A/n: A chapter focusing a bit more on Hinata's problems. Hopefully you can all guess the whole foreshadowing thing.

Also (for those who are interested) check out my other--more popular--FF, I Am A Shadow (A Daiya No Ace FF)

Like always, Comment and give me some feedback. Thanks!

Everything has been going wrong for Hinata lately. In a span of a couple weeks, so many things have changed in the sun child's life. So many things that were just out of his control.

And Hinata hated it.

He hated the fact that he was so weak in front of his worst fears. He hated that he knows how different he acted at school. He hated everyone was constantly worried about him. He especially hated that he was the cause of others current dismay.

He was Hinata Shouyou, after all.

He was supposed to be the endless ball of energy that no one could even possibly dream of controlling. He was supposed to be the child that was born from the rays of sunlight that touched the Earth. He was supposed to smile and grin, and not have any care in the world.

But Hinata just couldn't anymore.

-----

Hinata was scared when he woke up.

The world was blurred into an array of foggy colors. One was particularly close to Hinata. It was a mass of black that floated above him. The blur moved, and Hinata blinked. Once. Twice. Then the world came into view. The person leaning over Hinata was Takeda. The teacher's lips moved, but Hinata couldn't make out any words.

A groan clawed itself past Hinata's lips. "Hinata." He heard Takeda call his name. "Stay still. We need to fix your bandages."

And suddenly, Hinata felt like he was drowning. His breath was caught in his chest, and he noticed how cold the air seemed. Slowly, Hinata blinked and moved his golden brown eyes away from Takeda's warm brown hues. He looked around, noticing his manager to his right and especially took note of the first aid kit on her lap. Ukai was pacing a few feet away, glaring at his phone and muttering a string of curses. Then Hinata looked down at his own body. The way his upper half was openly exposed to the three people in the gym.

Panic flooded through Hinata again. His blood went cold and chills wracked his body. He shook away from Takeda's grip, fleeing toward the closest corner of the gym. The world spun around Hinata. He couldn't stop himself from thinking, 'They know. God, they know. They'll hate me.' Over and over again, the thoughts repeated in his head. Hinata felt the dull thumping against his skull and the strain he felt itching behind his eyes. His stomach churned. He didn't hear the way Takeda cooed at him from a few feet away. It felt like the world was caving in around him.

Hinata's breath became staggered. He faintly heard Asahi's voice in his head, telling him to breath. And he tried. He really did. But the thoughts and voices continued to swirl in the black abyss of his subconscious. They wouldn't go away.

But through the loud ringing echoing his ears, Hinata was able to make out one word.

"...ambulance at Karasuno High School right away. We hav-" Ukai's voice faded again. And Hinata gasped at the name of the emergency vehicle being uttered. He didn't remember moving, but his body snapped forward toward his coach. Hinata pulled the small device from Ukai's grasp, and hung up. "Hinata!" Ukai breathed, staring wide eyed at the first year student.

"I'm fine." Hinata heard his voice whisper, only it didn't sound like his. No, it couldn't have been his. His voice was loud and full of life. The voice he heard was strained, and in pain. Definitely not his. "I..I'll just..go..home?"

The word 'home' felt strange on the ginger's tongue. He blinked. 'Was it really home anymore?' He asked himself.

Takeda stood in front of Hinata, but his figure was only blurred by the mass of tears pooling his eyes. "You can't go home in your condition Hinata. You need to see a doctor. You're wounds may be infected." The teacher tried to reason, but Hinata only heard half of those words.

'If I go, then they'll all know. They'll all leave me. They'll all-'

"No." Hinata's whimpered, crouching down and shielded his face from view. He barely noticed a jacket being placed upon his shoulders.

There was movement in the corner of Hinata's eyes, but he didn't hear anything that was being said. The thoughts in his head were just too loud for him to hear anything else. A hand came forward, being placed on Hinata's shoulder. The contact was reassuring, but Hinata couldn't help but to flinch away. The buzzing in the back of his head was what Hinata sought to focus on, ignoring the voices in his head and those of the people around him.

Suddenly the room felt small. Hinata felt too crowded. He wanted to escape; to leave.

And that's what he did.

Hinata shot up, and out the doors. Colors sped behind him, and the cool wind hit his skin. Hinata shivered. He had to get away. Away from the small room. Away from the judgemental eyes of his peers. Just, away from everything.

