REINCARNATE

3, promise.

"Ha! Too slow!" Y/n's laughter filled the room as she balanced herself on the windowsill, her face flushed with energy as she held a black jersey high above her head. The dark-haired boy crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes, an annoyed but devious smile creeping onto his face. He feigned darting forward, making her flinch instinctively, before seizing his chance to wrap both arms around her legs and playfully slamming her into the bed.

"Now you're too slow." He mocked.

"Ohh I like where this is going." Y/n laughed, teasing him with a wink.

Rintarou sighed, rolling his eyes as a smirk danced around his lips. "You wish. Gimme the jersey y/n, we have to finish packing. You know we've got a training camp in Miyagi in like, three days right?"

Y/n rolled over lazily,"but, three days Rin." She stuck her bottom lip out in a pout that Rin secretly found incredibly adorable.

She watched as he leaned over teasingly, responding in the same tone she used to mock her, "But, we're leaving tomorrow y/n".

She pouted for a moment before giving in. "Fine."

The rest of the afternoon burned away quickly and soon two well-packed backpacks lay forgotten on her desk, various empty snack packets littered the floor. Rintarou wrapped his arm around y/n as she snuggled into him, listening to his heartbeat. It was strong and steady, filling y/n with a sense of security as she let the rhythmic pounding resonate against her head. 

"I love you so much you know?" He whispered to her increasingly blushing face. You really wouldn't understand how lucky I am even to have you for a moment of my life.

"I love you too."

Rin sighed and rested his head against hers, "Remember that talk coach gave us yesterday?"

Y/n perked up, "That talk?"

"Yeah"

"What about it?" She sat up to face him, looking deep into his dark brown eyes.

"I was just thinking about it. We know that the majority of us are probably going to end up continuing with volleyball I mean, we're pretty much already pro and coach says they never had a player who wasn't good enough to nab a place in a D1 team."

Y/n flicked his forehead teasingly, "Do all middle blockers have this big of an ego?"

Rin ignored her, "Anyways, I was thinking about becoming a coach after graduating and I want you to be there with me. Whether it's as a player or coach either way, I want my future to have you in it."

Y/n was touched, "I want you in my future too. We and the team, we'll carry on the next generations of players and make the name so big that there won't be a single person in Japan who doesn't know who we are."

The brunette affectionately ruffled her hair, "You have big dreams."

"Only because I know that I have you by my side I can dream as boldly and ambitiously as I can and you'll still be there, standing with me."

"I'll always be there to stand beside you y/n. I promise." He whispered into her hair as they fell asleep, hands intertwined and heads filled with dreams of their future.

"RIN!! MOVE!!" Kenta's voice pierced the thunderous torrent of rain and wind, choked by unfiltered panic and desperation.

The dark-haired boy had little time to react as his gaze ping-ponged between his best friend and the girl before him. The taste of fear was metallic on his tongue, and his knees threatened to give out but he closed his eyes in determination and remained rooted in place.

"PLEASE!!"

Kenta was crying, he noticed, something that hadn't happened since they were children. The boy stood frozen in his path, tears streaming from his eyes and staggering his words as he collapsed, exhaustion finally gaining the upper hand. "Please." He continued to beg, mouthing the words over and over even after his voice failed him. 

But he wouldn't move, this foolish hero. He held on until the end, closing his ears to their pleas, the protesting hands doing little to shove him out of the way. 

A deafening shatter of glass was followed by a sharp gasp and a shriek of pure horror. A jarring pain invaded his body, and his eyes blew wide at the sudden coldness that filled him to the core. His limbs felt weightless as though he were floating in water, and he felt peaceful and unafraid, the gentle caress of death lured him closer by the second.

The irony of their childish, naïve love. 

"Rin are we going to die?" Y/n's trembling voice barely registered over the thunderous roaring of the storm above. Her face was bloodless with fear, and the bottom half of her body lay trapped beneath the crushed seat, rooting her in place. Her arms were wrapped tightly around Rintarou's waist, her face pressed into his neck as they clung on for dear life. 

Rintarou shook his head firmly, biting back tears of fear and pain as he felt himself take yet another step towards death. 

Just give me a little longer. I would willingly give my life if it meant y/n and the others can live to see another day, so just give me a little longer to remember their faces, their smiles. 

Please.

"Don't be scared, even if I die I'll reincarnate or something and find my way back to your side. I promise."

Those were Nakamura Rintarou's last words to y/n before he caged her protectively as the bus lurched and tossed. They found his body crushed on top of hers, impaled in various areas by debris that would've skewered y/n had he not gotten in the way first. 

It was agonizing. Y/n couldn't move, everything was happening too quickly, she strained to see her surroundings through a drunken haze of pain. To this day, she will never forget the horrors she experienced: seeing the bodies of her teammates crushed and twisted around her, hearing Kenta's fearful scream as he was dragged under the river of mud, Rintarou with a metal pole impaled through his neck, his breaths gargling. He had locked eyes with her the entire time and spoke reassuring lies, empty platitudes and promises that only aided her suffering.

"It's okay." He had whispered, softly chanting the words more for himself as he watched the body of his best friend, limp as a golden rag doll, get bodily tossed out of sight. "You're going to be just fine."

She squeezed her eyes shut, determined to tattoo the memory of his now lifeless smile behind her eyelids, she never wanted to forget his face. 

Y/n didn't speak for months after witnessing the boy she loved have his life brutally ripped away from him. It had broken something deep within her and even after a year of mending it remained buried inside, just as shattered as his body.

"Kenta." She sighed. "How the hell am I supposed to move on from this?"