Chapter Text
Hajime woke up to a sharp pang in his head and an alarm ringing through his ears, amplifying the headache to an indescribable level. His mouth felt drier than a desert and his stomach was churning with dehydration, queasiness, and lack of food. Today’s practice was only a half day, but the practice was being held in the morning, so Hajime knew he had to wake up and pull himself together before actually going to the gym.
He remembered everything from the night before, and was embarrassed that he was almost taken advantage of so easily, and that girl– was her name Sofia or Stella? Hajime really hoped he wouldn't cross paths with her again during the games. It was embarrassing enough to get wasted at a hotel bar, and it was even more embarrassing to have a random synchronized diver girl from an entirely different country try to take you back to her room along with that.
Hajime pushed those ideas to the side and finally turned off his alarm, which provided minimal relief from his hangover headache. He pulled himself out of bed and into his bathroom, taking a quick shower before getting ready as quickly as possible, rushing out the door because he was already running late.
Hajime made his way to the gym, which was a five minute walk from their building in the Olympic Village. He walked into the gym, and practice had just started, the players engaged in a practice match against each other. Hajime was way too tired for this. He was so tired and his head was pounding. He should’ve had breakfast but he didn't have time.
He went to the place he usually sat in and made himself busy organizing his materials, trying his best to ignore his head, his inner thoughts, and his stomachache. If he lost concentration, he would start feeling more embarrassment about the way he acted last night and he knew that if he went too deep into those thoughts that he would lose his mind and probably spiral, as he had been consistently doing these past few days. He needed to get a life.
Instead of continuing on the spiral he was on, he walked away from his work station and to the coaches, who were all talking about something together. He knew that his presence wasn’t an intrusion, so he just joined their circle and they all nodded to him before continuing their conversation.
“I’d say maybe reschedule the 9am practice tomorrow to the day after. I don’t think we should overwork them right before the game.” Coach Hibarida said, and Hajime nodded.
“Not sure when this conversation started but I second that, it’s best not to practice a crazy amount just for the mental side alone, and the physical side as well. Especially with such a big match coming up, it’s probably better that we rest the athletes at least tomorrow so they are at the top of their games on match day.” He added his own voice into the conversation, and the assistant coaches seemed to really agree with what he was saying, all nodding and grunting in approval.
Coach Hibarida continued. “Then it’s settled. No practice tomorrow.” He said, and the group dispersed. At almost the exact same time, the practice match finished, and the two teams went to get water and recuperate before getting into the middle parts of practice. Hajime wondered if Team Argentina was taking the day off tomorrow, and if they were as nervous about the match as Team Japan was.
He brushed it off, and felt some anger at himself for thinking about Argentina again. He needed to get his act together and focus back on Japan.
A dark figure came into his peripheral vision and he turned to see Sakusa Kiyoomi, who he would not have predicted was the one coming to talk to him. Hajime only knew of Sakusa’s recent shoulder injury and nothing else.
“Hi.” Sakusa deadpanned.
“Need something?” He asked, and Sakusa’s eyebrows raised only slightly before he shifted slightly on his feet, like he was nervous.
“I have to tell you something about my health.” He said flatly. Hajime wished he would just stop beating around the bush and actually tell him outright what it was.
“What is it?” Hajime snapped, and he could feel his residual frustration from his terrible morning perniciously bleeding into this conversation, and he wished it wasn’t but really couldn’t control his temper to save his life.
Sakusa seemed to pause. “Um, I’m sorry it’s really hard to explain.” He started, and then quickly said, “I’ll actually just email you about it. See you later, Iwaizumi.” and he turned and left just like that. Was Hajime that obviously grumpy? He followed Sakusa as he walked back to the water station, and watched as Miya Atsumu handed him water and fluffed up his hair while saying something to him. Huh. Hajime didn’t know when that became a thing.
Hajime shrugged it off and picked up his own water off of the bench that he was standing at, and took a long sip of it. He was pretty curious about whatever Sakusa had to tell him, but he had to wait now, all because he was apparently in a visibly bad mood that nobody wanted to mess with.
He walked over to where the coaches were and checked his watch. “Hey, practice is over in a few minutes, do you want to say anything to close it out?” He asked, and Coach Hibarida jumped to check his watch, and his eyes widened at the time.
