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That day, Emiko was running on about four iced coffees and her own willpower.
As she rounded the corner on to the ward, she caught Sarukui striding toward her with purpose. It was a strange sight, a usually relaxed man like her mentor striding, and it immediately kicked her brain into gear.
Oh, no.
What was going on now?
“Hey, Emiko, think you can go and find the charts for a patient for me? The man we brought in last night?”, he asked as he approached. As ever, his lips turned up in a tiny smile.
“Are they not there?”, she blurted out in disbelief. She had sworn she'd just checked those.
“Rin had them, I think.”
Ah. Well, that explained things. Rin was very much a professional, but she could also be slightly scatter-brained.
If anyone else had asked her, Emiko might have told them to go and look themselves. Except, this was Sarukui. He was the head nurse, sure, but he was also known for having an easy-going air about him: Even talking to him put people’s minds at rest, and he was good at his job, but not an overachieving, dominating good-at-their job type, like the doctors that some of her friends- especially Rin- got crushes on way too often. Sarukui to her seemed to be more of a sweet, friendly uncle figure. In short, while Sarukai wasn't always her favorite person to work with, he was somebody she admired, and Emiko was well aware that he let her get away with a lot.
So she sighed and muttered; “I’ll find it”, before turning on her heels.
A quiet “thank you” followed her through the double doors out into reception.
She had seen Rin there earlier, gossiping as usual with the receptionists.
“What brings you over, young Emiko?”, Takane asked. She batted her eyelashes, leaning over the wooden desk, and Emiko attempted not to laugh. Takane was only a few years older than her, and she could always be counted upon to lighten the mood.
“Was Rin carrying anything earlier when she came out here?”
Just along the desk from Takane, Naoko held one hand over the phone he was speaking into and asked; “You mean this?” With his other hand, he retrieved a clipboard from behind his computer screen and held it out.
Emiko let out a breath of relief. “Oh, you’re a lifesaver. Sarukui sent me to find it.”
A patient entered through the doors from the main part of the hospital and Emiko pushed away from the counter, planning to head straight back to the ward and leave Takane and Naoko to it.
She caught a glimpse of the tall man wandering down the corridor, did a double-take, and paused. Exchanging a glance with Naoko, whose mouth had dropped open, she wondered if this was really happening.
The man standing in front of them was Bokuto Koutarou, star of Japan's National volleyball team. He had featured prominently on the large poster advertising an international game just outside the hospital, and Emiko had walked past it nearly every morning on the way in to work.
Takane spoke because it seemed that Naoko had lost the ability to do so.
“Can I help you?”
“Hi!” And that was definitely Bokuto; there was no mistaking that enthusiasm. Even for someone who didn’t really follow volleyball, Bokuto’s personality was well-known. “Is Sarukui working today?”
The three staff members immediately exchanged glances.
Emiko felt like her mind was imploding in on itself. Surely it was the lack of sleep she was suffering from: Staying up and scrolling through random Youtube videos last night had clearly been a terrible idea.
Takane said; “… He is.”
“Awesome! Is he around for me to talk to him?” Bokuto looked back and forth, as though he expected Sarukui to appear at that very instant.
“I’ll go find him”, Emiko said. Her voice was an octave above its normal resting place, and she walked away faster than she normally would, struggling to appear calm.
As she strode away, Naoko’s mouth finally caught up with his brain, and she caught the beginning of what was sure to be a million questions come flowing out.
As soon as she was through the doors, she half-sprinted towards Sarukui, only slowing down when he raised an eyebrow at her.
“Ah, Emiko, did you get the chart?” She held it out to him. “Thank you.”
He lifted the first page and Emiko watched as his eyes scanned over it, flicking up and down, up and down.
“Bokuto Koutarou is in reception!”, she blurted, unable to hold it in. “And he’s looking for you!”
“Oh.” Sarukui blinked. He seemed rather unperturbed by the statement. “Okay. I’d better go out there.”
Emiko stared as he walked away. Just what was going on there?
Turning, she spotted Rin talking with Terumi, one of the older nurses, and sprinted over to grab her friend’s arm.
Rin’s long dark hair, hair Emiko had always been slightly jealous of, fanned out behind her from her ponytail as Emiko pulled her along the ward.
“Ah- Emi- What’re you-?”
“Shh!” Emiko ducked her head, trying to avoid the questioning stares of patients and the other staff alike. Terumi had her hands on her hips as she watched. “Just look!”
“At what?”
Emiko pointed at the doors, and Rin narrowed her eyes before cracking one of them open and peering around.
Joining her, Emiko heard the unmistakably buoyant voice of Bokuto Koutarou speaking, and her mentor answering in return.
“I was just wondering if you were coming to the game tonight.”
“Of course.” Sarukui’s tone was as light as always. “You don’t play here all that often. Konoha got us tickets.”
“Komi, too?”
“Yep!”
“Great! 'Kaashi was talking about this place he found that we can go to after, apparently they do the best…”
Emiko felt Rin tapping her arm and she leaned away, letting the door close softly. The two exchanged glances and then scampered along the ward to the small alcove, at the other end, that acted as a break room.
When Sarukui returned to the ward he was grinning, not his usual subdued smile. Rin led the charge. She sidled up to their mentor before he could even take five steps, while Emiko approached from the opposite side.
“So… How do you know Bokuto Koutarou?” Rin could do a good job of playing innocent when she wanted to, with all large eyes and a serious face.
“Is that what you came to ask me?”, Sarukui hummed. He made his way over to the emergency drugs and hefted the bag out to begin checking through, forcing the girls to trot at his heels and squeeze into the closet space behind him. Emiko wondered whether he was really listening to what they were saying.
“Yes!”
“We went to school together.”
