Feathers

Chapter 8 - Lies

HINATA POV:
I slowly opened my eyes, immediately wishing I was back asleep, as searing pain spread all over my body, even down there. Panicked, I quickly rose and found myself naked. I curled on the ground and sobbed silently in horror as the realization of what happened sunk in.

After a few minutes. I lifted myself and grabbed my clothes, changed back into them while also wrapping a blanket around me. I looked around and noticed my father was nowhere to be seen.
Thank God. I went upstairs, entered our bedroom, and found Natsu curled up in bed, with dried tears in her eyes and my headphones slipping off her head. I gently pulled them away, as they might've caused discomfort. Then, I huddled into the bathroom and started the shower. I looked at myself in the mirror.

Oh gosh.

I might as well have been dead because I appeared like it. There were huge black and purple bruises all over my body, with smaller ones covering my arms, legs, and neck. My eye bags were so deep it was scary and there were parts on my back and chest that were bleeding due to the kicks from my father.

I ended up rushing into the shower, not wanting to look at myself any longer and scrubbing harshly, trying to get rid of any remembrance of him. Even though that was impossible, as my body was surely scarred. I sat in the shower for a long time, thinking of what to do next.

The thought of suicide always crossed my mind but another thought always followed close behind.

What would happen to Natsu?

I got out of the shower and in an attempt to shield my eyes from my atrocious body, I wrapped my body in bandages and put on black sweatpants, along with a gray hoodie. As much as I tried to cover my injuries, I could still see the bruises on my neck. Which were the ones that bothered me the most. I began rummaging in the cabinets until I found something.

Mother's old makeup...

For a second, it brought me to tears. Even though her death was the cause of this family's downfall, I hadn't thought of her in a long time. I saw this as a blessing. And used her concealer and foundation to cover the rest of my bruises.
To make my day worse, I remembered the upcoming test in the class I struggled in was tomorrow. I had studied well, so I wasn't particularly nervous, but I wanted to rest for a day since my father wasn't here. I heard a soft knock on the bathroom door.

"Shoyo?" she said, barely a whisper. I opened the door and brought her in for a hug, which she responded by hugging me back.

It was only 8 PM, which was the time I put Natsu to bed, but instead, I found both of us in bed, already falling asleep.

"Goodnight Natsu, you know I'll always be here to protect you right?" I told her.

"Mhm.." I could hear her drifting asleep.
"No matter where I am," I spoke before falling asleep as well.

TIME SKIP: | 2 Days Later|
NO ONE POV:
"HA! I WON TODAY'S RACE!" Kageyama said as he gasped for air, after racing Hinata.

"Oh shut up!" Hinata quickly responded.

Kageyama noticed Hinata was losing stamina. Usually, they would be at a close battle, being at each other's throats about the race, and having an identical score in wins. Although recently, Kageyama has been taking the lead, by 3 whole wins. He decided not to mention this, for the sole reason that he felt like something was wrong with Hinata.

Kageyama wasn't very good at sensing emotions, but he's been slowly noticing things about him that, as much as he hates to admit it, worry him.

Hey, what happened to your lip? You have a cut."
Kageyama questioned, trying to not sound suspicious.

Hinata quickly looked the other way.
"I fell off my bike this morning, that's all!"
Kageyama felt a slight anger rising in him, as he had a feeling Shoyo was lying.

Hinata could feel Kageyama's rising anger so he quickly found a way to flee.

"I have to go to the restroom, be right back!"
He felt incredibly panicked as he noticed already 2 of his teammates might be suspecting him.
"Is anyone in here?" He called out which no one replied to. He decided he would use this moment in the bathroom to switch out the bandages around his waist, as blood was starting to seep through and the pain was agonizing. Completely unaware of the person who was hidden in the bathroom.

TSUKKISHIMA POV:
When I arrived at morning practice, I told Yamaguchi I needed to use the restroom. After washing my hands, right as I was about to walk out, I heard Shoyo call out to someone, telling them he was headed to the restroom. And for some reason, I hid.

I don't know why I did. I suspected of Hinata's fake personality but I felt really weird spying on someone. Even after he called out to see if it was empty, I remained silent. I watched him go up to the sink, before grabbing bandages out of his bag.

Why the hell would he need bandages?  If you're that injured, you shouldn't be playing.

However what I saw quickly silenced my thoughts. He slightly lifted his shirt and revealed his torso, covered in bandages, with blood seeping through. I had to confront him.

"Where the hell did you get injured like that?"
I said, in a slightly demanding and angry tone.
He turned around in an instant and had intense fear in his eyes. I'd caught him.

"What were you doing there?!" he backed up against the sink counter, hiding the bandages behind his back.

"Answer my question first," I demanded. I could see him stumbling over his words.

"I-I just fell off my bike. That's all. You're making a big deal out of nothing..!"

I could see straight through his lie. "Don't lie to me, I'm not an idiot. Tell me, or I'll tell the coach." I threatened. I felt slightly bad for threatening him, but now that I saw this, I knew I couldn't back down.

In the background, we could hear our team captain yelling. Practice was starting.

"You need to get the hell out of my business. If you tell anyone this-" he suddenly stopped before he finished his sentence. Then he just walked out.

I walked out shortly after him and saw his personality change completely. He was talking to everyone as if I hadn't just caught him bleeding out with bruises. I decided to wait until lunch.

Time skip: |Beginning of Lunch|
After class ended, the lunch Bell rang, and I knew that was my chance. I saw him walking out of his class but before he entered the cafeteria I grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him to the roof. Mostly everyone was in the cafeteria already, so nobody noticed.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he tossed my hand off of him.

"Where did you get injured like that?" I ignored his initial question, heading straight back to where we left off earlier.

"I told you. I fell off my bike. That's all."

Bullshit.

"Do you really expect me to believe that? I saw your back, there was blood. Did you fall off a cliff or something?" I said, making sure my words were clear.

He looked down at the ground, for a moment then suddenly, his mood changed.

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm great. I'm not lying and there is absolutely nothing you need to worry about. So.. Please don't tell anyone. They'll just be worried about nothing." His words stunned me, they sounded calm yet pleading, which took me by surprise due to the harshness of his earlier words.

HINATA POV:
This day is not treating me well. I think the only reason I'm able to walk right now is because I ate a good meal yesterday. It was all too much.

I had a test that decided whether Natsu would be okay, someone found out about my injuries, and they did not believe my lies.

Now, I was walking home with Natsu, hoping and praying to God that he wouldn't be home.