He didn't know how long he ran for. Or even where he was going. But when Hinata's knees finally buckled, he gasped for air. Hinata placed his right hand over his heart, clutching at the fabric between his fingers. He desperately tried to get his breath under control. Again, Asahi's calm voice told him to breath. Hinata took a deep breath of air, letting the voices in his head fade. He did this a couple times, and soon enough, Hinata could finally think clearly again.

The small middle blocker let his brown eyes glance around at his surroundings. Hinata recognized the place. And suddenly the teen felt the need to recompose himself. He had to make it look like nothing was wrong, for her sake. Hinata stood on shaky legs, zipping up the too large jacket that circled around his small frame. With a heavy sigh, Hinata took one step forward, and then another. And the ginger stepped through the gates of a daycare.

Small children played on the playground to Hinata's left. They were happy and smiling, like kids should. And for a mere second, Hinata envied them. He wanted to be happy like that again, like a child without a care in the world. He wanted to be oblivious to all the horrible things that were currently happening in his life. Hinata shook his head from the thoughts. The small red headed first year continued walking toward the small daycare building, where children constantly ran in and out. "Nii-chan!" Hinata grimaced at the weight that rocketed itself into his injured abdomen.

Hinata looked down, letting his arms encircle the small ginger girl that currently had her head buried in his stomach. Her tiny arms couldn't fully wrap around his bigger body. Hinata felt his heart swell at the sight of his younger sister, Hinata Natsu. She looked up at him with a wide toothy smile and shining golden eyes that were much like his own. "Natsu." Hinata petted his sister's head affectionately.

"Nii-chan, you're here early." The girl giggled, then tilted her head. "Or that's what sensei said." Hinata let a genuine chuckle rumble through his chest. Natsu peering up at him.

"Yes. I'm here early." Hinata smiled. "Are you ready to go?"

Natsu pulled away from her brother's grasp. "Yes! I'll go get my bag!" The tiny red head exclaimed, and bounced away. Hinata could feel the way his chest ached at the sight of his younger sister's back facing him, as she happily engaged with her friends. Hinata knew he was lying to her, and that hurt more than anything else. He hated how she was so unaware of how their family was falling apart; how he couldn't do anything to stop it from happening.

Hinata felt like a failure. Like a pathetic excuse for an older brother.

"Hinata-kun?" Hinata jerked out of his thoughts, as one of Natsu's teachers stood in front of him. "Could you sign Natsu-chan out?" The older woman smiled thinly. Of course they knew. They had to because sometimes Natsu would throw fits because their mom wasn't getting better. Hinata almost regretted not informing his own school, but he stopped his thoughts before they could completely form.

"Yes." Hinata stepped over to the counter on his right. The older woman laid a clipboard, with a paper printed with a bunch of small boxes, in front of the ginger. Hinata picked up the pen on the counter and signed his name, and the current time. Just as he finished writing, he felt tiny hands tug at the edge of his shirt. "You ready, Natsu?" Hinata's voice came out small and soft. The girl nodded her head profusely, causing tufts of orange hair to bounce and ruffle. "Then we'll be leaving now."

Hinata and Natsu walked along, side by side and Natsu's small hand clutching her older brother's. The two waited at the bus stop. Hinata listened to Natsu's mindless chatter about the games she played while at daycare. But really, he wasn't listening at all.

The pit of his stomach felt empty. Guilt slowly clouded his mind. He left his friends worrying because he had ran off in his panic. All of his things were back in his clubroom, so his friends had no way of contacting him. They were probably really worried, but Hinata had to get out of there. He sighed again.

"Nii-chan?" Natsu's high pitched voice caused Hinata to look down at the small girl that tugged on his hand. "Are you okay? Where's your bag?"

Hinata ruffled his sister's hair and gave a small smile. "I'm alright Natsu. I accidentally forgot my things at school."

The girl giggled into her tiny hand. "You're so silly, Nii-chan."

"Yeah. Silly." Hinata smile faded for a quick second. Before Natsu could notice, he forced the corner of his lips up. "Let's go visit mom today too." Natsu cheered loudly.

"Can we get mommy a present?" She asked, gazing at Hinata with bright shining eye. Hinata gently reminded his sister that his things were at his school. Natsu pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. Just then, the bus that the Hinata siblings were waiting had pulled up next to the two.

Before Hinata could say anything to her, Natsu turned her head away and stomped her foot. A low 'hmph' came from the girl's lips. "Tomorrow. I promise." Hinata ruffled his sister's hair. Natsu opened one eye, observing her brother for any telltale signs of lying. Once deciding that her older brother was telling the truth, the smaller ginger grinned. Hinata sighed once he saw her smiling happily.