“Wow, really?”, Emiko breathed. The most famous person from her school had been in the local newspaper for accidentally setting a billboard on fire. “A star like that…”
Sarukui snorted. When Emiko and Rin turned quizzical stares on him, he explained; “Sorry, you sounded like one of our friends then. Yeah, he and I go way back.”
Rin tilted her head. “What was he like in school?”
“He was… The same, in a lot of ways.” Sarukui’s face grew fond as he spoke, which Emiko thought made for an odd picture as he searched for the date on their glucose. “That personality of his is genuine. He’s always been like that. But he’s grown up a lot, too.”
Emiko figured that was an honest enough answer.
She turned away at the distant calls of a patient for assistance, disappointed that the drama was already resolved. It was the most interesting thing that had happened to her so far that month and, she realized sadly, it probably would remain so.
That night, on the bus home, she and Rin watched the game and tried to spot Sarukui in the crowd.
*
Two months later, everyone had largely forgotten about Sarukui’s visitor. Emiko herself only really thought about what had happened when she saw advertisements for V1 league games; when she mentioned to her parents on a visit home that her mentor, who she had previously thought nice but a little boring, had a famous friend; and, for some odd reason, when she went on a disastrous date at the zoo and made eye contact with a large horned owl.
The only time that it came up at work was when a new nurse- a nervous-looking young guy that seemed even more nervous when Rin threw her arm around him and announced she would take care of him until Terumi scolded her- arrived, and Takane and Naoko shared the gossip with him.
“Sarukui seems kind of dull, huh?”, Takane had crowed, and Yasahiro had stared at her and shaken his head slightly; either that, or he was just shaking. “He never tells us about his personal life, rarely ever comes out with us… But he’s friends with a pro athlete.”
“R- Really?”, Yasahiro had stammered. “Who?”
“Bokuto Koutarou.”
Yasahiro nodded politely, and it was immediately apparent that he had no idea who that was.
They had ended up crowding around Rin’s phone, watching national team highlights for the next ten minutes.
“Wow, he’s good”, Yasahiro murmured.
“I like Ushijima better”, Rin, ever-controversial, had announced.
“But Bokuto seems nice!”, Takane argued. “I feel like if I ever actually met Ushijima, he would step on me.”
“Well, he’s certainly tall enough.”
Now, sitting in the café at the hospital, Emiko found herself checking her phone for the latest V1 league news. Usually, she ate in the staff room, but her rough morning had been topped off by her forgetting her lunch, and so she had decided to isolate herself in the canteen.
“Hey, are you a nurse here?”
She glanced up at the man speaking to her. He was tall, with light brown hair, and a familiar face. Emiko couldn’t quite place where she knew him from.
“Yes.” Scrambling to her feet, Emiko wondered whether someone needed medical help. More likely he wanted to ask her where the nearest vending machine was, she thought bitterly.
“Do you know Sarukui?”
Sarukui?
Emiko squinted at him, and the reason his face was so familiar became apparent: It was Konoha Akinori, the guy who worked for that one pharmaceutical company. He was fairly well-known among the local hospitals, always showing up to give talks about their latest products via lunch and learns, where he would present a powerpoint and answer any questions they had. He always dressed nicely, too. She and Rin had speculated before as to how well-off he must be. Anyone who wasn’t in the medical field may not have recognized him from the posters advertising his company that they kept around the hospital, but Emiko did.
Why was he here, and looking for Sarukui? Was there some problem with a batch of medication? But then why look in the canteen? And why look for him specifically?
“Yes, I work with him, actually”, she replied, struggling to look composed and not like she was just inhaling pasta.
Konoha’s face brightened.
“Can you give this to him, please? He left it in the bar when we were out the other night.” He held a jacket out in one hand, one that Emiko vaguely recognized from seeing it hanging in the staff room in winter.
“Of course.” She gave a small, half-formal bow. “Thank you.”
“Thank you.” He breezed away without another word, and Emiko wondered whether that had just happened.
In a daze, she finished her pasta and then headed back to the ward, pausing at reception. Takane was talking on the phone, but Naoko raised an eyebrow at her.
“You’ll never guess who just gave me Sarukui’s jacket.”
“Hmm… Ushijima Wakatoshi?”
“No!” Emiko hit him lightly, and he cracked a small, rare smile. “Konoha Akinori!”
The smile vanished. “Who?”
“The pharmaceuticals guy!”
“Oh?... Oh! I know the one! For real?”
“Yep!”
Naoko scratched at his head. “Wow. Sarukui seems like a normal guy, but surely there’s something else going on there.”
Emiko stared. “How do you mean?”
“What if he’s secretly rich?”, he wondered. “Rubbing elbows with all these other rich people.”
Takane had hung up the phone and she wheeled her chair over to join the conversation. “Or maybe his family has ties to some shady business. It would make sense- professional sports, pharmaceuticals. It all sounds rather suspect, doesn’t it?” She tapped the side of her head.
“I’m sure he’s not.” Emiko laughed at the very thought of it: Sarukui, Sarukui, involved in something like that?
Naoko mused; “Maybe they’re dating?”
“What? Who?”, Takane cawed.
“Sarukui and Konoha.” He indicated the article of clothing on Emiko’s arm. “Leaving your jacket with someone is kind of…”
“He said Sarukui just left it at the bar”, Emiko said. She paused. “But maybe…”
“Oh, did Konoha return my jacket?”, Sarukui asked, and Emiko found herself leaping almost three feet into the air.
He was stood behind her, smiling as normal, but there was an expectant gleam in his eyes as he looked at her.
“Ah, yes.” She handed it over. “Here you go.”
“Thank you.” Sarukui walked past, into the ward, and Emiko waited for the doors to close behind him before she sheepishly followed.
*
Yasahiro was alright, Emiko decided. Just very, very shy.
