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Description
Chapter Four

As Ukai moved Takeda to the back of the bus to let Sawamura take care of Sugawara, he tried to shake off the feeling of dread that had started to pool inside his stomach. He was responsible for all these kids and instead of taking care of them he’d ended up almost killing them. Being an adult was really not something he was cut out for. That being said, he was the grown up in this situation and he knew the kids would be looking up to him to figure out what to do next, he just hoped he could bluff his way through it long enough to keep them alive.

With a firm look of what he hoped was confidence on his face, the coach got to the rear of the bus and looked over the teenagers gathered there. Azumane looked like he’d been in the ring with the boxing club, what with a big blackish-blue bruise under his eye and a split lip. Tanaka looked relatively okay other than a knock on his head and an arm that didn’t seem to be hanging quite right. Tsukishima looked pale but there were no obvious injuries other than a few scrapes and, beside him, Yamaguchi just looked like his usual, nervous self with a few added scratches. Nishinoya was totally unconscious as Azumane held him on his broad back but that didn’t worry Ukai too much. What did worry the coach was Kageyama. The setter’s leg was pinned beneath the seats in front of him and, although he knew he would never say so, he looked to be in some pain.

It was difficult to decide where to start but thankfully Takeda-sensei seemed to have formed some sort of plan as the coach had been fretting. The teacher would have looked quite the grown-up himself if it wasn’t for his bloody nose and small stature.

“First thing’s first,” Takeda started, “We need to get everyone off the bus. Those of you who can walk please start helping the others out of the emergency exit.”

“Um...” Asahi had his hand raised, “The exit is on the right side,” he gestured to the exit door that was currently resting against the road.

Takeda blanked for a moment but thankfully Ukai was ready to help.

“Then we’ll get everyone out of this window,” he gestured to a smashed window above Kageyama’s seat, “Azumane, get Nishinoya out first and then help lift everyone else out.”

Asahi nodded and quickly climbed up and over Kageyama with the libero on his back and stepped out into the cool afternoon. He was gone for only a few seconds and then his bearded face popped back into view through the window.

“Okay,” Ukai continued, “Yamaguchi next, then Tsukishima.”

The two friends clambered over the seats and Asahi helped them out onto the road.

“Tanaka, you next.”

The wing spiker looked like he wanted to protest at going before Kageyama but a stern look from Ukai forced him outside. He gritted his teeth as Asahi lifted him out, shoulder grinding as he moved.

“Right, now you,” Ukai moved to Kageyama and used his good hand to unbuckle his seatbelt, “Azumane! Give us a hand!”

Asahi jumped back into the bus and braced his back against the seats pinning Kageyama down whilst Takeda pushed on them with his hands. The teacher could sense the weight of the bus shifting beneath them but didn’t want to startle anyone and so concentrated on the task at hand. On three, they pushed the seats forwards, releasing Tobio’s legs, and Ukai yanked him out clumsily with one hand.

“Alright, everyone out!”

Ukai helped boost Kageyama out of the window where Tanaka and Tsukishima pulled him onto the road, followed by Asahi and Takeda. Finally, with a helpless glance to the front of the bus and a short prayer that Sawamura and Sugawara would be okay, Ukai pulled himself up and out of the window.

When the bus had plummeted over the edge of the chasm, the coach had briefly thought that the two third years were still inside and he’d almost thrown up right there and then. He thanked whoever was watching over them, be it a guardian angel or plain old luck, when he saw that the two were actually fine and turned to face a new worry.

The team was gathered around the two smallest members, both of which were unconscious on the dusty road. Nishinoya looked even more like a grade-schooler without his loud personality adding to his frame but it was Hinata that seemed even more odd. He looked like a discarded toy that someone had grown tired of and even though he was unconscious his expression was one of pain.

Daichi and Suga joined the others and knelt down beside their friends, Suga absently brushing his long fingers through Nishinoya’s dark hair. As he did so, the libero’s eyelids twitched and two big brown eyes looked up at the setter in confusion. He stared for a moment, his head tilted, and then whispered,

“Mom?”

Tanaka’s cheeks filled with laughter but he held it in as Suga blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

“It’s me, Suga. Are you okay?”

“UWAH!”

Nishinoya suddenly sat bolt upright like a robot that had been switched on, whacking Asahi, who’s knee he had been resting on, in the chin. Noya teetered slightly as the blood rushed from his head and glanced at his teammates as they looked at him with relief until his eyes came to rest on Hinata.

“The bus...” he croaked.

“We kinda crashed,” Tanaka’s smile had widened a little at his friend’s return to the land of the living.

“Is everyone okay?” Nishinoya asked, despite clearly being the one on the floor.

Daichi nodded, “Mostly. We’re just waiting for Hinata to wake up.”

