New Beginnings (HaikyuuxTPN)

The Truth

 Ray fell back to sleep only a few minutes after he woke up. I left so he could get some rest. He was too out of it to register that it was me fully, I'm sure when he wakes up with more energy his reaction will be different. For now, I have to go to the tournament. I take a breath, trying to clear my brain from the memories that had surfaced. I have to focus. I have to help my team. I walk out of the room, Ms. Hinata waiting for me on the other side. "Let's go." I say, walking out. A hand on my shoulder stops me.

"You don't have to go to the tournament. I'm sure they will understand." I smile at the sentiment.

"Thank you, but I want to do this. I play volleyball for them. I can't let them down." I'm sure Gilda would kill me if I ditched my friends entirely. Ms. Hinata smiles at my resolve.

"Let's go then."

Once we got to the venue, I walked in and saw Karasuno almost immediately. I walk over, silently. "Hinata!" Daichi said in surprise upon seeing me.

"Hi!" I give a small wave. "Sorry I missed the first game."

"Don't worry about that." Daichi looked at me with concern. "You didn't have to come. I understand that you probably want to be with your friend."

"The doctors said he was stable. Besides, he would probably chew me out if he found out I left you guys in the dust." I say, my hand clenching the fabric of my shirt. "Anyway, how did the first game go?"

"We left them in the dust!" Noya shouted.

"I'm glad. Sorry again for not being able to make it. It was super last minute."

"Don't worry about it. It's not something you could control." Suga said, putting a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"You better not let this affect your playing." Kageyama came up to me with a scary look in his eyes.

"Of course! I wouldn't have come if I thought I wouldn't play to the best of my abilities. In fact..." I look up from the floor for the first time since I've got here. "I'm feeling rather refreshed." Kageyama looked away upon seeing my eyes

"Whatever."

On the Court

The game is starting. I feel incredibly light, like a weight has been lifted off my shoulder. I go up to jump. The ball goes under my hand, but I'm able to quickly put the ball over the net, just barely. It was too close. These guys are different. They don't move until they know where the serve is going. That is what makes them an iron wall.

"Hey!" Kageyama quickly points at me. "What was that? Since when could you jump that high?"

"Huh?" Thinking back on the play, I do remember the ball being lower than normal. "I thought you just made a mistake."

"What!" Kageyama got mad at that. "I never make mistakes." His temper quickly calmed down. "Whatever, I'll adjust."

The game went on like normal. We ended up winning. It was a great feeling. A victory always felt good, no matter how small. The whole team walked up to watch Aboa Josiah. I stayed behind, to ask Ms. Hinata about Ray. She had driven back to the hospital in case the nurses needed anything. "How is he?" I asked once she picked up the phone.

"He's doing good. They're trying to see if he can be fed solid food yet."

"Has he said anything?" My main concern is that he wouldn't want to see me for his and my safety.

"He hasn't said much. He asked about someone named Norman." I tense upon hearing the name. "Do you know him?" I nod my head at the question before answering.

"I do, but..." I think about what would be best for him right now. Would he really want to know that his best friend died while he is recovering? "Don't say anything. He should focus on recovery." I said with a sigh. "Tell me if anything happens." I say, hanging up before I could get a response.

"Who was that?" Sugawara came up from behind me. I jump slightly at his voice.

"Oh. That was Ms. Hinata."

"You're Mom?"

"No. She's just my guardian." Suga just nods at that, not asking anything.

"How's your friend?" He said, worry laced his voice.

"He's stable. He's extremely malnourished and had some pretty bad injuries, but that's what happens when you're in that forest. The closer you get to escaping, the more dangerous it gets." I clench my fist. Suga's eyes travel down to my hands, then back up to my eyes.

"Kinda like a video game." He said. I laugh slightly.

"I've never thought about it that way." I think about it some more. "It really is like that." I say with a laugh, but it slowly diminishes. Words of the hundreds of professionals I've seen flow into my head, 'you should tell someone your worries.' They would say. I look around at the empty lobby area. Everyone was in the arena watching the current game. "Sugawara."

"Hmm." He said, turning toward me.

"I..." Do I really want to do this? "You remind me of someone I used to know." His eyes widened.

"And who is that?"

"His name was Norman. The only difference is he had a constant calm personality, never wavering in front of me." I sit down on a chair nearby, Suga takes the seat next to me. I look up with the memory of him. "We grew up in the place together. It was like an orphanage in that it raised children without people to take care of them, but the secret it holds." Images of Conny flash in my mind. "The secret it held was so sinister." I drift my gaze into Suga's eyes. He didn't say anything, just returned my stare. I sigh. "Everyone got adopted at either 6 or 12. That should've been a red flag, but it never signaled in my mind. Everything was so..." Perfect. It was fun living there. Everyone was one big happy family. "Perfect." I say out loud.

"It wasn't until Conny got adopted that everything clicked." I close my eyes, trying to forget the memories. "She forgot her stuffed bunny, I thought that she would want it, so I broke the rule."

"What rule?" Suga says in a quiet tone. His first words since the start of the story.

"Don't go by the gate. That's what Mom always told us. I should've listened, but if Conny actually got adopted, she would've been so sad with little bunny." I take a breath, trying to maintain composure. "Me and Norman went to the gate together. There-" Another pause, I could feel my voice rise slightly in anticipation for the disclosure of the event. "There was a truck. I looked inside and there was Conny." A sad smile creeped onto my face. "She was naked." I brush a hand against my chest. "With a flower stabbed into her chest. She was dead. I realized then that we weren't just orphans, but we were cattle. Destined to die and be fed to someone else." I laugh slightly. "I ended up escaping. I was the only one who survived from our escape group. Until today." I think back to Ray, who was currently in a hospital bed. "Sugawara." I saw turning to face him again.

"Yes." He manages out. I could tell he was in shock.

"Is it wrong of me to wish that I would've died when I turned 12." A thing I started to wish for since the second death in the forest. "Sometimes I think it would've been better if I would've just died, not knowing the secret till the very last moment." Arms wrap around me. My jaw hangs open, the words that I was going to say leaving me.

"Not at all." A voice says, Sugawara's voice. "Your thoughts are your own. If that's what you want to wish then go ahead, but..." He pauses. "Know that you can't go back and change things now. You can dwell and live in the past, wish that things would've gone differently, or you can move forward. Making the best out of what has happened, living in the present."

"The present?" I whisper, barely audible. The whole time I've been here I've lived in fear of the past and the future, not really stopping to think about what I should do right in the moment. My arms wrap around Sugawara's. "Thank you."

A/N: The secret is out! It's almost over now. I'm thinking a few more chapters on the main story line, then I'll have some bonus ones with Emma and Ray meeting other teams per suggestion of @LostIsLosthelp. After this story is done, I have another idea for a haikyuuxTPN story, so there will be more stories. Thank you all for your support! Please comment as I love to hear your thoughts on my story!