Haikyuu Creature Collection

Still Breathing (Korai Hoshiumi)

Wizzy: WARNING: This chapter contains some references to suicidal thoughts. If you are triggered by these sorts of things, please feel free to skip this one.
On another note, I intend to write a sequel to this, but there is a chance that it may not happen. 
As of right now, I have the following planned or in the works: Moniwa Parts 2 & 3, Hanamaki Part 2, Reon, Aran Parts 2 & 3, Kita, Suna Part 3, Riseki, Terushima Part 2, Yamamoto, Matsukawa Part 2, Yahaba Part 3, Suguru Part 2, Numai Parts 2 & 3, Maruyama, Nishinoya, Bobata, Saeko, Ukai, and the Ougiminami captain whose name I think was Towada. 
Also out of curiosity, how do y'all feel about me doing a few My Hero Academia one-shots?

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It would be so easy, I thought, staring down at the river below. One little jump off this bridge. If I let myself get swept away by that rushing current, it would all be over in merely a moment.

Yet... as tempting as it is, I can't quite seem to do it. What is it that is making me hesitate? Hard as I try, I can't find a single reason not to do it... only millions to do it.

From the very beginning, there was only ever pain. Raised by a single mother who couldn't keep a job for more than a week... Abducted by Collectors because I was a mix of creatures that was unheard of... Being rescued seemed like a miracle, but then led to a whole new world of pain...

Halfbreeds never have it easy... forever trapped between the two races and knowing that nothing that you do will ever make either side accept you. Nothing I do will ever make them accept me... nothing will ever make them see me as anything but a monster... an abomination.

As I watched the rushing water of the river, I heard footsteps behind me. There's no reason to look... it doesn't matter who it is.

"What are you waiting for?" A deep, smooth voice spoke from behind me. There's a hint of amusement amongst his serious tone. "It's what you want, isn't it?"

What I wanted? Yes, I supposed it was. An end to everything... an end to my suffering. And yet... I can't quite bring myself to make the jump.

"If you're going to jump, then just do it." It almost felt like he was taunting me. What did that even matter at this point anyway? "Or do you hesitate because it's not what you really want?"

Slowly I look back over my shoulder at the man. He's far from normal. Dressed in a rather fine suit... hair cut perfectly in a way that practically screams yakuza. The man is clearly part werewolf, but his scent gives him away as a mixed-blood. His actual face is disguised... the man is partially transformed, making him look like an anthropomorphized wolf.

Half-breeds struggle with transformations... Even purebloods struggled with partial transformations. This man here was a very powerful person. Everything about him was a red flag to warn me to stay away... but my gut instincts told me otherwise.

"You want things to change... you want your suffering to end..." The corner of his mouth curves upward. "Humans can be such horrid creatures... but then again, so can nonhumans. One side always looks at the other as the villain... but what they fail to see is that there is no evil... there is no good... There is merely perspective."

The man took a step toward me. "The others see you as their villain... the horrible beast that must be slain... But what of you? Your view is much different. From your perspective, they're the villains and you're merely the damsel in distress waiting for her novel hero."

Carefully I turned around to face him fully. The half-breed's words were far too close to reality for it to be just someone's speculation. The only one who could ever know the suffering of a mixed-blood is another mixed blood. Thinking that someone who seemed as powerful as him might have gone through this very same situation felt insane... but it was the only answer that made any sense.