“Do you see the way Emiko changes the bag?”, Sarukui asked, as the three of them hovered by the supply closet out in the hall, and Yasahiro jumped and nodded. “That’s how you should be doing it, okay?”
The young man turned his gaze to her. “Do you think you could show me again?”
She looked at Sarukui and he nodded.
“Alright, then.”
She once more began her demonstration, only to freeze when she saw who was walking down the corridor toward them.
Emiko had been stunned when she met Bokuto Koutarou, but that was largely because she had not been expecting it. She had been surprised when she recognized Konoha, even though she hadn’t known either of them very well.
Except the man walking towards them now, his hair drawn into a ponytail and his hands tucked inside the front pocket of his dark hoodie, was so very familiar. She and her housemates watched his videos all the time. Rin said he was boring, but Emiko thought he was hilarious in a low-key sort of way.
“Hey, Kenma!”, Sarukui greeted Kodzuken with a wave. “Long time no see.”
Emiko turned what she hoped would be recognized as an angry, betrayed glare on her mentor, because how dare he not mention that he knew Kodzuken. Yasahiro was also silent, eyes large, although she was unsure whether that was because he knew who the Youtuber was or because he didn’t know what was happening. He could be a little hard to read sometimes.
“Hey”, Kodzuken greeted, and his voice was as hypnotically calm as in his videos. “How have you been, Sarukui?”
“I’m good. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Akaashi told me you’re house-sitting for him while he’s away. He decided to leave early, so he asked me if I could drop the keys off with you.” With that, Kodzuken produced a bundle of keys, a cute owl keyring dangling among them, from within his hoodie. His cat-like eyes squinted as he gave a tiny smile.
Emiko just about died.
What the hell?
“Ah- thank you.” Sarukui took the keys, and they jangled noisily as he placed them in his pocket. “See you around, maybe.”
“Yeah, see you.” Kodzuken raised one hand in farewell before slouching back down the corridor, the same way he had come. Emiko fought the urge to drop to her knees and beg him no to go.
Somehow, she remained silent as he walked away. As soon as he had rounded the corner, Emiko turned to Sarukui incredulously.
“You know Kodzuken?”
Yasahiro stared at her. “You know Kodzuken?” He sounded excited. He was probably happy to have met someone with the same interests.
Sarukui looked between the two of them. “It’s just Kenma. Do you guys know him from those videos he does? They’re quite popular, right? Bokuto told me he’s made some good money from them.” His bemusement appeared genuine on the surface, although there was a hint of teasing underneath. Emiko had the distinct sense her mentor was trolling her. Still, there were more important matters at hand.
“Bokuto Koutarou knows Kodzuken?”, she all but screamed. She wanted to die. She had been getting more into volleyball lately, and Bokuto remained one of her favorite players, although she found herself liking the Black Jackals in general. The thought of one of her favorite YouTubers hanging out with one of her favorite players was insane- she was fairly certain that Bokuto was about twice Kodzuken’s size- and it was even weirder to imagine Sarukui there with them. She continued to stare at him, attempting to copy and paste his tired form into the scene in her head. It simply didn't work.
“Yes?” Sarukui’s face twisted in confusion. “Stop staring, we have things to do.” His expression relaxed. “If you guys work hard today, I might introduce you.”
Emiko had never worked harder in her life.
*
“Did you see his stream last night though?”
“Yes! His cat!”
“It was so cute, right?”, Emiko enthused, and Yasahiro nodded, beaming.
Rin rolled her eyes as the three of them rounded the corridor together.
“Ever since you met that Kenko guy-”, she began.
“Kodzuken”, Emiko corrected with a smile.
“Whatever”, her friend scoffed. “You two haven’t shut up. I miss the quiet Yasahiro that used to follow us around like a puppy.”
Their colleague looked somewhat upset at that, so Emiko shot him a smile and said; “Ignore her, she’s just teasing.”
“I am not.”
They pushed through the doors onto the ward, clustering at the far end where most of the beds were, thankfully, empty for the time being. They had been having a fairly quiet week.
Although, looking at Sarukui, Emiko didn’t know how long it was going to stay quiet.
For the first time in the whole year or so that she had known him, Sarukui looked like he was frowning. Or, not exactly frowning, since his lips were drawn upward in what seemed a perpetual smile; rather, his eyebrows were forced down in a tight line, and Emiko had come to rely on them as an indicator of his emotions. He was speaking with a patient, a man with dark hair and gangly long limbs sitting on the bed in front of him, still wearing casual clothes rather than a gown.
Rin was staring in the same direction. “Yikes, I wonder what’s going on there.”
She looked to Emiko, and the two traded a glance before, simultaneously, they dashed back out of the doors to the reception area.
Naoko was tapping away on the computer and, as they approached, Emiko saw that he was putting in the order of supplies for the ward: He and Takane took turns, so it had to be his week. Naoko often got upset when he was interrupted while concentrating, so they headed straight for Takane.
Before they could even speak, the receptionist told them; “If you’re going to ask about the guy we brought in just now, he’s a V1 league player.”
“Ooh!” Emiko turned to Rin. “Maybe he knows Sarukui through Bokuto!”
“Sarukui came to greet him, but then he started lecturing him.” Takane shrugged. “I don’t know why. They know each other, though.”
“Thanks, Takane.”
Once they entered back onto the ward and caught up with Yasahiro, who gave them a worried look, he had already made his rounds to the patient in the bed beside the volleyball player. The two of them hovered behind him, listening in on the conversation when he approached the athlete.
“And, really, of all things, laser tag?” Sarukui’s voice had a strange tone to it: Frustration and exhaustion, but also a slight tremor, as though he were trying to conceal a laugh.
The man protested; “My whole team was going…”
Sarukui sighed. “Well, I’m glad you’re making friends and having fun, but just be more careful in the future. Also, stop fussing and let the doctors do their jobs rather than insisting you’re fine.”