The libero got onto his hands and knees and shuffled towards the redhead. His head felt like he’d been hit with a service ace but he ignored it as he came to rest his backside next to the first year’s head. He picked up Hinata’s head carefully and took a deep breath.

“Um, Nishinoya, I don’t think that’s such a good ide-”

Asahi was cut off by a loud ‘SHOUUYOOOOU!’ as Nishinoya released his loudest shout straight into Hinata’s unconscious face.

“What the he-” Ukai didn’t get to finish his sentence as Hinata’s eyes fluttered open and he stared up at Nishinoya like a princess woken by a kiss.

“Senpai?” Hinata grunted as he tried to sit up but Daichi pressed a hand to his chest to keep him down, “What happened?”

“Bus crashed. You flew out the window. Bus went bye-bye. The end,” Tsukishima was getting bored of replaying the same scene over and over and so broke it down into bitesize chunks that the idiot chibi could understand.

“I ‘flew’?”

Tsukishima rolled his eyes and Yamaguchi chuckled behind his hand.

“How do you feel? Does it hurt anywhere?” Takeda-sensei’s arms hovered over Hinata like he was performing some sort of spell.

Testing his joints and wiggling his fingers and toes concluded that Hinata seemed to be in one piece. When he sat up, however, the back of his t-shirt was completely torn away and his skin was raw and bleeding on his back and right arm and leg where he’d skidded across the road. Still, if road rash was all he had to worry about after being flung from a moving vehicle then he’d count it as a blessing.

“So now what?” Kageyama asked as he held himself up on his elbows.

“Now…” Ukai shrugged, “I have no idea.”

“How about we gather all of the bags that fell out when we crashed?” Takeda-sensei suggested as he rubbed at his cracked glasses, “Maybe we got lucky and the first aid kit is here somewhere.”

Those who could walk started to gather up all the bags and added them to a pile at the side of the road next to the forest. Overall there were three hold-alls, one suitcase and, as luck would have it, a large first aid kit. Ukai even managed to salvage three of the tents that had been strapped to the roof of the bus and added them to their plunder.

“Ah, that’s mine!” Yamaguchi grabbed his suitcase and opened up the zip to reveal the contents inside.

Beneath the pile of shorts and t-shirts and jeans was a tiny sewing kit and a family-size bag of salted snacks. That won him a raised eyebrow from Tsukki.

“What?” Yamaguchi shoved everything back inside the case, “I get hungry when I’m outside!”

Daichi pointed his chin towards the three large bags, “What about those?”

The bags had been provided by the school and so all looked identical without looking inside, so Suga began investigating their contents. The first was Tanaka’s and held mostly underwear and an extra pair of sneakers as well as a magazine with some questionable images of ladies inside. The second belonged to Kageyama and contained pyjamas, two water bottles and deodorant. Nishinoya recognised his own belongings in the third bag and poured everything out onto the road to inspect. Again, it was mostly clothes but at the very bottom was a small leather pouch. He grinned widely and opened it to reveal a small cellphone.

“Eh!” Tanaka’s jaw fell slack, “But we weren’t supposed to bring our phones!”

Noya winked at his friend and wore a smug expression as he spoke, “There are no rules that can hold me down.”

Hinata’s eyes were sparkling as he mouthed ‘so cool’ in Nishinoya's direction.

“Should I call for help?” Noya asked Ukai as the rest gathered around in anticipation.

The coach nodded, for once thankful for the libero’s rule-breaking, “Yes! Call the police! Or maybe an ambulance? Call both!”

With shaking hands, Noya thumbed the ‘on’ button – he’d kept it switched off in fear of it going off in his bag and being scolded for it. The screen, however, remained blank. He tried again but to no avail.

“Why isn’t it turning on?” Yamaguchi asked, bloodied hands clasped in front of him.

Nishinoya’s face suddenly paled and he looked up at his peers with a forced smile, “I think I forgot to charge it.”

An audible slap was heard as Ukai face-palmed. Well, there went that idea. They were too far from anywhere to walk, especially with injured people and he didn’t want to send anyone off on their own for fear of what else might go wrong. He opted for the only option they seemed to have left.

“Okay, listen up! We’re going to patch everyone up here and then move into the forest to camp for the night.” Moans of protest echoed through the group, “I know it’s not ideal but we can’t risk moving Kageyama too much and I want us to have shelter for the night.” he turned to Sugawara and Daichi, “We’ll set up the remaining tents and work out a plan for tomorrow, okay?”

Alternative decisions seemed to flicker before Daichi’s eyes but he too realised it was probably their best option and nodded in agreement. He clapped his hands and gave everyone a task, just thankful that he had something to do. By tomorrow they’d all be safely back home with nothing but a cool story to tell. At least that’s what he hoped.

