Hinata-
I set my bike in the yard.
As I walk in the house, I can hear laughing and light talking between my mother and another male voice.
"Shoyou?" She questions.
"I'm home!" I yell, placing my bag down and hanging my still slightly damp jacket up on the coat rack.
She comes down the hallway wearing her nicest dress.
My stomach drops.
"Now, now, don't be like that. He paid good money for just a few hours with you! Don't be so nervous sweetie." She grabs my shoulders and starts walking me towards the dining room, my father nowhere to be seen, as usual during these exchanges.
I bow respectfully to the man in a nice suit sitting at our table. He's not Japanese, his accent is odd.
"I've been looking at the magnificent photos your parents have been taking for a long time. I finally get the chance to take some myself." He smiles, standing up.
My mother practically forces me down the hallway to Natsu's playroom that is converted into another type of playroom whenever these type of people come over. He orders my mother to shackle me to the wall, something that is really usual at this point.
I'm stripped naked.
Goosebumps form, my body shaking from the cold.
He pulls out a camera, and begins photographing me once my mother leaves.
She refuses to have her face in any of this.
He comes over, running the camera up my bruised legs.
"Oh, look at what they did to you." His whisper in my ear makes me sick to my stomach.
I try to shut my eyes, but he grabs my jaw tight.
"Don't you take your eyes off me." A low growl emits from his throat, and I can feel the tears well up in my eyes.
A large grin forms on his face. The blue eyes looking excited in the light.
"This is what I love."
More photos.
He walks over to the shelf, glancing around for a bit before placing his camera down. I can only imagine what he's picking out.
A cigarette is lit.
A knife is picked up.
I want to shut my eyes.
I want to try and keep my mind on something else, anything else, until his time is up, but I don't know what he'll do if I shut my eyes again.
I barely realize it when he starts carving lines into my chest.
Burning pain. It's not the worst thing ever, I can handle this.
The blood beads up into larger droplets before running down my body. Another photo as he smokes his cigarette with a grin.
A much deeper cut.
I let out an audible gasp, and he hits me with the handle of the knife across my face. I bite through my cheek, I can feel the hole.
I can't tell why I'm shaking now.
Fear.
Adrenaline.
Cold.
It may as well be the same emotion.
He throws the knife to the floor, and places his cigarette against the deep cut in my chest.
I screw my eyes shut, biting my lip, inhaling until I can't anymore.
"What did I say about taking your eyes off me?"
I quickly open my eyes again.
My blood runs cold.
He turns me over, and I know what's coming.
Burning pain, the pain of his nails digging into my flesh, his teeth in my shoulder.
I just hope it ends soon.
The man has my mother take me down.
She leaves once more, and he kicks me around when I try to get into a more comfortable position.
I can't breathe.
He takes a few more photos, before squatting down and making me look at him. His fingers twisted into my hair, his eyes staring right into me.
"I see why you're so popular, you don't even complain."
He licks my face from my jaw line to my forehead, and my mother opens the door to say his time is up.
I don't know how long it is until she comes back with a first aid kit.
She gets my father to take me to bed.
"We made so much this time! You're so great, sweetie!" She sings.
She covers me up, tucking me in and giving me a shot of painkillers as usual.
"The bleed should be stopped by morning. I'll get your sheets cleaned tomorrow. I love you." She kisses my temple and leaves me in the dark.
I can hear faint buzzing, it's probably my phone.
I don't care.
Until the painkillers start working, I can't move. Everything hurts tenfold.
I gently touch my chest.
How do I hide this for practice?
I'll have to start changing in the restrooms at the rate. I can't risk it.
My mom gives me a bottle of painkillers in my bag, hands me my lunch, and kisses my cheek.
"Oh! Here's your slip for the camp!" She hands it to me, signed and ready to turn in.
I'm so grateful I'll get to go.
"We made enough that dad said we just need photo's for awhile!" She claps, and then has me on my way.
I'm having to leave much earlier than usual. There's no way I can ride my bike to school.
A slow pace is set, and I remember my buzzing phone from last night. My drug induced haze made me forget about it.
I check it again.
It was from Sugawara.
Would you mind talking with me tomorrow morning before school in the changing room? -Sugawara
I'm unsure of why he would want to talk with me. Maybe I acted a little off yesterday? I didn't act normal at all, I'm sure of it.
I spend the walk to school agonizing over it, but not showing up would seem even more suspicious.
So, when I get there early, I go to the changing room. Sugawara is there alone, I expected Daichi there honestly.
He looks surprised.
"You're much earlier than I expected, Hinata."
"I just left earlier than usual." I nod.
He takes a moment to think about something, and motions for me to sit next to him. I take his offer, I'm in pain everywhere. My body is shaking, and I feel like he can tell.