“But I am fine-”
“Stop. I know you want to get back to playing, so let them help you.”
There was a pause, and then the man continued; “… Okay. Are you going to tell the others?”
“I expect they’ll find out. Anahori will probably put something on one of his hundreds of social media pages.”
“Probably.”
Emiko waited until Sarukui was at the other end of the ward, by the break room, before she approached him.
He looked up at her as she approached and then away, to where he was washing his hands in the porcelain basin at the back of the room.
“… Sarukui?”, she began cautiously. “How come you’re friends with so many volleyball players?”
She felt strangely nervous, and it took her a moment to figure out why: Before she had thought that Sarukui never shared much about himself with them, but now she realized that they had also never really asked before. When she and Rin had joined the ward together, they had simply seen him as the relaxed older nurse that they could often get around if the topic wasn’t too serious. But nothing more than an authority figure, and definitely not a friend, not a person that you got to know.
“Oh.” Sarukui’s smile touched his eyes now. “Well, it’s just Onaga-” He indicated the man in the bed, “-and Bokuto, really, and our other friend Washio. We all went to school together. We played on the same team.”
Emiko stared. “You played volleyball?”
“Yeah.” His upturned lips split in a grin. “Why, is that surprising?”
“A little”, she answered honestly, and he flicked the water from his hands at her before reaching for a paper towel.
“Hey!”
*
Over the next few weeks, Emiko endeavored to learn more about their head nurse.
“What, do you like Sarukui now?”, Rin had cried, when Emiko told her that the two of them were going to get coffee on their break together. “Or are you just into him because you want him to introduce you to his friends?”
“Don’t be ridiculous”, Emiko huffed back at her friend, a buzz of irritation ringing in her ears. She certainly didn’t see Sarukui in that kind of way, and even if she did, he was her colleague. It would be unprofessional.
Besides, she had seen the way Rin looked at Doctor Ito, and she never teased Rin about that.
She and Sarukui were walking back with their mugs, talking- it turned out Sarukui had been born and raised in Tokyo and knew the city like the back of his hand, whereas Emiko herself had only moved there to study a few years before, so she was still finding new areas to explore- when a man walking past them stopped and doubled back to face them.
“Hey- aren’t you Akaashi’s friend?”
Emiko blinked. The man looked tired and slightly stressed: His long, unkempt hair framed a pinched face with dark circles under the eyes.
He was, unsurprisingly, talking to Sarukui.
“Ah- yes.” The head nurse sipped his coffee. “It’s Tenma, right? You were at Bokuto’s game the other month.”
“I was doing research”, the man replied amicably.
Emiko shuffled her feet. The hospital was right across the street there, and they only had a few more minutes of break…
Something occurred to her.
“Wait- Udai Tenma? The author?”
Of course, Sarukui knew him. When she had mentioned to Yasahiro the other week that she had begun watching volleyball regularly, he had recommended Udai Tenma’s new manga to her: She had been meaning to buy it. He said that it was about his only knowledge of the sport.
“It’s so exciting!”, Yasahiro had enthused, when he told her about it. “Like whoosh! But also really funny!”
Tenma smiled, a tired smile. “That’s me.”
“It’s been a while”, Sarukui continued, unfazed by Emiko's interruption. “Have you heard from Hinata and the others from Miyagi?”
“Not really. I mean, I do talk to Hinata occasionally, and I often see Akiteru- that’s Tsukishima’s brother, I don’t know if you remember him- so I sort of casually keep in touch with that crowd. And I hear a lot through Akaashi. He says Hinata is doing well, and Kageyama, too. How have you guys been?”
“Oh, fine.” Sarukui shrugged and took another drink of coffee. “You probably hear more about Bokuto than I do." He rolled his eyes. "Konoha is always busy, it feels like. Yukie and Kaori are talking about moving in together, but they said Bokuto would be banned because he keeps eating all of their food whenever he visits one of them.”
“Ha." Tenma glanced to Emiko, and she suddenly got the feeling that he was aware of her prior impatience. "Well, it was nice to see you, Sarukui, but I should probably get going.” He looked down the busy sidewalk.
“Yeah. If there’s anything I can help you with at all, just ask. I mean, obviously, I won’t know as much as Bokuto or Hinata, but I play with Konoha’s amateur team occasionally.”
Emiko glanced at him. That was news to her, too.
“Thanks. Will do.”
Inside the hospital, Takane and Naoko were staring and whispering to each other. They must have seen the scene across the street, she figured.
She eyed Sarukui suspiciously. He was smiling to himself, looking away, and Emiko suddenly had the distinct impression that he was aware of all the gossip and was intentionally ignoring it.
Shaking her head, she decided to go and search for Yasahiro. She needed to ask him where she could find that manga for sale.
*
Evening shifts on Saturdays sucked in general, but on a day when hardly any of her friends were working, Emiko felt especially drained. She’d had two coffees in the last hour and it was about all that was getting her through. Rin and Takane were off out somewhere, having drinks with a few of the other nurses from the other wards, and Yasahiro was probably sleeping or watching Youtube, which seemed to be all he did in his spare time.
At least she had Naoko, who threw her a sympathetic glance every time she slouched past reception, and Sarukui, who grinned when he saw the bags under her eyes and told her he’d brought some kind of fancy coffee- recommended by one of his celebrity friends, no doubt- and was hiding it in the back of the weird cupboard in the staff room, the one that sat away from the others and whose door kind of hung on the hinges so people tended to avoid using it.
Hovering outside the bathroom door and waiting for a patient she was escorting to emerge, she couldn’t help listening in as Terumi talked in with one of the doctors, an older man that Emiko didn’t know.
“He wouldn’t let me near him at all”, the man said.
Terumi hummed. “He’s an odd one.”
“He’s frightening. Did you hear the way he spoke to Dr. Kasai?”
