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Brightness and loudness were the two overwhelming things burning in Hinata's brain, the dozens of vibrant, rainbow disco lights wrapping themselves against the four barriers, trapping the usual ball of happiness in a cage of scary sensations. The heavy bass reverberating throughout the gymnasium brutally punched the teenager's eardrums, as he feebly attempted to press his trembling extremities against them to push the deafening blows to his mind away. Squeezing his fearful eyes shut, the little multicoloured specks of the evil light did not cease, and despite the drastic decrease of pressure inside his head, his heart hammered so unbelievably loudly, that it rivalled the violence of the frightening beat.
One painful punch after another, the orange haired first year forced himself to remain in this overstimulating environment, however quickly becoming the only member of the Karasuno Volleyball Club without a gargantuan grin on his face. Hinata screamed at the noises in his mind, desperately pleading, begging for the sound of silence to envelope him in a big security blanket in that moment. A panicked tear escaped his chocolate coloured iris, as his chest suddenly tightened. It was as though cogs covered his entire rib cage, crushing his bones once an omnipotent being twisted them, torturing the poor teenager for their own psychopathic pleasure.
"Hinata?" A soothing voice asked with a hint of concern. Although the aforementioned teammate wished to reply to the comforting voice coherently, the only sounds managing to escape his dry, closed-up throat were sobs and stutters. "I-It's so l-loud and b-bright!"
Without warning, the cogs in his thoracic region restricted him further, a claustrophobic sensation filling his lungs, as the normally hyperactive Hinata fruitlessly tried to take a proper breath of air. He automatically released the almost painful clutch on his eardrums, and instead gripped his pounding heart which was going to explode any minute now.
He was going to die.
There was no doubt about it.
"Let's get you to the club room, Hinata. It's a lot quieter there." The gentle touch of a hand slowly placed itself on the gasping boy's spine, and it felt to the overwhelmed middle blocker that an electric current rapidly shot throughout his entire body. Eventually, he found himself wrapped in an affectionate embrace, as the courage to glimpse at the person hugging him consumed his conscience and he finally opened his eyes.
"S-Suga?"
"Yes, Hinata, I'm here." The silver haired setter spoke in a comforting tone, refusing to avert his gaze from the overstimulated first year, wiping away all the transparent droplets of anxiety that quickly cascaded down the younger's cheeks. However, for the generally energetic boy, who relentlessly quivered in the third year's compassionate cuddle, the burning light returned with even more strength, as if someone forced him to stare directly into the sun for eternity.
And the noise only got more unbearable. The other two crazy comrades of the tangerine loudly laughed, as the captain of the team scolded, screamed at them furiously due to their insurmountable stupidity. "S-Suga, h-help." His gasps gradually deteriorated into an episode of outright hyperventilation. The already aggressive hammering of his heart echoed throughout his mind, causing him to press his fingers even more forcefully against his eardrums but to no avail.
Suga immediately noticed the growing panic, thus fleeing from the gymnasium as fast as lightning, almost sprinting into the club room and locking the door the very minute they set foot in the silent environment.
Hinata suddenly released his deathly clutch, bolting to the farthest corner, his harsh, heavy breathing becoming the loudest sound. Rocking repeatedly back and forth, millions of tears continued to stream rapidly down his colourless cheeks. Claustrophobia overwhelmed his brain, the distance between his shivering form and the ivory walls shortening with every passing second.
Terrified cries quietly escaped the younger's throat, pleads for help nearly being inaudible at this point, as the trembling seemed to create little vibrations within the wooden, cold floor of the club room,an earthquake of panic crumbling the cliffs of the first year's mind. The clutch on his chest only tightened as the palpitations grew increasingly faster and faster and faster, the world spinning in thousands of circles, blurs crossing his vision which began blacking out at the edges. He was either going to puke out his stomach or fall unconscious... He just was not sure which would occur out of the two, pushing him further down the rabbit hole of fear.
However, the empathetic voice of the third year quickly returned, and a soft, comforting scent illuminated the dark alleys Hinata's consciousness dragged him inside, a familiar yet gorgeous scent of vanilla immediately entering his nostrils. "Hinata! Hey, hey, look at me, Hinata."
