Countdown ~TsukiHina~

~-1~

~Tsukishima~

I was very tempted not to show up to school today. There's no point in being here, not when we're missing such a vital part of not just our team but our whole school. At least, that's the way it is in my eyes. He was the light of my life, my replacement for oxygen, the entire source of my being and now he's gone. I didn't want to come in today, I just wanted to curl up in my room for the foreseeable future but my god damn mother decided that I can't just waste away like that and she sent me into school.

And that's how I ended up here, at the start of practice feeling... well, I feel empty inside. The gym is a lot quieter than usual today, it's weird. Even though I'm assuming that the news of Shoyo's death hasn't reached everyone on the team yet, you can still feel his absence in the atmosphere of the room. No one's even talking to each other; it's eerily quiet and so damn unsettling. Someone'll say something soon, right? We can't just stay in silence forever. Someone'll spill what happened to Shoyo and it won't be me. As much as I want to be the one to break the news to those few who don't know, I doubt I could even begin without crying.

"Guys, I need you to gather around." Daichi breaks the silence, thank god. Does this mean that Daichi knows about what happened? Am I assuming that Shoyo's the reason he's asking us all to gather around? Yes, yes I am and I feel no shame for that. The group, myself included, follows over and gathers around Daichi, almost reluctantly. Some of us know what's coming, us first years for example who were all directly involved in the discovery that Shoyo is dead. My god, just thinking about it makes me want to cry. "Ok, you're going to have to forgive me for what I'm about to say because it's not exactly pleasant." Yeah, he's definitely about to tell us what happened to Shoyo. Well, time to cry. I'll give it approximately a minute and a half of this conversation before I'm in tears.

~Hinata~

"A few of you might've noticed that Hinata isn't here today. No, forget I said that, all of you noticed that he's not here." Wow, I can hear what Daichi's saying surprisingly well from outside the gym. I've currently got my ear pressed against the door, thank god they gathered close by or I wouldn't be able to hear what he was saying. I need to be able to hear, I can't enter too early or it won't have the same effect. "I'm sorry to be the one to have to say this but-.." He takes a breath, probably because he's quote on quote sad, before continuing. "But he's dead. Hinata's dead."

There are a few broken sobs from... well, I don't know who they're from because I can't see what's going on from the other side of the metal door. "No... That can't be true!" That's definitely Tanaka's voice. "The little guy's stronger than that, he wouldn't just die!" He sounds absolutely destroyed, even though he knows what's really going on. They all do, other than Kei obviously. I didn't peg these guys for being such good actors but, oh boy, I am grateful that they are. Imagine if they were awful at playing this out and Kei caught on too early. That would not be a good situation.

"I'm sorry Tanaka, I really am, but it's true." Daichi speaks again. "His family went out to the airport on Saturday and on Sunday morning the car was found crashed in a ditch. His mum and sister made it, thankfully, but unfortunately Hinata was killed on impact." He sounds really sad, like he's sorry to have to be the one to tell them but it had to be Daichi, anyone else, other than maybe Suga, would've slipped up.

From what I can hear they've been having just one big group cry, it's lasted about five to ten minutes now and I think this is my cue to enter. It starts with a simple giggle and a "You really thought you could get rid of me?" This prompts a couple of gasps and confused noises from the group, a good start. Should I just go in now? I probably should, there isn't much point in prolonging this and I'm getting impatient. I brace myself, take a breath, open the door and walk into the gym. "I can't believe you fell for it, Kei." Cutting straight to the chase, that was probably the best way to do it. I plaster on my very familiar smile. This'll go just perfect, I can tell.

~Tsukishima~

"I can't believe you fell for it, Kei." What the hell is this? Those words echo around my head, what did I fall for? Is Shoyo not actually dead? No, this is his ghost, right? But ghosts aren't real so this has to be... well, I don't know what this is! He's dead, right? Was everything Daichi just told us a lie? Is this just someone pretending to be Shoyo for some kind of sick joke? I study his face, this is definitely him. I know every one of his facial features off by heart at this point, how could I forget them?