“I know, I would never have dared.”
“And such behavior from a professional athlete.” The doctor sighed. “I thought he would have been more mature than that.”
“Didn’t he play for the national team?”, Terumi asked. “His name is familiar.”
"I don't really follow volleyball."
Emiko didn’t hear the rest; her patient appeared from inside the bathroom, and she helped him back onto the ward and into his bed. As soon as he was safely tucked inside his sheets, she went to find Sarukui.
When she spotted him, he was talking to a patient- a tired-looking pregnant woman. She hovered nearby, pretending to check the patient’s notes, until he was done.
Clearly, she hadn’t fooled him: He immediately turned to quirk an eyebrow at her.
She hesitated, feeling silly. “Um… Terumi was telling me about a difficult patient. Apparently, he’s a volleyball player, so I thought you might know him or something…”
The eyebrow traveled further up Sarukui’s forehead. “What’s his name?”
“I’m not sure”, Emiko admitted.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know, I just heard her talking about him.”
Sarukui gave her a look.
“I know, I’m sorry!”, she blurted out. “I don’t know if it was the right thing to do, but I just thought that maybe you could help.”
He sighed. “Come on.”
They marched along the hall, and it did not take long before they heard raised voices.
Sarukui jerked his head in the direction of a bed with a curtain pulled around it.
Peering around the curtain, Emiko saw a man with dark curly hair, his long limbs stretched out above the covers. He was scowling up at Doctor Ito, who held his hand up, a small medical pocket torch in one hand.
It was Sakusa Kiyoomi. She recognized him from Black Jackals games she had seen. Snatches of commentary drifted through her mind unbidden: Strong receiver, puts a nasty spin on the ball, flexible.
“I can’t help you if you won’t let me”, Doctor Ito was saying. He was facing away from Emiko, but he sounded frustrated: He was generally considered charming, and probably wasn’t used to patients getting angry with him.
“I don’t need your help”, Sakusa snapped, and his voice was low yet reedy. “I keep telling you that.”
“Well?”, Emiko whispered, drawing back before anybody could realize they were there. She turned to Sarukui, who also moved back behind the curtain. “Do you know him?”
Sarukui didn’t look happy. “Ah. Yeah, kind of. But I don’t know if he knows me.”
“It can’t hurt to try and speak to him, can it?”
“I guess not.” Sarukui shot her one last glance before pushing in through the curtain, and she followed him silently. “Excuse me, doctor.”
Dr Ito seemed a little irritated, but also relieved. It was an odd combination, and Emiko almost wanted to laugh at his expression. Without a word, he nodded to Sarukui and then Emiko in turn, and took a step backward.
“Hello, Sakusa”, Sarukui began pleasantly, adopting a tone that was similar to yet not-quite his usual bedside voice. “I don’t know if you remember me, but I played against you a few times back in high school.”
Sakusa looked him up and down warily. “You’re Sarukui Yamato. You played for Fukuroudani. You wore number 3.” He looked at the doctor. “See, I told you my head is fine. Can I go now?”
“What are you doing here?”
“I hit my head. They want to check me for a concussion, but they don’t need to. I’m fine.”
He didn’t look fine, Emiko thought: He was deathly pale, the kind of pale you only saw on someone who had recently experienced something traumatic, and sweating. And the team probably wouldn't have sent him there if they had judged him to be fine.
She focused on pouring him a glass of water from the jug by the bed and barely noticed when Doctor Ito slipped out, taking the opportunity to escape.
Sarukui was nodding. “Woah. How did you manage that?”
“What?”, Sakusa snapped, his eyes jerking back to Sarukui. Emiko was surprised Sarukui didn’t flinch, but he still maintained his easy smile.
“How did you hit your head?”, Sarukui clarified.
“It was during a game. It wasn’t even my fault, Bokuto wasn’t watching where he was going-”
“Is Bokuto okay?” Sarukui's voice was sharp.
“He’s fine”, Sakusa said, quieter than before. “Thankfully. I think I just caught his shoulder.”
Sarukui continued nodding, his face sympathetic. “That’s always a nasty collision. Didn’t lose any teeth, did you?”
“No. The connection wasn’t even that hard. I’m fine, honestly.” Sakusa was gritting his teeth, but Emiko still considered that an improvement over his previous raised voice. “I just need to be out of here.”
“The game is over now, right?” Her mentor moved around Sakusa’s bed, pretending to be casually checking things over and arranging items. Sakusa watched him warily. “Did you guys win?”
“We did.” Sakusa swallowed, and his pulse jumped. “But I need to get back to Osaka. I can’t stay here.”
“What’s so bad about Tokyo, huh?” Sarukui put his hands on his hips. “Don’t tell me you’ve suddenly developed a fondness for the kansai dialect?”
Sakusa snorted but otherwise stayed silent. His hands were twisting in his bedsheets.
“Or is it just the hospital?” He was still speaking lightly, cheerily, not really looking at Sakusa. “I remember you were always wearing a mask at competitions. It’s clean here, I promise.”
“I’m better than I used to be.” Sakusa was speaking quietly and Emiko strained to listen, unsure if she even should. “If I stay here… They want to do all these tests, and-” He glared in the direction where the doctor had departed earlier. “If I let them, I’ll start to assume the worst again.”
Sarukui finally looked at him. “It’s okay. Nobody likes coming to the hospital, especially when they’re hurt or injured. It really sucks, but if you are injured, the damage caused by us not checking could make it even worse. You need to let us take care of you. If it turns out you are fine, then we'll let you know, and you'll be on your way. We’ll be as fast as we can, I promise. Trust me, we want you out of here again quickly, too.” He gave a cheeky grin.
Sakusa didn’t say anything, simply stared at him, although the glare had turned into more of a wary, guarded look.
Emiko held her breath.