Description
Chapter Four

As Ukai moved Takeda to the back of the bus to let Sawamura take care of Sugawara, he tried to shake off the feeling of dread that had started to pool inside his stomach. He was responsible for all these kids and instead of taking care of them he’d ended up almost killing them. Being an adult was really not something he was cut out for. That being said, he was the grown up in this situation and he knew the kids would be looking up to him to figure out what to do next, he just hoped he could bluff his way through it long enough to keep them alive.

With a firm look of what he hoped was confidence on his face, the coach got to the rear of the bus and looked over the teenagers gathered there. Azumane looked like he’d been in the ring with the boxing club, what with a big blackish-blue bruise under his eye and a split lip. Tanaka looked relatively okay other than a knock on his head and an arm that didn’t seem to be hanging quite right. Tsukishima looked pale but there were no obvious injuries other than a few scrapes and, beside him, Yamaguchi just looked like his usual, nervous self with a few added scratches. Nishinoya was totally unconscious as Azumane held him on his broad back but that didn’t worry Ukai too much. What did worry the coach was Kageyama. The setter’s leg was pinned beneath the seats in front of him and, although he knew he would never say so, he looked to be in some pain.

It was difficult to decide where to start but thankfully Takeda-sensei seemed to have formed some sort of plan as the coach had been fretting. The teacher would have looked quite the grown-up himself if it wasn’t for his bloody nose and small stature.

“First thing’s first,” Takeda started, “We need to get everyone off the bus. Those of you who can walk please start helping the others out of the emergency exit.”

“Um...” Asahi had his hand raised, “The exit is on the right side,” he gestured to the exit door that was currently resting against the road.

Takeda blanked for a moment but thankfully Ukai was ready to help.

“Then we’ll get everyone out of this window,” he gestured to a smashed window above Kageyama’s seat, “Azumane, get Nishinoya out first and then help lift everyone else out.”

Asahi nodded and quickly climbed up and over Kageyama with the libero on his back and stepped out into the cool afternoon. He was gone for only a few seconds and then his bearded face popped back into view through the window.

“Okay,” Ukai continued, “Yamaguchi next, then Tsukishima.”

The two friends clambered over the seats and Asahi helped them out onto the road.

“Tanaka, you next.”

The wing spiker looked like he wanted to protest at going before Kageyama but a stern look from Ukai forced him outside. He gritted his teeth as Asahi lifted him out, shoulder grinding as he moved.

“Right, now you,” Ukai moved to Kageyama and used his good hand to unbuckle his seatbelt, “Azumane! Give us a hand!”

Asahi jumped back into the bus and braced his back against the seats pinning Kageyama down whilst Takeda pushed on them with his hands. The teacher could sense the weight of the bus shifting beneath them but didn’t want to startle anyone and so concentrated on the task at hand. On three, they pushed the seats forwards, releasing Tobio’s legs, and Ukai yanked him out clumsily with one hand.

“Alright, everyone out!”

Ukai helped boost Kageyama out of the window where Tanaka and Tsukishima pulled him onto the road, followed by Asahi and Takeda. Finally, with a helpless glance to the front of the bus and a short prayer that Sawamura and Sugawara would be okay, Ukai pulled himself up and out of the window.

When the bus had plummeted over the edge of the chasm, the coach had briefly thought that the two third years were still inside and he’d almost thrown up right there and then. He thanked whoever was watching over them, be it a guardian angel or plain old luck, when he saw that the two were actually fine and turned to face a new worry.

The team was gathered around the two smallest members, both of which were unconscious on the dusty road. Nishinoya looked even more like a grade-schooler without his loud personality adding to his frame but it was Hinata that seemed even more odd. He looked like a discarded toy that someone had grown tired of and even though he was unconscious his expression was one of pain.

Daichi and Suga joined the others and knelt down beside their friends, Suga absently brushing his long fingers through Nishinoya’s dark hair. As he did so, the libero’s eyelids twitched and two big brown eyes looked up at the setter in confusion. He stared for a moment, his head tilted, and then whispered,

“Mom?”

Tanaka’s cheeks filled with laughter but he held it in as Suga blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

“It’s me, Suga. Are you okay?”

“UWAH!”

Nishinoya suddenly sat bolt upright like a robot that had been switched on, whacking Asahi, who’s knee he had been resting on, in the chin. Noya teetered slightly as the blood rushed from his head and glanced at his teammates as they looked at him with relief until his eyes came to rest on Hinata.

“The bus...” he croaked.

“We kinda crashed,” Tanaka’s smile had widened a little at his friend’s return to the land of the living.

“Is everyone okay?” Nishinoya asked, despite clearly being the one on the floor.

Daichi nodded, “Mostly. We’re just waiting for Hinata to wake up.”