"C-Can't breathe! I-I can't b-breathe, S-Suga!" The orange haired teenager clinged onto the aforementioned setter, his chocolate irises refusing to make themselves known to the violently vibrant atmosphere as his hyperventilating alarmingly deteriorated, the dryness of his throat soaking up the moisture in the air before his lungs could grab it.
"Shhh," The silver haired boy slowly started rubbing soothing circles into the younger's spine, while the drastically smaller rapidly shook his head, blocking out any positivity Sugawara attempted to inject him with so far. "It's okay, Hinata. It's okay." The elder's usually optimistic eyes saddened slightly at the thought of being incapable of saving this hurting soul from the treacherous realm of overstimulation, as he began to feel patches of dampness form on his sky blue T-shirt, which contained the image of a standard volleyball, identical to the ones utilised in practice.
"I-I'm dying!" Silent sobs released themselves from Hinata's malfunctioning respiratory organs, as he squeezed his chocolate coloured orbs painfully closed, pressing his quivering extremities over his face in a futile attempt to conceal the trillions of transparent tears streaming down his cheeks, the whites of his eyes undoubtedly bloodshot despite the intensity of locking them away from society.
"You're not dying, Hinata. Look at me, please." The desperate tone in Sugawara's voice suddenly blurted itself out in that moment, even though he stated time and time again that he needed to remain as calm as possible in this situation. Hope surged through his veins, replacing the rush of adrenaline at the unexpected severity of the panic, as the teary, brown eyes of his underclassman hesitantly gazed at him.
Both of their knuckles were as pale as Hinata's colourless cheeks, the two squeezing each other in a tragically fruitless and painful attempt to ease the emotional pain uncontrollably racing inside of them. The amount of confusion sparking like fireworks in the setter's brain ignited a sense of guilt making little droplets brim at the edges of his own eyes, however he pushed them back with a deep inhale, realising a method he could use to calm the poor, trembling teenager.
"Good job, Hinata. Now, I know this is going to be hard, but I need you to take some slow, deep breaths for me. Can you do that, Hinata?"
The human tangerine rapidly refused, clutching, clinging onto the elder with a grip that scratched his smooth, soft skin, causing Sugawara to silently hiss to himself and grit his teeth in discomfort. But the younger could detect everything in those minutes, every decibel yelling at him, every lighting stabbing him directly in his pinprick sized pupils, and now every sign of negativity that crawled through the room. "I-I-I'm s-sorry! I-I c-can't! I-I-"
"Shhh," The silver haired boy gently placed his index fingertip on the first year's quaking, harshly bitten lips, silencing him immediately. "You can do it, Hinata. Everything is okay, you're just having a panic attack because everything was overwhelming. It's perfectly safe in here. Breathe in for four seconds, hold for seven seconds, and breathe out for eight seconds, trust me, it helps."
Reluctance rushed through the smaller's bloodstream, the inability to perform the task successfully scaring him, as he continued to hurtle down and down into a possible unstoppable state of horror if he did not slow his rapid breathing any time soon. Eventually, he filled his lungs with a large quantity of air as the elder teenager counted quite sluggishly, which provoked a small amount of frustration in him.
On the opposite end of the rainbow, the peaceful purple hue in contrast to the violently overwhelming blood red shade, relief coursed throughout the third year's mind, as he began thanking everything in the universe that the tinier boy was finally trying to breathe properly. "Oh okay, I'll count. You can do this, Hinata. Breathe in. One.... Two.... Thre-"
Scarily deafening coughs made the compassionate vice-captain flinch instantly in surprise, before he softly patted Hinata's spine so that he could release every ferocious particle that possessed his annoyingly dry throat. "It's okay, it's okay, you're just fine, Hinata. Don't worry about coughing, no one can ever calm down easily, no matter how many times this happens."
After approximately a minute or two, the coughing started to cease, and it felt like a millions kilograms were lifted from the club room by the most heavenly angels ever to exist. The forceful, shaky hyperventilation was still as prevalent as the claustrophobic environment itself though, and the whole galaxy seemed to be pressing further into the younger's skull, his head aching relentlessly from all the crimson liquid rushing to his brain while his heart gripped onto the notion that the noise was deadly and that he needed to be consumed by distress.