“Do you want me to call anyone?”, Sarukui asked, his voice soft, and Sakusa sniffed.
“I suppose you could call my cousin. Komori Motoya. He’s meant to be on his way here tomorrow for a game.”
“I’ll give him a call. And I’ll let him know not to worry.”
Sakusa nodded stiffly.
Sarukui left, and Emiko followed.
“Did you really play against him?”, she whispered when they were at a safe distance, unsure what else to ask. Sakusa was so imposing in a game, and she couldn't imagine being on the receiving end of his spikes, but the more he had spoken, the smaller he seemed.
“A few times. Even back then, he was extremely good. The kind of guy you remember playing against.” He shrugged, and then half-turned to her. “Thank you, for letting me know he was here. I think it helped, seeing someone familiar- or, vaguely familiar, anyway.”
Emiko smiled to herself. She had looked up to Sarukui before, but now it was different, she felt: Now she actually appreciated him. He had gone from a two-dimensional figure in her life, to a myth, to a real person, somebody that she actually maybe wanted to be friends with.
“No problem”, she said.
*
“Hey, is Sarukui around?”
That phrase was starting to get on Emiko’s nerves. Yet again, the voice was oddly familiar, and she turned slowly.
She had just wanted to get to the ward, have her lunch break, finish her shift, and head home. It really hadn't been a good day: Being late for work only seemed the cherry on top of the other problems she had faced.
Turning, she spied that people in the corridor were staring; including Yasahiro, who was carrying a coffee- probably for one of the doctors- and who stared at her with the kind of panicked expression that told her to turn around.
When she saw who it was addressing her, she realized why.
The actor, Komi Haruki, was standing before her, staring expectantly. He was wearing casual clothing and was far shorter in person than he seemed on the billboards.
Emiko couldn’t even find it within herself to be surprised.
“I’ll go and get him for you.”
Wandering onto the ward, she spotted Sarukui immediately, showing something to Rin: It was a familiar scene, one that reminded her of their first few days when they stuck close to his side every minute. She marched up to them without pause.
“Sarukui, there’s some guy outside. He’s looking for you.”
Sarukui tipped his head. “What guy?”
Emiko merely shrugged.
She couldn’t hear exactly what Sarukui and Komi talked about, but she heard the word lunch mentioned, and her own stomach began to growl at the thought.
“Wow”, Yasahiro breathed at their shared lunch break later, his eyes wide, “I can’t believe Komi Haruki was here. And after Kodzuken, too!”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me he was here, Emi”, Rin huffed. Her hair was sticking to her face where she rested one hand on her cheek.
Emiko shrugged and carried on spearing her salad with the little fork that came with it.
“This ward is becoming more of a circus every day”, sighed Terumi, and Emiko couldn’t help but agree.
*
It was late, the beginning of a long night shift: Hinata Shouyou and Kageyama Tobio were the bickering couple at the end of the ward, and this time Emiko knew exactly who they were. She didn’t want to admit it, but she had begun to watch volleyball much more frequently since Sakusa’s visit to the ward, even extending her knowledge to teams outside of the Black Jackals. Rin still said it was boring at first, but Emiko had caught her watching over her shoulder as she hung out at Emiko’s place, when she was pretending to listen to music.
She sighed as she tuned back in to the yelling, attempting to soothe the patient in the next bed along with a false smile.
“Stop moving and let them examine you, moron!”, Kageyama’s unmistakable voice cried out.
And then Sarukui’s, hushed but stern; “Kageyama, if you don’t shut up I’m going to have to make you leave.”
“But he’s hurting himself! He-”
“Alright. Go outside before I call security.”
“But-”
“Kageyama.”
Kageyama pushed through the curtain, and Emiko barely caught a glimpse of him, of night-black hair and strong shoulders and eyes with heavy bags underneath.
Choked sobs began to ring out.
“Hinata”, Sarukui murmured. “Hey, Hinata, it’s okay. Who did you want me to call?”
“Can I maybe have my phone, please?”
Emiko didn’t stay to listen. She followed Kageyama outside, and found him halfway down the corridor, glaring at a vending machine. He entered a code and then paced back and forth for a minute before flopping onto one of the seats lining the corridor.
“You have to kick it.”
He jumped, as though only just realizing that she was there.
Emiko kicked the machine before lifting the drink out- some kind of sports drink that promises hydration even at the most adrenaline-pumping times- and handing it to him. “Here.”
“Thank you”, he murmured as he took it. As soon as it was in his hands, he slumped back against the seats, leaning his head back against the wall with his eyes closed.
“What happened?”, she asked, and Kageyama opened one eye to stare at her suspiciously. She was not offended; he was probably wondering if she was a fan. She knew some girls could get kind of crazy with their attraction. And sure, Kageyama was good-looking, she had to admit, but not really her type.
Eventually, he deflated, collapsing in on himself and leaning forwards on his thighs.
“I’d just picked him up at the airport”, he said into his hands. His voice was strained. “We were both coming home, for the off-season, for a few weeks. My flight was a few days earlier. We were just leaving and- some kid- ran in front of the car. I swerved and I hit a tree.”
“I’m so sorry. He’s going to be okay, though. Sarukui said. He’s good at this, he can always tell”, she said, and she believed it.
Kageyama turned his head. His face and eyes were red. “You know Sarukui?”
She bit her tongue to prevent herself from replying that duh, they both worked here. She shrugged. “He’s like my mentor here.”
“Oh.”
She stood in silence for a moment over his hunched form. She had never been much good at this part, at comforting. That was for people like Sarukui and Dr. Ito and Terumi. Emiko was probably needed back on the ward, by somebody who was bleeding or vomiting and not experiencing shock and emotional turmoil.
“I need to go back, but- if you need anything…”
“Thank you.” Kageyama nodded curtly in her direction, and she considered herself dismissed.
