"Hey, Kageyama! Do you believe in being reborn after you die?" Shoyo asked the tall boy.
"Huh? Why would you ask me that all of a sudden?" Tobio exclaimed, taken by surprise.
"No reason. Just curious, that's all." He grinned, walking beside him. Tobio hesitated for a moment before replying.
"I do." He said, finally.
"Whaaa?! Really?!" The shorter boy yelled in disbelief.
"What? You don't believe me? Then, why did you ask?!" Tobio barked back.
"Ah! But, I do believe what you said, Kageyama! I'm just kinda surprised that you would believe in that sorta stuff." Shoyo replied, lips pursed. "It's not that a big of a deal, y'know. Don't get yourself worked up about it, idiot." Tobio chided, averting his gaze.
The sun drowned in the horizon, painting the sky a brilliant gradient of orange, pink and purple. Shoyo pushed his bike near the area between the bridge and the ditch, the usual place where they part ways for the evening.
"See ya tomorrow, Kageyama!" Shoyo waved as he mounted his bike.
"See ya tomorrow, dumbass." The other replied with a small grin.
Tobio began walking back to his house, down familiar streets and houses, greeting a nice old lady on the way. He soon arrived at his home and retreated to his room. Laying his bag down, he collapsed on his bed, exhausted from the day. As he stared at the ceiling, he recalls Shoyo's cheerful smile and rolls to his side, a goofy smile plastered on his face. With his eyes set on the bare, white wall of his bedroom, he was reminded of his experience with reincarnation…
Blinding white light engulfed Tobio. His body felt weightless and his mind became clouded. When he came to, he was met with a sight he could only describe as emptiness. 'A Limbo', he thought to himself as he stared at the bare whiteness, until he spotted a sign on the wall reading: 'PLEASE WAIT PATIENTLY UNTIL SERVED'.
How weird, he thought to himself. He imagined the afterlife like a courtroom where God would judge you to either reside in heaven or descend to hell according to how many rights weighed against your wrongs. It was a bit much for him to take in, but he knew that this was his new reality. He was dead.
"So, this is what it's like." Tobio thought out loud. He sighed.
Thinking hard, he tried to hold onto the faint but definite pieces of his last memories before he passed. Screeching tyres. The rough texture of black road scraping his legs and elbows. Loud shouting. Blood. His head hurting a lot. Tears belonging to someone special dripping onto his face…
"This way, please." Tobio spun his head around to be met with a tall, slender figure dressed in white gown-like attire. He cautiously approached the figure, and upon closer inspection, he remarked the paleness of their skin, which looked unusually translucent, like thin paper. He could not, however, conclude whether they were male or female. That didn't matter anyway.
The being walked off towards a long hallway, Tobio followed closely behind. Their strides and movements were precise and graceful from behind, which fascinated him to one degree or other.
They passed many others, who he assumed were in the same boat as he was. Looking around, he saw some who were well over their prime, but there were also young children, holding each other's hands, their heads hung low. The very thought of those children dying made his stomach churn uncomfortably.
Eventually, they arrived at an ivory-white door marked with a black number '9'. The door swung open with a gentle creak, the divine being bowed and wandered off to tend to others like him. Stepping in, he observed that the room was exceedingly spacious, the walls white as per usual. Then, the door abruptly shut.
"Hello."
The boy flinched, turning around to come face to face with a small figure, radiating a pale orange light, like a faint sunset. The figure possessed short, spiky hair, and a smile playing on his lips. Tobio looked at the figure up and down, wanting to know his identity. "Who are you? A-Are you God?" He asked.
"Not exactly. I am someone who gives you what you need to move onto your next life." The figure said with a closed-eyed smile. "Can you be more specific?" Tobio asked. "Um… a spiritual being?" He suggested.
The raven-haired boy raised an eyebrow, but continued. "So, am I being… reincarnated?" Tobio asked, slowly.
"Precisely." The figure beamed.
Tobio felt a bit relieved, yet a bit sceptic, "Do you have a name?" He further enquired.
"Well, not exactly." He replied.
"What do you mean?" Tobio questioned.
"Why is it so important that you know my name?" The figure asked back. "You won't remember anything after you have reincarnated, anyway."
That was true, he thought. No one is reincarnated knowing how they were reborn. There were only stories and rumours of such things, but no one could actually prove that idea as fact. But still, he wanted to know more.
