Haikyuu Creature Collection

Standing Strong (Reon Ohira)

Wizzy: This took an eternity to finish. Originally, most of this was going to be included in Semi's story, but I had to cut it due to length. I couldn't just abandon all of it, so I revised it and used it for Reon, who I was honestly thinking of completely leaving out. 

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Some jobs have unexpected perks. With my job, I get the fun of seeing and hearing all kinds of different people and conversations. Granted, a human wouldn't be able to listen in as much as someone like me is able to.

On this particular day, it was the conversation at the table of my co-worker and his friends that caught my ear. From their scents, they're all nonhumans... except for a single human girl.

"You're going to get yourself in trouble, Eita."

The friends of this Eita guy all shared similar sentiments. It doesn't give me much insight into the situation, but it does make one thing quite clear. The girl is technically still underage and by human laws, he could very well get into serious trouble... However, there was one thing that they didn't seem to realize.

"Human laws don't apply to us," I said, finally deciding to butt in. All eyes shifted to me as set down a glass in front of the human girl. "They can't do anything about it. If they were to even try to, then they would have to start going after Collectors."

A red-haired male tilted his head. "Those guys are just a myth though."

"They're not." Gazes shifted to the light-haired fellow, who I knew to be Taichi's friend Shirabu. "I've seen one of their compounds... and I've met one... a Collector... or I guess former Collector would be more accurate."

The redhead was amazed. "How'd you manage that?"

"There's a group that's been going around liberating the various nonhumans that have been taken. The son of the man who founded the hospital I've been studying at is one of those leading the group. Some medical attention was needed in the aftermath and it was a chance to work directly with Dr. Sugiyama, so I volunteered."

The name probably meant nothing to most of them. The werewolf had founded a hospital that specialized in the care of nonhumans... something that simply didn't exist before. Not only that though, but he had also helped to make people more aware of the Collectors. The man was a hero for those who knew of his work.

The redhead looked at Shirabu, fascinated by the story. "So what did they do with the guy? The one who was a Collector."

"Last I knew, he was staying with a friend here in Tokyo." Shirabu shrugged. "He's a vampire and since he hasn't hurt any humans, humans aren't going to do anything about him... and considering he's got this little angel who's rather fond of him, no one can get at him."

And now we're back to the point I'd made. "Like I said, humans can't do anything to us." I turned my eyes to the grey-haired male and the girl beside him. "Just make sure you play it safe or else you'll end up in Taichi's situation."

My co-worker choked as he heard me, making me laugh. We were pretty good friends, so naturally, I liked to tease him. "Taichi somehow managed to get his girlfriend knocked up," Shirabu explained when no one seemed to get it.

"I thought you were dating a vampire... Vamps and wolves can't breed with each other."

I shook my head. "That's what everyone always thought, but clearly it's possible." My eyes then went to Shirabu. "And don't you act like you're not in the same boat, Shirabu."

Now it was Shirabu's turn to be surprised. The werewolf hadn't planned to bring that one up yet. The redheaded vampire tilted his head curiously at the younger blond. "Oh? Is our sweet little Shirabu going to be a daddy?" As the vamp teased him, Shirabu sent a glare my way.

"It's Goshiki's fault." The male scowled, trying to push the attention back off of him. The wolf with the dark bowl cut flinched at the mention of his name. "If he hadn't knocked up that girlfriend of his, then mine wouldn't have been so damned persistent about wanting one..."

"But you could have said no."

"You know Shirabu can never say no to her."

From there the conversation only grew livelier as more and more slowly became revealed among the reuniting friends. As much as I wanted to stay and stir up more trouble, I had to get back to work. The kind people of Sanctuary put in a lot of effort to get me this job; it would be rude of me to not give it a proper effort.

The next time I actually have time to say more than a couple of words to Taichi or his friends, only one of them was left at their table. The rest of the place was just about deserted.

He was a rather large man... well, all of Taichi's friends had been rather tall. Something like that wasn't surprising when you knew they were all volleyball players at one point or another. Some of them still played professionally too. You would have to be blind to not recognize Wakatoshi Ushijima... if you even remotely liked volleyball.

The man who was left was not Ushijima though... so any hopes of an autograph were immediately crushed. Not that it mattered.

"Girlfriend ditch your plans?" I asked, playfully trying to start a conversation with the stranger. He kept checking his phone, so my first thought was that he was waiting on a girl. The second option was that he may have been drunk and waiting on a ride, but it didn't seem like he had drunk that much.

The male chuckled and shook his head. "My sister is bringing my daughter here to meet me." He pulled up a picture on his phone and turned it my way.

She couldn't have been more than about four... and was the cutest little girl I had ever seen. Hair in stubby little pigtails, a darling pink dress, and the sweetest little smile I've seen a child make. That little cutie could make anyone's heart melt.

The male smiled. "She's a cutie... like her mother was..."

"Was?" I wanted to ask outright if he and the mother were together but instead opted for the more subtle approach. Wouldn't want to bring it up if it was a sore subject... or come off as being nosy.

"Sawako's mother passed away shortly after she was born," he explained, maintaining a calm expression. It didn't seem like it was a touchy subject, thankfully.

I pulled up a chair, waiting and listening as he told the story. It wasn't anything particularly tragic, nor was it anything extraordinary. No rare disease or illness... just a common problem that took a bad turn and became something terrible.

Despite his troubles though, he was standing strong and continuing to push forward with his life. While I know that I'm not much of anything, I wished that I could one day be that strong.

The time passed by in the blink of an eye. The conversation was cut short by a happy cry of "Daddy!" and a small child rushing over to embrace the man sitting across from me.

Reon, he'd said his name was, flashed a smile my way. "That would be my cue to get going." The little girl who looked no more than three took his hand, but before he could be dragged off, he turned his attention to me. "I had a nice time talking with you. If you're not busy... maybe we could get a coffee sometime?"

"I'd love to."