On her way back into the ward, Emiko latched onto Sarukui’s arm.
“How is Hinata?”
“He’s fine. Just a few scrapes and bruises. He needed a few stitches on one cut, but he’s fine. We’re going to keep him in overnight for obs, but otherwise he should be good to go in the morning.” Sarukui shrugged and inclined his head. “How’s Kageyama?”
“He’s upset.” She shrugged back at him. “I think he’s blaming himself- he was driving.”
Sarukui shook his head. “The poor guy. I'll speak to him in a little while.” He paused. "Would you like to meet him?"
Emiko frowned. "Meet who?"
"Hinata. He's friendly, I promise."
"... Alright then."
She trailed behind Sarukui, over toward the bed.
"Sarukui! Hi! Bokuto and Akaashi say hello!" Hinata grinned and waved his phone, his eyes sparkling bright. There was a small graze on his left cheek but otherwise, he looked exactly the same as in the old videos of the Black Jackals games she had watched. "I’m messaging them now."
"Kageyama is just outside", Sarukui informed him.
"I know, I’m messaging him too." He tilted his head, eyes flitting to Emiko and then back to Sarukui. "Sorry, about before. He doesn’t do well with hospitals. The last time he came to one, his grandfather…"
Emiko had heard similar stories, a dozen times over, and it didn't hurt any less each time. For her, it had been her aunt. Giving what she hoped would be an understanding nod, she drew in a shaky breath.
Sarukui nodded too. "It’s okay."
"Hey, you’re coming to watch us play next year, right?", asked Hinata,
"Bokuto's got us tickets." Sarukui grinned, and Hinata gave him a thumbs up before looking at Emiko again.
"Who's this?"
"Oh", Sarukui said, as though he had just remembered she was there, too. "This is Emiko, my co-worker. She's a fan of the Black Jackals."
"It's a shame you don't play for them anymore", she managed to squeak out.
"The Jackals will always be my favorite team from home!", he cried. "I mean, even to watch! Bokuto is so fun, and Atsumu, too!"
"Sakusa was here the other week", Sarukui said.
"I heard." Hinata nodded sagely. "I miss him, too." He turned to Emiko. "Who is your favorite player?"
"Probably Bokuto", she answered honestly, and Hinata cheered.
"Good choice!"
"You should try and get some rest now, Hinata", Sarukui said, and Emiko sensed that would be the end of her visiting time.
She nodded politely as she ducked away behind the curtain. "Goodnight, Hinata."
"Goodnight!", he answered enthusiastically, and Sarukui snickered.
*
Coming to the end of her shift early the next morning, Emiko found herself wanting to check in on Hinata one final time before she left. She had never really watched much international volleyball and only knew him from the Black Jackals, but now she found herself considering watching some Brazilian volleyball games. She just couldn't help it: Hinata was so friendly and, much like Bokuto, his personality was infectious.
A man was walking in the same direction as her and, with a double-take, she recognized him from the side-lines of some of the volleyball games that she has seen and a few of the press conferences that she and Rin had watched: That dark hair that stuck up everywhere was unmistakable.
“Hey, shorty”, Kuroo waved when he approached Hinata’s bed.
The athlete was already awake, sitting bolt upright. Looking up, he shouted; “Kuroo!”, loud enough to wake half the ward, and Emiko scowled.
“How are you feeling?”, the tall man asked.
“I’m fine. Sarukui has been taking care of me.” Hinata smiled and waved at Sarukui, a few beds down. Sarukui’s neutral expression turned slightly worried when he spotted Kuroo, and he began to head in their direction.
Emiko pretended to read Hinata’s chart as Kuroo laughed, handing Hinata the bunch of flowers and a card- which she had not spotted before where it was tucked under the arm of his suit jacket- he had brought with him.
“They’re from Kenma, too”, he explained with a shrug.
“Thanks. They’re beautiful. I need a vase.”
Emiko caught the hopeful look Hinata shot in her direction, and couldn’t help the smile crossing her face. Throughout the course of the night, she had discovered that Hinata genuinely was a good person. Her choice to follow the Black Jackals had never seemed easier, although she regretted only just beginning to watch them after Hinata went back to Brazil.
“I know you’re fine, but I thought I’d just drop by and check on you since I was in the area”, Kuroo was saying. “Can’t have our star getting injured, huh? You’re in the news, you know. Some people are joking that Kageyama deliberately tried to get you, for when you faced off against each other last time.”
Hinata frowned. “That’s not very nice. Kageyama saved a kid that ran in front of us.”
Only Kuroo had stopped listening; instead, he had turned towards Sarukui, who finally approached them. “Huh. Hey, Sarukui. I haven’t seen you since the barbecue at Bokuto’s place.”
Perking up again, Hinata said; “Oh, you mean when Akaashi got really drunk and-”
“Yep.”
“It has been a while, hasn’t it?”, Sarukui laughed. “What have you been doing with yourself?”
“This and that. Promoting, making deals. Trying to keep our superstars in line.” Kuroo raised an eyebrow. “Speaking of which, I saw Kageyama downstairs. I was trying to talk to him about a new endorsement that the curry place wants to do, but he got upset with me. I told him I’d let him know if it was okay for him to come in when the receptionist let me in.”
Sarukui shrugged. “Sure. Send him straight round.”
Emiko mentally prepared herself for round two of their arguments.
*
The stadium was perhaps the largest building Emiko had ever been in, and it echoed with noise. She couldn’t wait to hear what it sounded like when the match began: Even with everyone talking relatively quietly amongst themselves, the din drowned out her own thoughts.
Turning, she saw that Yasahiro was also staring about in wonder, his eyes wide with awe.
“Come on, you two”, Rin squawked, weaselling her way between them. “Quit staring into each other’s eyes.”