But Daichi just told us that Shoyo is dead. Why is he standing here? What about the timer? It ran out yesterday! "Shoyo..." There's something boiling up inside me as I think over what to say. It's a mixture of anger, betrayal and, strangely, relief. Was everything a lie? Was the timer not real? No, I refuse to accept that he's been lying to me since day one! "...What the hell is this? You're supposed to be dead..." He lets out a small giggle and starts walking towards me. Before he can get too close, I grab his wrist and roll the sleeve up on his countdown arm. I need to see what it looks like. I was expecting either a -1 or just a plain, untouched wrist with no sign of a number but what I saw was... well, it looks like smudges, specifically black pen smudges, and what looks like a 0 but not completely rubbed out. "...You lied?" I feel my heart snap in two as I drop his wrist and back away.

I watch as his face drops, confirming what I just said. "Kei... Kei baby no, it's not what it looks like..." Oh so you were coming in here all fucking loud and proud a second ago but now I actually know the truth you've reverted to backing off? God fucking damn it! You lied to me about you dying! What do I say? Should I even say anything? At the moment I'm just standing there and glaring at him. He looks down, clearly ashamed as he should be, and starts backing away from me. "...you weren't supposed to see that..."

I feel my blood boil. "Oh I wasn't supposed to see that? No fucking shit Hinata!" Yes, we are now back on last name terms. First names, at least in my books, are for people who you love, trust and consider to be important to you. "What? Were you just expecting me to be happy that you're back and not question for a second that you should be dead? I'm not stupid, you dumb mother fucker! How dare you! You messed with my fucking emotions and made me think you were going to die and you expect me to love you?! You're a sick and twisted bastard! Why the fuck would you do this?! Did you enjoy watching me being in pain?! Psychotic fuck, we're over! Never even come near me again!"

Was I too harsh on him? No, absolutely not! He has tears in his eyes now and he runs away, hiding behind Suga. Oh so I scared him? Well he fucking scared me when he pretended he was going to die! I look around the group and they all have similar looks of shock on their faces. "I-In Hinata's defence..." Yachi starts to speak, I should've known she had something to do with it to, the little sneak. "...it wasn't just him who was involved, we all helped..." The rest of the team nods in agreement which only makes me even angrier.

"So you all lied to me? Is that supposed to make me feel better, that all my friends betrayed my trust?" This just keeps getting worse and worse. "Fuck this... fuck you all! I'm leaving and if any one of you even try and communicate with me... well, just don't do it! I need some time alone..." I don't have the energy to even shout anymore as I storm out of the gym. What the fuck was that? Did I seriously just lose everyone because my psychopath of an ex boyfriend lied to me and manipulated me? Yeah, that's exactly what just happened and holy fuck it hurts. What comes next? Should I forgive them? No, I shouldn't, they betrayed my trust but, on the other hand, I did just lose everyone including Hinata, who up until half an hour ago was the light of my life. But that's it, the end.

Our story ends here.

~So this is the end of the story. I'd like to thank everyone who's read this story up to the ending, I know a lot of people dropped it along the way. Thanks also to everyone who has been reading this while the chapters were coming out and supporting me. I'm being serious when I say that without you guys I probably wouldn't have finished this story. Also, thanks to @Zepwire for helping me out with the initial plan. I came up with it in the middle of Spanish class and she was like 'but what if he doesn't die' and that's how it happened. So thanks babes, it's appreciated.

The alt ending is coming. It was supposed to come out today but I didn't have time to finish it off. I'll put it up definitely before the end of the week so expect that soon if you're interested. Thanks to @denkichu_idiot for the alt ending idea, sorry if I got your username wrong. I'm working on four other fanfics, two which I'm currently writing and two which I'm still planning and I also do oneshots so feel free to check those out if you want, I'm not forcing you. And again, thanks for reading countdown. I might see you guys in the comments of someone else's fanfic.~