“Wow. Time really does fly!” He sighed. “I definitely should say something about tomorrow’s practice.” He nodded. “Everyone come over here!” He yelled across the gym, and the whole team jogged over to him, ready for whatever he was going to say. “Tomorrow there will be no practice because of the upcoming match. Spend that day wisely.” He started. “I’d advise against any drinking in the next few days because of the match. Stay hydrated! I’ll see you in two days for our pre-match practice. You’re all dismissed.” He said, and everyone dispersed into different conversations, some leaving as soon as possible and some staying for a bit.
Someone else walked up to him, and he thought it might be Sakusa a second time, but it was their other monotone outside hitter, Ushijima. Or wait, Wakatoshi now.
“Iwaizumi.” He greeted him, and Hajime noticed he was wearing a backpack and seemed to be fully packed up.
“Wakatoshi.” He said back, and Wakatoshi crossed his arms.
“You seem more troubled than before.” He said dryly, and Hajime felt like Wakatoshi could see through him. “Did something happen with Tooru Oikawa?” He asked. Hajime didn’t have to tell him anything, but he really felt like he had to for some reason, like Wakatoshi was some omniscient perspective who knew everyone and everything.
Hajime cringed before saying, “No. I got wasted at the hotel bar and some girl wanted to get with me but I barely escaped.” He said, the most abridged version possible for minimal embarrassment.
“Interesting.” He crossed his arms. “Will you talk to Tooru Oikawa?” Wakatoshi asked, and Hajime shrugged.
“I’ll go wherever the wind takes me.” He crossed his arms as confidently as he could.
“TOORU!” Hinata’s loud voice rang through the entire hall, and the heads of those left in the gym all turned to the open door, where a tall figure wearing a black and blue tracksuit stood. No fucking way.
Hajime felt like he was plunged into an ice bath as he heard Tooru laugh loudly and give Hinata a huge hug. He scoffed to himself and turned around, starting to pack his stuff up and ignoring everything that was going on around him. He started putting away the medical supplies that were there, and tried to do so as fast as possible.
As he was rather frantically putting his supplies, someone drawled from next to him, “Somethin’ botherin’ you?” He looked up to see Miya Atsumu standing there with a devious smirk on his face, Sakusa standing behind him on his phone, probably waiting for Atsumu to be done with whatever he was talking to Hajime about.
“What do you mean?” He asked, turning away from Atsumu. He was pretty familiar with Atsumu in comparison to the rest of the team; mostly due to his fame and reputation in the volleyball community.
Atsumu paused before saying, “Do ya know that guy who just walked in?” He asked, and Hajime swore he had a better poker face.
“Maybe. I’m all done here. See you guys in a couple days.” He deadpanned, and left. Atsumu seemed to shrug, and the two of them left through a different door than Hajime.
Hajime left out the back door, careful not to be spotted by Tooru, because he did not want to even think about their situation. Once he was in the fresh air he felt better, and he decided he ought to listen to the coach's advice for the athletes, and refrain from drinking too much despite his inner despair.
As he walked back to the village, he thought about Sakusa and Atsumu. They seemed pretty close in the gym, and it may have been Hajime’s clouded judgement, but they seemed to be a little more than friends. But that could just be biased.
Just as he started thinking about that his phone lit up with a Gmail notification from Sakusa Kiyoomi. Hajime opened it as he walked into the village, reeling back for a second because it was a bit more of a mouthful than he was expecting.
To: Iwaizumi Hajime
From: Sakusa Kiyoomi
Subject: Health Update
Good afternoon,
I’m sorry that I did not get the chance to talk to you at practice about this, as it is generally better done in person, but this should suffice given that we were short on time. I’d like to update you on my health. Most of this information is already in the coach’s hands as he had to know upon my entering of the team, but I have been meaning to relay this information to you as well.
I have a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which impacts all connective tissue in my body. For me, it mostly causes joint subluxations/dislocations as well as increased soreness. I am also more prone to injury. This has been a condition I have had my whole life, but I had yet to tell you since it was not impacting me very much so I saw no need.
However, my recent shoulder injury was due to it, as well as some smaller injuries upon coming to Paris. It will likely not impact my playing in the official matches, but there is always a possibility of injury that may be higher than other athletes. I apologize for not telling you earlier.
Thank you,
Sakusa Kiyoomi
Hajime wasn’t really expecting that answer, but he appreciated honesty from the athletes. He also now knew why Sakusa probably didn’t want to talk about it when Hajime was demanding a quick answer, because as far as he could tell, it was a pretty complicated condition.
He shrugged and got in the elevator, closing the doors quickly so that nobody else could even consider getting in. Once he was back on his floor, he speed walked to his door and locked the door behind him, taking a much-needed nap.