The bus doors opened, allowing the two siblings to step onto the public vehicle. Hinata let Natsu step on first, before getting on the bus behind her. The doors closed and once the two gingers sat down, the bus pulled onto the streets. During the ride, Natsu bounced in her seat next to the window, talking about the new picture she drew for their mom. Hinata nodded along absentmindedly. His thoughts were elsewhere.

Hinata couldn't stop the guilt from bubbling in the pit of his stomach. His friends must be worried. But that wasn't the only thing. Hinata was mostly scared of what they thought about him now that they've seen the bruises and wounds. Slowly, the voices were coming back. They kept repeating the same words over and over again. 'They think you're disgusting. They're gonna leave you.' The words echoed loudly, and Hinata felt everything closing in around him.

The ginger haired high school tried to imagine Asahi speaking to him. Right now, that was the most comforting thing Hinata could think of. But he couldn't imagine the gentle ace's voice whispering comforting things. Instead Asahi's voice started reprimanding him, telling him how worthless he was. Then all at once, the many voices in Hinata's head started sounding more and more like his teammates.

Hinata's breath hitched. He tried ignoring the voices. 'They'd never say things like that.' He tried thinking, but somehow that thought made him sick. 'What if they think it though? What if everything up until now has been a lie? Oh god. They're really gonna leave me.'

"Nii-chan!" Natsu called directly into Hinata's right ear. The latter practically jumped in his seat. "We're here." She pointed out the window. The bus had stopped in front of a huge hospital in Sendai.

Hinata shook his thoughts away for now. They'd probably come back again when he was alone. "Right." Hinata whispered, standing from his seat. He held his hand out to Natsu, who took it and hopped down from the seat the two previously sat on. "Let's go check on mom." The teen said, leading Natsu carefully off the bus and into the hospital. Hinata made sure to keep him and Natsu out of the doctor's ways, as they made their way to the front reception desk. "Excuse me." Hinata called to the lady that sat behind the counter. The woman turned toward him.

"Oh, Hinata-kun." The receptionist smiled. Hinata instantly recognized the pity in the woman's blue eyes. "Right, just sign your name like usual and you can go right up." She said, nodding to the clipboard and pen on the counter.

Hinata slipped his hand from his sister, reaching up to sign his name down on the 'visiting a patient' list. Natsu, in turn, went to clutch on Hinata's jacket. When he finished, the ginger thanked the receptionist and headed toward the elevators. The two siblings waited in anxious silence as the elevator made its way to the 5th floor.

As soon as the doors opened, Natsu skipped through the halls with Hinata following closely behind. The two stopped in front of a door with a sign beside it. The sign read, 'room 513.' Hinata bit his lip and turned toward Natsu. "Let's be quiet, okay Natsu? We don't know if mom is awake." The smaller girl nodded her head. Hinata reached up, turning the doorknob slowly and pushing it open.

Natsu peeked inside, honey colored eyes scanning the bed in the far corner of the room, by the window. The girl suddenly grinned widely and barreled into the room. Hinata called out for her, but he was ignored. He quickly followed his sister into the room, where Natsu was already climbing onto the bed next to a raven haired woman. "Mom!" Natsu hugged the woman tightly.

"Natsu." Hinata scolded, lightly pulling his sister's weight off of their mom's fragile body.

The woman in the hospital bed smiled warmly. "Hi, Shouyou." Her voice was soft, just above a whisper. Hinata leaned down, placing a kiss against her temple and replied with a 'hi mom.' He sat down in a not-so-comfortable chair that was placed beside his mom's bed.

The sibling's mother was quickly pulled into a long conversation with Natsu about the young child's school. Hinata took the time to glance over his mom's body. The woman was small, shorter than Hinata himself. But the way her bones were visible under pale skin made her seem smaller. His eyes moved up to the woman's raven colored hair. It used to be thick, full of life, but now it was thinner--and still thinning. Her hair was brittle and tangled against the white pillow below her head. The woman's eyes--which were the same golden brown as the ginger haired children--were half lidded and dull. Those eyes were only ever bright now when Hinata and Natsu came to visit. Hinata looked at how his mom's frail body was covered by thick white and blue hospital blankets. How she seemed so small now, when back then she was passionate and fire-y. She was a force to be reckoned with.

"Shouyou." Hinata turned his eyes back up to his mother's face. "How's everything at home and with school?" The woman asked. Hinata had to lean forward slightly to actually hear her.

Hinata sat up straight again. He smiled, noticing how his mother's shoulders relaxed and how she sunk more into the comfort of her bed. "Everything's great mom. I'm taking care of everything, so don't worry. Just focus on getting better."

