and down while both of his hands were on Hinata’s shoulders. Tsukkishima and Yamaguchi weren’t one of the ones harassing the boy for answers but Suga could see the relief on their face.
Hinata might be wearing a different jacket but he was always a Karasuno Crow.
--------------------------------
Next up? Aobajohsai! Stay tuned for the next chapter and thanks for reading!