Yet, the presence of the silver haired setter soothed him emotionally despite the difficulties overcoming him in the moment. The chemicals in his mind developed hesitance to keep on flowing through his consciousness with every wonderfully comforting word spoken from him, like a Saint was talking to him and him alone, erasing all of his troubles with a magical touch of a hand.
Sugawara's hazel irises glimmered with empathy as they gazed into his once the pushing of the flem in his windpipe miraculously disappeared, the elder's eyes in their lonesome carrying a certain optimistic tone, any negativity being dispelled temporarily just by catching a glimpse of them. Even though the ginger haired teenager was not exactly the brightest bulb on the volleyball team, he knew one thing. He was so, so lucky to have these caring, loyal, and just generally lovely people in his life.
"Do you want to try again, Hinata?"
Concern etched itself on the taller's face unintentionally, however the intensity of the situation made it absolutely impossible for the worry to be quenched. The human tangerine nodded immediately, something new settling inside himself besides the tsunami of panic hurriedly damaging every glimmer of happiness he had, almost all of the joy at least. Determination suddenly sparkled in his chocolate irises, like the sun transforming them into a shiny copper shade, the positivity within him somehow successfully lingering onto the bright side of his conscience, instead of the dark shadow that the insurmountable fear dragged over him. "I-I think I can."
Sugawara smiled, a giant beam of satisfaction slithering across his cheeks like a cheerful snake gracefully gliding along his face. Pride filled his heartstrings, reconnecting them from the brokenness they previously held merely looking at the pain in his underclassman's pupils, which were still the size of insanely small pinpricks. "Okay, let's try again. You can do it, Hinata. Are you ready?"
A silent pause reigned the room in that second, before a quaint mumble of affirmation left the younger's now slightly bleeding lips.
The two Karasuno teammates began to take slow, deep breaths, allowing themselves to choke on the air around them if need be, however the coughing had been exterminated by the elder's earlier encouraging words for eternity, and those reassurances, the sweet phrases whispered in Hinata's ear, were just enough for him to finally descend from the space of utter anxiety, as the hellish feeling of floating into the atmosphere faded away. His heart hammered less and less, until tranquility overcame it, freeing itself from the thoughts of his senses striking against him as the tears cascaded slower down his cheeks, the waterfall evaporating with every single synchronised breath they took.
He peacefully exhaled for the dozenth time, the bliss of receiving oxygen lighting him up inside, a huge smile shining from his coppery, chocolately, sunlit irises, which emitted the exuberant energy the two were desperate to be returned. They embraced each other once again, as the shorter muttered a thanks to the silver haired setter, gripping his sky blue shirt tightly in gratefulness.
"You're very much welcome, Hinata." Sugawara softly spoke, rubbing calming circles into the younger's back once again, and he internally agreed to himself that they would be better off to just remain in this tiny yet comforting club room for this moment in time, leaning into his underclassman affectionately.
But an unanticipated gust of wind rushed into the small environment, causing the two to huddle in closer like a group of adorable penguins. Three concerned faces entered the club room, the silver haired setter and the ginger haired middle blocker instantly recognising them as Tanaka, Nishinoya and Daichi, the trio who triggered the overstimulation initially.
"Hey," the captain of the team greeted with regret evident in his voice. "Is everything okay, Suga? We saw Hinata hugging you and crying so we were just wondering if he was alright." The crazily iconic duo of second years appeared genuinely serious for once in their entire lives, nodding slowly in agreement, guilt shimmering in their irises as well.
The libero was the second one to break the suddenly awkward mutism that paralysed the room in that moment. "I know we were being really loud, Shoyo, and if that was what made you cry, I'm really sorry." The smallest boy in the whole room carefully, kindly walked over to the no longer trembling teenager and hugged him, the regret pouring out of him like a water fountain.
"Your noise did overwhelm me a bit, Nishinoya-Senpai, but I forgive you. I forgive all of you." Hinata gave a sincere, gargantuan grin to the three apologetic teammates, the captain and the other wing spiker lightly jogging towards him as well, before pulling him deeper into the friendly, beautiful brave that forgiveness had provided them all.
Like he had realised only a few minutes ago, Hinata Shoyo was so, so lucky to have these caring, loyal, and just generally lovely people in his life..