"Fine then! What was my life like when I was still alive?" Tobio asked, still a bit annoyed.
"You don't recall? As expected… " The figure commented. "Are you calling me stupid?!" He shouted, agitatedly.
"Oh, not at all! This is quite common for many of my customers. It's a natural occurrence among the dead. I'm just curious if there was anyone who still recalls their past life." He smiled back.
"Oh. Sorry… " He said, apologetically.
"A good life."
"Huh?"
"You had many friends and you achieved your goals. You had a fulfilling life." The figure explained.
"Really?!" Tobio said, eyes wide.
"Yes, but… " He paused, his eyes averting. "But, what?" Tobio urged on.
"You were very stubborn… and quick to lose your temper." He informed.
Tobio was stunned to hear this. He started thinking up many assumptions about his past life. Sure, he had many friends and achieved his goals, but who can say he didn't get into fights often? Or killed anyone, for that matter. What could he do to redeem himself in his next life?
"But, don't worry," His train of thought was interrupted and he turned his attention back to the figure.
"I'm here to help you become a better person in your next life." He smiled.
Something stirred within him when he saw that smile. As if he saw that smile before, but couldn't recall where. He brushed the feeling off.
"Now, you must choose to either see your past or your future. Which do you want?" The figure asked, holding out a box-like object with a dial and a red knob at the front. On one side of the dial, 'PAST' was clearly printed on, while 'FUTURE' was printed on the other. The knob was pointing in between the two, representing the Present. "Which do you want?" He repeated.
Tobio hesitated for a while, staring at the strange commodity in the figure's hands. Then he opened his mouth to give his answer. "I choose the Past." He said. The figure gave a puzzled look. "Why so?"
The boy thought about this before responding, "So I can learn to cherish memories more." Tobio answered, locking eyes with the figure across from him. The knob on the box slowly, but undoubtedly, shifted to the left-side, and the word 'PAST' lit up.
Putting the item away, he continued his duty, "You are a spirit at the moment with no physical form, so I will give you arms, legs, mouths, ears, eyes, hearts, and holes in your nose. I will give you two of each, is that okay?" He asked, smiling up at Tobio. "Two of each?" He asked, skeptically. The figure nodded.
Tobio thought the offer through before once again speaking, "I'm fine with just one mouth." He said, plainly.
The figure looked puzzled once more, "How come?" He asked. Tobio paused to think.
"So that I don't argue with myself… " He replied with a tinge of self-hatred. His troubled expression gradually melted into a softer one. Having more to say, he had to force himself to speak. His gaze drifted to the floor,
"... and so I can only kiss one person… " He mumbled, blushing from ear to ear. At this, he realised that he has felt this feeling before. A feeling he wanted to forget, but couldn't. What was this feeling called? He brushed it off again.
The figure gave a slightly displeased look, the type a salesman would make when failing to sell goods. Clearing his throat, he continued on. "The heart is the most important part. I will put one in each side of your chest, is that okay?" He asked, smiling again. Tobio thought about this carefully. Two hearts? Isn't that much?
"Sorry, but you see… " He stopped for a moment before continuing, "I don't need a heart on my right side."
He realised how picky he might have sounded just then, "I'm sorry for saying such selfish things-".
"It isn't selfish if you have a good enough reason to reject my offer." The figure said, understandingly. "Well?"
Tobio paused again, his face slowly became flustered again. "... I-It's so that when I meet that special person... and embrace them for the first time…" His face went entirely red, "... I will know that our two hearts are beating on both sides of our chest… " He stuttered out, shyly. This is the most interesting customer I have ever served, the figure thought to himself.
"Can you elaborate more?" He enquired. The dark red faded to a lighter pink on Tobio's face, but his eyes still haven't lifted from the floor. "So that, when I'm alone… there will always be something missing. So that I don't live and die alone… ". The words were pouring from his mouth at this moment. He felt that feeling again, the feeling he couldn't quite shrug off. What do you call this feeling? The sound from my chest is loud, but nostalgic. What is it called?
"Very well, then."
The figure placed his hand on Tobio's forehead and extracted a small, glowing sphere with a mouth embedded in its contents, then he proceeded to draw out a similar object from Tobio's chest. The raven-haired boy felt the need to panic because two orbs were taken out of his freakin' body, but stood still until the procedure was complete.
