Tonight was the big night - the Miyagi prefectural championship game. Hinata's team, Karasuno College, was one win away from qualifying for the national tournament. Hinata was so pumped for this game he couldn't sit still. He jumped around the locker room, laughing and talking and horsing around with all of his teammates.
Their captain, a third year named Ito, scolded Hinata. "Calm down, shorty."
"I'm sorry. I can't heeeeelp it! I'm just so excited and nervous" replied Hinata as he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet.
"It's going to be fine. We've practiced, we're ready. We're just going to go do our thing, and get one point at a time, nothing else."
Hinata grinned sheepishly. They had been practicing hard and he did feel ready. He still couldn't believe that they actually made it to the championship game! Hinata straightened his back and took a deep breath to try to steady his frayed nerves.
"How much longer?" Hinata whined.
"Twenty more minutes, calm down."
He went over to his senpai, Bokuto, who was his best friend on the team. "Bokuto-san! I'm so pumped! Are you ready?"
Bokuto looked over at his redheaded friend and offered a high-ten. "OH YEAH!" said the boy with the black and white hair. "I'm ready to score a million points with my killer cross shot!" "Yeah!" Hinata screamed back, earning them another "Pipe down!" from Ito.
The two grinned mischievously and gave each other another quieter high five. The two of them were both hyper and animated, so they naturally gravitated toward each other. Hinata was always happy and positive, which cheered up Bokuto when he got down on himself. And Bokuto taught Hinata a lot and was always able to find a way to motivate him to do better. Since Hinata joined the team a few months ago, they had become the best of friends.
Hinata was still watching the clock. He stretched out his legs and arms a little more. Gah! What do I do for the next fifteen minutes?
Bokuto, being a good friend, changed the subject. "Hey Hinata, did you watch the MSBY game last night?" Hinata, glad to have a momentary distraction, smiled at his friend.
"Oh, yeah! It was awesome! Did you see that one kill by Barnes? He's so tall and he just went gwah and the ball when smack! It was so awesome!"
"Yes, I saw that too. It was amazing! One day I'm going to play for them. And so will you!" Hinata giggled. Bokuto always knew what to say to get him fired up for a game. Bokuto knew Hinata's dream was to play professional volleyball, preferably for the MSBY Black Jackals. Hinata would do anything necessary to make his dreams come true. He always worked super hard, harder than anyone, and never gave up. Bokuto admired his friend so much for that. Even though Hinata was playing well at the college level and developing his skills quickly, he never, ever assumed reaching his dreams would be easy. He worked hard, every single day, and did not take anything for granted, not one spike, one receive, one serve.
Before long, Ito used his motivational captain voice to yell "It's time. Are we ready?"
"Yeah! Let's do this!" Hinata yelled. He couldn't wait to get started on the best night of his life. Well, the best night of his life so far, since when they made it to nationals, that would be the best night, and if they made it to the second round, that would be the best, and … you get the picture.
Hinata was so excited he wanted to be the first one out of the locker room, but as he approached the door, he was startled to see Coach come in with Dean Saito and a uniformed campus police officer. Hinata's first thought was that somehow the Dean had found out about that stupid stunt the team pulled last month. Shit, what if the Dean was here to expel him or what if the whole team was in trouble? All of his dreams down the toilet for a stupid, idiotic stunt!
"Hinata Shoyo?"
Oh, God, here it comes. My life is over! "Yes?"
"Please, there's something we need to talk about." The dean came forward as Hinata observed that tCoach was having a hard time looking him in the eye, while the officer had a decidedly uncomfortable look on his clean-shaven face.
"Ah, OK," Hinata replied, now suddenly coming to his senses and wondering why the Dean would choose to deal with this on a Friday night.
As he stepped back to make way for the three men, he noticed there was also a woman with them he hadn't noticed at first. She was petite, wearing a tailored black pantsuit. She wore nothing on her face except her own grim expression. Who was she?
Hinata turned nervously to face them. The Dean appeared to be shifting and searching for words. He was older, maybe 60, grey hair, distinguished in his dark gray suit, yet he looked out of his element in the dingy foul-smelling locker room. Hinata chanced a glance at Bokuto and Ito, who looked as baffled as Hinata felt. Ito suggested that all the players leave the locker room, but Coach suggested he and Bokuto stay.
"Hinata, as you probably know, I am Dean Saito. And this is Dr. Takahashi." "Hinata, please sit down."
Hinata obeyed numbly, his mind now racing, frantically trying to figure out why they had a doctor with them. He didn't know when or why it happened, but he suddenly felt an intense feeling of foreboding; as if his life would never be the same. Suddenly, he got a chill despite the warmness and humidity of the locker room. He looked up at the Dean, who was still standing, flanked on one side by the officers, and on the other by the doctor. They all looked grim, and he wasn't sure, but were they looking at him with pity?
He realized in some deep corner of his brain that he didn't really want to hear whatever it was they had to say. He glanced again at Bokuto, whose face clearly told that his thoughts had gone in the same direction. Hinata's heart started pounding wildly. Something is wrong, fuck, something is wrong. Hinata realized now with crystal clarity that what they had come to say had nothing to do with the stupid stunt. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
When he finally tried to speak, he realized his mouth had gone dry. He managed to croak out one word. "Dean?"
Dean Jacobson's heart was breaking. In all his sixteen years as the Dean of Students, he had never had to do anything as hard as this. He wanted to come out and tell him, but God's truth, he didn't know what to say. He looked down at Hinata's expectant face and all he could see was the little boy he must have been. The little boy he would be, for only another moment, until his whole world shattered. It was suddenly too much for him.
Stepping aside and clearing his throat awkwardly, he nodded to Dr. Takahashi. She came to sit down next to HInata. When she grabbed both of his hands with her own, Hinata's fear spiked horribly. His heart was now beating so fast, the pounding in his ears was all he could hear. He began to perspire. He couldn't breathe! He fixed his intense gaze on the doctor, silently willing her to tell him what was so wrong and at the same time pleading with her not to.
It seemed to be minutes before the doctor spoke, but in fact was just a few short seconds. The doctor, to her credit, only hesitated slightly, chancing a look at the Dean and the officer as if to bolster her resolve. Finally deciding she could put it off no longer, she looked back at Hinata.
"Hinata, I'm afraid we are here under the most troubling of circumstances. I…your… Hinata, there has been an accident," she finished lamely.
Hinata couldn't seem to think. Oh God, Tell me this isn't happening! He felt as though his heart had suddenly been torn out. Instinctively he knew. He knew but he didn't want to know. Shit, please let this be a dream. Oh God. Again, Hinata managed only one word.
"Who?"
Dr. Takahashi took another deep breath and resolved that she could put it off no longer. "Your mother, Hinata. Your mother was in an accident. She lost control of the car on the icy roads." She paused only momentarily before adding the final blow.
"I'm so very sorry, Hinata. Your mother is dead."