The libero got onto his hands and knees and shuffled towards the redhead. His head felt like he’d been hit with a service ace but he ignored it as he came to rest his backside next to the first year’s head. He picked up Hinata’s head carefully and took a deep breath.

“Um, Nishinoya, I don’t think that’s such a good ide-”

Asahi was cut off by a loud ‘SHOUUYOOOOU!’ as Nishinoya released his loudest shout straight into Hinata’s unconscious face.

“What the he-” Ukai didn’t get to finish his sentence as Hinata’s eyes fluttered open and he stared up at Nishinoya like a princess woken by a kiss.

“Senpai?” Hinata grunted as he tried to sit up but Daichi pressed a hand to his chest to keep him down, “What happened?”

“Bus crashed. You flew out the window. Bus went bye-bye. The end,” Tsukishima was getting bored of replaying the same scene over and over and so broke it down into bitesize chunks that the idiot chibi could understand.

“I ‘flew’?”

Tsukishima rolled his eyes and Yamaguchi chuckled behind his hand.

“How do you feel? Does it hurt anywhere?” Takeda-sensei’s arms hovered over Hinata like he was performing some sort of spell.

Testing his joints and wiggling his fingers and toes concluded that Hinata seemed to be in one piece. When he sat up, however, the back of his t-shirt was completely torn away and his skin was raw and bleeding on his back and right arm and leg where he’d skidded across the road. Still, if road rash was all he had to worry about after being flung from a moving vehicle then he’d count it as a blessing.

“So now what?” Kageyama asked as he held himself up on his elbows.

“Now…” Ukai shrugged, “I have no idea.”

“How about we gather all of the bags that fell out when we crashed?” Takeda-sensei suggested as he rubbed at his cracked glasses, “Maybe we got lucky and the first aid kit is here somewhere.”

Those who could walk started to gather up all the bags and added them to a pile at the side of the road next to the forest. Overall there were three hold-alls, one suitcase and, as luck would have it, a large first aid kit. Ukai even managed to salvage three of the tents that had been strapped to the roof of the bus and added them to their plunder.

“Ah, that’s mine!” Yamaguchi grabbed his suitcase and opened up the zip to reveal the contents inside.

Beneath the pile of shorts and t-shirts and jeans was a tiny sewing kit and a family-size bag of salted snacks. That won him a raised eyebrow from Tsukki.

“What?” Yamaguchi shoved everything back inside the case, “I get hungry when I’m outside!”

Daichi pointed his chin towards the three large bags, “What about those?”

The bags had been provided by the school and so all looked identical without looking inside, so Suga began investigating their contents. The first was Tanaka’s and held mostly underwear and an extra pair of sneakers as well as a magazine with some questionable images of ladies inside. The second belonged to Kageyama and contained pyjamas, two water bottles and deodorant. Nishinoya recognised his own belongings in the third bag and poured everything out onto the road to inspect. Again, it was mostly clothes but at the very bottom was a small leather pouch. He grinned widely and opened it to reveal a small cellphone.

“Eh!” Tanaka’s jaw fell slack, “But we weren’t supposed to bring our phones!”

Noya winked at his friend and wore a smug expression as he spoke, “There are no rules that can hold me down.”

Hinata’s eyes were sparkling as he mouthed ‘so cool’ in Nishinoya's direction.

“Should I call for help?” Noya asked Ukai as the rest gathered around in anticipation.

The coach nodded, for once thankful for the libero’s rule-breaking, “Yes! Call the police! Or maybe an ambulance? Call both!”

With shaking hands, Noya thumbed the ‘on’ button – he’d kept it switched off in fear of it going off in his bag and being scolded for it. The screen, however, remained blank. He tried again but to no avail.

“Why isn’t it turning on?” Yamaguchi asked, bloodied hands clasped in front of him.

Nishinoya’s face suddenly paled and he looked up at his peers with a forced smile, “I think I forgot to charge it.”

An audible slap was heard as Ukai face-palmed. Well, there went that idea. They were too far from anywhere to walk, especially with injured people and he didn’t want to send anyone off on their own for fear of what else might go wrong. He opted for the only option they seemed to have left.

“Okay, listen up! We’re going to patch everyone up here and then move into the forest to camp for the night.” Moans of protest echoed through the group, “I know it’s not ideal but we can’t risk moving Kageyama too much and I want us to have shelter for the night.” he turned to Sugawara and Daichi, “We’ll set up the remaining tents and work out a plan for tomorrow, okay?”

Alternative decisions seemed to flicker before Daichi’s eyes but he too realised it was probably their best option and nodded in agreement. He clapped his hands and gave everyone a task, just thankful that he had something to do. By tomorrow they’d all be safely back home with nothing but a cool story to tell. At least that’s what he hoped.