"Sorry for relying on you like this Shouyou." The woman reached out, softly placing her hand against Hinata's cheek. Hinata leaned into her touch. For just a minute, he felt like everything would be okay.

Hinata quietly told her, "Don't worry about it."

-----

Hinata slowly lifted Natsu's sleeping body off of the hospital bed. He turned her over, so the girl's head lie on his left shoulder and both of his arms behind her knees. It was past visiting hours now the nurses always let Hinata and Natsu stay past designated hours. Hinata was grateful. "Will you be okay on the way back, Shouyou?" The woman asked quietly, as not to wake her youngest child.

"Yeah," Hinata nodded his head and adjusted his grip on his sister. "I'll be okay. We'll come again tomorrow mom."

The woman was silent for a second. "You know you don't have to come visit everyday, Shouyou." She smiled ever so slightly. "I'm okay here."

But Hinata shook his head. "No. I like coming everyday. And so does Natsu." He replied. "We'll come tomorrow." Hinata decided, leaving no room for his mother to argue. She laughed in return.

"I'll be waiting then. I love you two. So much."

"Love you too."

-----

Hinata was back home, locked in his room. Natsu was sleeping soundlessly on his bed, curled in a ball against the wall. The ginger was sitting at his desk, staring at his house phone. He silently debated on whether to call one of his teammates or not. Maybe he could just apologize tomorrow morning. It was late anyways, so they probably wouldn't answer in the first place. But then there was also the fact that his dad was sleeping in the room, just down the hall. If Hinata were to wake his dad, then there's no telling what the man would do. Hinata was already punished for being out past curfew.

The young teen was now sporting new black and purple bruises. The spots littered his pale skin. Carefully placed in places that wouldn't be seen by anyone but the two of them. But that didn't stop the man from splitting Hinata's lip open in a single and final warning.

Hinata sighed, deciding against the call. Yet, the high schooler found himself reaching out for the phone. His nimble fingers gliding across the number pad. And soon, the phone was up to his ear and the ringing was loud.

"Hello?" A deep voice sounded through the phone.

Hinata held his breath. 'Speak? Or not?' The question repeated in his head.

"Hello? Anyone there?" The voice questioned again. Hinata didn't reply still. "Look, whoever you are. I can hear you breathing, so-"

"D-Daichi-san..?" Hinata whispered. The ginger heard the rustling of fabric on the other end.

Suddenly Daichi was speaking again. "Hinata!?" The ginger flinched, pulling the phone away from his ear. "Hinata! Are you okay?! Are you at home?"

"I-I'm..fine. I'm at home now." Hinata replied, staring down at his desktop. "Sorry for running off like that."

There was a sigh on the other side. "God, we were so worried. You left your phone in the club room. We didn't know how to get ahold of you."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize Hinata." Daichi said softly, carefully. "Just...please." The older male's voice cracked from speaking so quietly. "Let us help you."

Hinata froze. "H-help...?"

"Yes." Daichi answered. It wasn't until then that Hinata realized he had spoken out loud. "But we can't help if you don't let us Hinata."

"I," Hinata wasn't sure what to say. For an instant, he regretted making the call. "I don't need help with anything..." Was what came from the first year's lips. There was another sigh from Daichi. "I swear..Everything's fine."

"Hinata." Daichi responded. His tone was soft, sad almost. Hinata didn't really know what to think. Before now, he was so scared of his friend's thoughts and that he didn't want to burden them, Hinata decided to keep his troubles to himself. Now Daichi had just told him that him and the rest of the team want to help. Had he made the wrong choice? "Hinata, please.." The captain pleaded. Hinata was debating with himself again.

The ginger opened his mouth to give an answer, but there was a sudden pounding on his door. "SHOUYOU!" Hinata flinched at the sound of his father loud and booming voice. "What the hell do you think you're doing!? You have school in the morning! Don't think that you'll get to skip!" The man's words were slurred and he sounded groggy even though his voice was muffled by the wooden door for Hinata's room.

"S-sorry!" Hinata called back to his father. "I..I was just finishing up some homework."

"Well go the fuck to sleep!" Was the reply from the other side of the door. There was stomping that faded down the hall. Then the loud slam of the door. Hinata flinched again at the sound. He looked toward Natsu on his bed, and the small girl only stirred.

Hinata turned his attention back to the phone against his ear. "S-sorry Daichi-san. I have to hang up now.." Daichi didn't get a chance to speak. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Then the line went dead.