For Your Safety (ON TEMPORARY HIATUS)

Chapter 5

(Hinata POV)

I could feel the throbbing emanating from the back of my head, piercing through my brain and to the front of my forehead, just between my eyebrows. I groaned quietly and peeled my eyes open, pushing myself up to a sitting position and wiping a stray sliver of drool that had escaped my unconscious mouth. The room was quite dark, meaning it was probably still the early hours of the morning, with only a small amount of light from the streetlight situated outside the house peeking through the curtains that attempted to cover the windows, illuminating the room enough to somewhat see.

I retrieved my phone from my pocket, unimpressed with myself for sleeping in my school uniform, covering my eyes slightly as I turned it on as to lessen the pain that the sudden bright light would bring my already pained head. Ignoring the overwhelming number of messages that filled the screen, I took note of the time. It read 3:53am, about the usual time for me to awaken. I rubbed a hand down my face and wiped the sleep from my eyes, assuming that I would not be able to successfully return to my previously sleeping state. Not that I wanted to, no matter how tired I was.

Sitting quietly in the dark, I let my mind wander. Having seen the copious number of messages that occupied my phone, my mind instantly wondered about how Karasuno was handling my sudden disappearance. Would they even care that I was gone? I clicked my tongue in annoyance at myself for even thinking such a thing. Of course they would be missing me... I hope.

I missed them. I missed Daichi's strong leadership; I missed Suga's caring persona; I missed Asahi's kindness; I missed Nishinoya and Tanaka's banter and shenanigans; I missed Ennoshita's attempts to control Nishinoya and Tanaka; I missed Kinoshita and Nariata's support; I missed Yamaguchi's determination; I missed Tsukishima's antagonistic nature; I missed Kageyama's tosses. I missed every part of my team.

I missed being a crow.

At that thought, I felt a large drop fall from my eye, leaving a trail behind on my cheek as the guilt of abandoning my first real team. They had taken me under their wing, and I had left them without so much as an explanation. Hurriedly I swiped the tear away. Yet more and more followed suit, leaving my face and pillow damp as I hugged it close to me, stuffing my face into the soft fabric, wishing that I could wake up and it all be a dream.

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I opened my heavy eyes to the sound gentle clattering in the kitchen, unaware that I had cried myself back to sleep. I peeled my sticky face from my pillow which was stuck to the dried tears on my cheeks. Ducking my head to hide my tear stained face from my family, I quickly scurried to the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I looked in the mirror and let out a small chuckle at the sight of the fist sized, purple and green bruise that occupied the space between my eyebrows, mentally preparing for more stares than usual.

I quickly undressed, grimacing at the sight of my own body. Much like my forehead, my body was littered with bruises. Although, unlike my forehead, most of the marks covering my body weren't from volleyball and were much more horrifically covered. My fingers traced over them gently, drawing the memory of each mark up through my fingertips as they grazed each mark. I looked away from the mirror and quickly stepped into the shower, rushing to wash myself so that I could cover my disgusting body. Once I was finished, I dried myself and dressed in a fresh uniform that Mother had hung in the bathroom for me earlier before exiting the bathroom.

I entered the dining room, finding Natsu sat at the table, happily munching on some rice and Meso soup. I gave her a small smile as she tried greeting me with her mouth full, causing some rice to fall out of her tiny mouth. Her chaotic energy caused my heart to sing with joy; the image of her being happy and carefree having a relaxing affect on me. I turned to the kitchen, my mood uplifted, in order to get some breakfast for myself.