"I have removed the second mouth and heart from your physical form, as you requested." He said, holding the two orb-like objects in his hand like large marbles. With a quick gesture, they vanished.
"Now, one last thing before you go," The figure took out an array of glass vials, Tobio counted four.
"Should I add Tears as an option?" He asked, holding the small bottles up to the taller one. Tobio didn't know how to respond.
"It's not a problem if you don't want them, some people don't add them because they're a hindrance. What will you do?" The figure questioned, his large eyes looking dead into Tobio's blue ones.
Tears? The boy thought. He felt a strong drive to accept this offer and made his final decision,
"I want to include Tears." Tobio proclaimed, his gaze not once faltering. The figure's smile grew brighter. And before he could ask his customer his reason why, Tobio answered confidently; "I want to be a kinder person, rather than a strong one. I want to understand what it means for something to be important to me." He clarified, a light blush coloured his cheeks. The figure nodded, understandingly.
"Ah, by the way, as for the flavour of tears, choose any flavour you would like." He told him, pointing to each of the small glass vials. "There is sour, salty, spicy, and sweet. Choose any one you like!" He asserted.
"So, which one do you want?" The figure asked with a pleasant note in his tone. "... Sweet." He replied, taking the vial labeled 'SWEET'.
"Now, crush it in one hand." He instructed, imitating the action with his hand.
"What?!" Tobio exclaimed, "Why the hell would I-"
"Don't worry, the glass won't cut your hand. It's completely fine!" The figure reassured, his hands in the air. "Promise."
Tobio glared at him, then at the glass vial in his hand. The pale liquid swished around as he inspected the vial, his curiosity peaking. He let out a loud sigh. "Fine!" He clenched his fist around the small object, shutting his eyes tight as he prepared for the pieces of glass to jab into his flesh and the blood to run down his forearm.
He compressed the little bottle tighter and tighter, until he heard the initial cracking of the glass which lead to a series of small fracturing sounds, and finally the small vial shattered in his hand, its liquid contents leaked through the bits of glass and, to his surprise, began to seep into his skin. The glass didn't cut into his skin, but that still didn't stop the stinging sensation he was undergoing as the tears were making their way into his hand. He could feel it make its way up his arm, past his shoulder and through his neck, towards his head. He was panicking slightly, the glass shards dropping from his trembling hand onto the marble floor at his feet.
"What the hell is it doing to me?!" He screamed at the figure, who simply smiled at him. "Please stay calm. It's about to start!" He said, excitedly. As he said this, tears began slowly forming in the corners of Tobio's eyes. After one tear broke free, the rest followed in an unbroken stream. They began dripping down his cheeks and onto the floor. Tobio couldn't utter a word. His legs gave way, causing him to kneel on the floor.
Soon, tears were streaming down his face from his eyes and nose. He was overwhelmed with countless emotions, he couldn't stop bawling his eyes out. He looked a mess.
"Everything has been granted the way you wanted, right?" The figure asked with a grin. Tobio nodded, stifling his hics and gulps with one hand. "Now, show me a face that is covered in tears!" He said in a raised voice, "Come on, show it to me with pride!" He pressed on, holding Tobio's shoulders to steady him.
His shoulders shook with each sob, his face flowing with sweet tears and snot. Slowly, he lifted his head and his trembling lips formed a huge smile.
After a few moments, his crying died down to an occasional sniffle. Tobio stood up, wiping the remainder of tears from his puffy eyes and snot from his nose. He let out a breath and smiled a bit at the figure before him.
"Thank you very much…" He said, bowing and straightening again. "You're welcome." The figure said as he turned away and began walking away from him, but was stopped when Tobio grabbed hold of his wrist.
"I'm sorry for troubling you so much, but... can I ask you one last thing?" He asked, his tone collected yet desperate. The figure turned his head, his pale orange light still softly glowing from his body.
"Have we met somewhere before?"
The figure smiled.
This was based off RADWIMPS' song 'Order Made', you can go watch it if you want to.
The figure that gives Kags the things he needs for his next life resembles Hinata because these 'spiritual beings' need to make the dead feel at ease and comfortable in the afterlife, so they take form of someone whose most dear to them. That's my excuse, really, but you can take it however you want~
I hope you enjoyed my first Haikyuu! fanfic, please tell me what you thought of it in the comments~