Without speaking, the two of them leaned in to stare into each other’s eyes in earnest now, before breaking down in laughter.
“I wonder if Kodzuken will be here”, Yasahiro mused once they had recovered.
“Nah, I think he’s at home watching. He’s got this massive cinema complex”, Sarukui explained as they moved through the crowds toward their seats. He glanced back at the three younger nurses. “Come on, or we’ll be late.”
They pushed through throngs of people up several steps, and Emiko caught hold of Rin’s jacket to prevent them from getting lost.
She only realized that the other three had stopped and were not just waiting to move around a group when a voice called; “Hey, Sarukui! Are these the friends you were telling us about?”, and she glanced up to see Konoha staring at them.
“Hi”, Komi, beside him in the gangway, waved, and then went in for a hug when Sarukui opened his arms.
Two other men were standing just behind them, and Emiko felt slightly starstruck when she took in that it was Washio and Onaga. She couldn’t believe that just a year before she had had no idea who Onaga was.
She and Yasahiro hung back behind Sarukui, shy.
As always, Rin was the one to break the ice.
“Hi! Hasegawa Rin, pleased to meet you.” She made a show out of shaking each of their hands, pumping them enthusiastically between her own, and Emiko and Yasahiro locked eyes and smiled before also greeting Sarukui’s famous friends.
“Ignore her”, Sarukui said lightly, “she thinks she’s a comedian.”
Komi raised an eyebrow. “We’ll have to introduce her to Fukunaga, huh?”
Konoha shook his head. “Saru, you sound like a dad or something. Since when did you get to be an old man?”
“Hasn’t he always been one?”, Rin asked, grinning cheekily, and Sarukui’s eyebrows turned down in a frown as the group chuckled.
A voice called; “Hey, guys!”
Emiko turned to see two women walking towards them, smiling and waving. One had long red hair, the other short and dusky blonde. Komi raced over to embrace them and then they made their way around the group, pulled into hugs of various lengths. The woman with shorter hair raised an eyebrow when she spotted the interloping trio.
“Hey”, Rin grinned, cool as ever.
“Hi.” Emiko waved one hand.
“These are my co-workers”, Sarukui introduced with a wave of his hand. “Co-workers, these are Kaori and Yukie, other old friends of ours.”
“Huh”, Rin said.
“What?”, Emiko asked, wondering why her friend was behaving so rudely.
“I’ve never heard of them”, she retorted.
Konoha and Kaori exchanged a glance.
Yukie raised one eyebrow. “Is that so odd?”
“No. It’s just, apparently all of Sarukui’s other friends are famous, so…”
Kaori gave a short, sharp laugh. “I suppose a surprising number of us are well-known. But no, we prefer to live slightly in the background, I think.”
A voice behind them said; “We’re all the protagonists of our own stories.”
“Akaashi!”, Yasahiro burst out, and then he looked slightly embarrassed. Emiko tried to hide her smile: She knew exactly which one of Kodzuken’s videos he was remembering.
Akaashi blinked. “Hello.”
“It’s great to see you”, Konoha announced. “Come here.”
The entire group took turns hugging Akaashi, who tolerated the affection, or at least up until he bashfully ducked away when Yukie reached up to ruffle his hair.
Emiko found herself and Rin chatting with Kaori and Yukie as they headed for their seats; Yasahiro walked ahead, talking to Akaashi about books; and ahead of them Sarukui was catching up with his other old friends.
“Look, there they are!”, Komi pointed. Emiko squinted, but the rest of the group gathered in front of her prevented her from having a clear view of the rest of the stands or the court down below.
Turning abruptly, Akaashi said; “I’m going to go get food. Does anybody want anything?”
Konoha grinned. “Rice balls?”
He received a tiny nod in return. “It’s always rice balls.”
“Get me some, please.”
“And me!”, Yukie burst in.
Kaori nudged her in the side with one elbow. “Babe, you might as well go with him and help him carry it, you’re going to want half the stand.”
Yukie protested softly, even as she walked over to follow Akaashi.
“Say hi to Osamu for us”, Washio commented, just before they left, and Akaashi nodded.
“Will do. Save our seats.”
They left, and Emiko turned back to see that Sarukui and his friends were hugging and greeting another group of people, who were ranged over a whole row of seats. When they began to sit down in some of the empty chairs, Emiko followed suit, taking the seat beside the one Rin had perched herself in, ushered in by Konoha.
Glancing down the row, she recognized Kuroo, grinning as he stared down at the court, his chin resting on one fist. And then, just next to Emiko, were a couple of other familiar faces: A strikingly good-looking man and woman who could only have been siblings.
Emiko stared at the goddess of a woman in the seat beside her and felt herself freeze when the woman's hooded gaze turned to her.
“Hi”, she squeaked, leaning forward in her seat so she could talk to the woman. Swallowing, she attempted to hide the color rising in her cheeks.
“Hi”, the woman replied, turning to Emiko, and wow, she was just as stunning up close. “I’m Alisa. This is my brother, Lev.”
Lev waved.
“I’m Emiko. I’m- I work with Sarukui”, she stuttered.
“Oh, yes!” Alisa’s clear eyes brightened with interest. “You’re a nurse, right? Sarukui has mentioned you before.”
Emiko stared. “He has?”
“Yes. He says you’re one of the best people he’s worked with. You have a very caring instinct.” Alisa’s smile was wide.
Her cheeks red, Emiko settled back into her seat. Down below, she could see Akaashi and Yukie walking back, their arms filled with bags and cartons. Further, on the court, the team was stretching; she picked out Bokuto, Kageyama and Hinata instantly, and also Atsumu and Sakusa. To her left, Yasahiro and Rin were giggling over something together, and Sarukui was talking with his friends. His smile was wide and genuine. Maybe, Emiko thought, her mentor was sort of interesting, after all.