"Yesterday, when you were changing into the extra uniform, I saw some bruising on your legs. Is that from practice? Because if it is, then you shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard that you're bruising yourself, Hinata."
I can feel everything stop for a minute.
How the hell do I respond?
"It's from playing with my sister! She likes to swing around the pole we use to hang up laundry and when she gets it, it's hard to get it back from her sometimes. She kept hitting me, but I couldn't just take it since she would start crying."
He crosses his arms. His expression is one I almost can't read.
"Do you really think I want to make my sister cry? Try making her cry once, Sugawara."
He thinks for a minute before sighing.
"I guess you're right. I couldn't make her cry." He shakes his head. "That did look painful though."
"I'm okay. Really."
I stand up, feeling slightly dizzy, but decent considering everything.
"If you need to sit out-"
"No! I'm okay!"
And I leave the changing room before he can say anything else about not practicing today.
By the time my first class rolls around, I need to talk the painkillers my mother gave me. I can't sit through class like that though, so I swallow my pride and go tell the nurse I threw up.
She allows me to lay down until I'm feeling better.
I nap until lunch, when Daichi and Sugawara find out I was never in class because of Yamaguchi and Kageyama.
"Hinata."
I barely remember opening my eyes.
"You said you were okay."
I have to slowly sit up, the painkillers made me so nausea's and dizzy I can barely function.
"I was, but then I got super dizzy and threw up."
"Maybe Kageyama should walk you home after school." Daichi looks at Sugawara.
"No, I should be fine by then. I didn't eat breakfast, that's probably what it was. Don't worry, I'll be at practice!" I nod, and the flood gates open.
Sugawara must sense something, because he's immediately on me with a trash can under my face as I'm throwing up acid.
"It's okay." He's whispering.
Daichi calls for the nurse but can't seem to find her.
"Should we call your parents?" Daichi questions.
"No. They're too busy."
Sugawara stays with me through the next period, but I make sure he knows I'm okay, so he goes to the one after.
My eyes open again, and I see Yamaguchi standing there.
"Hey. Is everything okay?" I ask, the clock still reads that we're in class. About an hour until the end of school.
"What happened?" His voice is quiet, barely a whisper.
I'm confused. My mind still in a slightly drug induced haze.
He looks terrified.
Another figure comes into the curtains, and I see that it's Tsukishima. He looked annoyed, but the annoyed look turns into one of absolute fear.
"What did you do?" He grabs my shirt, shoving it further up my chest than I realize it already was.
I try and pull away, but he's stronger than I am right now.
"It's nothing! Let me go!" I struggle against him. There's bandages there, in my favor thanks to my mom, so it looks much better than I know it would any other time.
"This isn't nothing, Hinata!"
His headphones clatter to the ground.
It gets quiet.
"What did you do?" It's barely above a whisper, just like Yamaguchi earlier.
I pull away from him, sitting up, and fixing my shirt.
"Nothing that concerns anyone. It's been dealt with, obviously. Leave me alone." And I leave for practice.
What else was I supposed to do?
I change quickly since I'm alone and sit to think about the exchange.
Is he going to tell anyone what he saw?
I hope not.
Then I remember my slip.
I'm excited for this camp.
I can get away for a bit.
The door opens.
"Hinata!" Nishinoya grins and slaps me on the chest on his way to change, I take moment to keep my composure.
The sheer burning pain that envelopes my chest is immense. I have to screw my eyes shut and hold my breath.
He doesn't notice, luckily for me.
Tanaka has him engrossed in some conversation about a model he met apparently.
Sugawara comes in with Daichi.
"Hinata! Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah!" I grin, barely able to breathe, but better I'm sure.
I can't read Daichi's expression, but I don't think he believes me, but he can't do anything if I'm not outwardly showing any issues I guess.
As I'm about to leave campus, Tsukishima stops me. He's alone.
"If there's something going on, and you need help, you can talk to any of us."
I laugh.
He looks angry.
"Whatever reason your chest is wrapped like that, isn't something usual, Hinata. I'm not fucking stupid." And he leaves.
"What was the about?" Kageyama comes over, drinking his milk.
"Nothing." I shake my head.
"It didn't sound like nothing, he sounded pissed off at you."
I sigh, and glances around.
"I didn't ride my bike. I'm walking the whole way."
"Then I'll walk with you, that's a long way to walk." He just walks next to me the whole time, barely making any noise except to finish his milk and check his phone.
"The seniors are worried about you, you know. It has been weird lately."
I shrug.
"What was Tsukishima asking you about?"
I don't answer.
He sounds frustrated by the noises he starts making.
"Do you trust your team?"
"Yeah."
"Then why does it seem like you're trying to hide something from us, Hinata?" He stops walking.
"I'm not. Things have been weird at my own house lately so it's been hard to keep things balanced between home, school, and practice. That's all."
He catches up. I can tell he doesn't believe me, but there's nothing he can do.
