REINCARNATE

Prologue

They were one of the best, before high school clubs began to dominate the athletic stage. A regional coed squad of young athletes strategically picked for their unique skill sets, many were favourites and candidates for top tier professional teams.

Similar to to Karasuno's "fly", these players, the Hokkaido Rattlesnakes, lived up to their words: 

"Appearances can deceive." 

A lesson their coach intended for them to understand: that a person's ambitions, their goals and their desires, don't always match up to what their appearance suggests nor do they always click with those of the same person. Strengths enhanced by others' capabilities, ambition amplified by rivalry, teammates didn't have to be friends but a powerful setup consisted of those who shared a common goal: to win. One who particularly took his words to heart was the team's libero, their little number four. Despite her youth and size her flawless technique, speed, and game-sense spoke for her seemingly underwhelming image. People would see her teammates: older, taller, more impressive, and immediately assume she was a ball girl or pinch server at most until they watched her play.  However, nobody knew who she really was, she politely declined every interview, ducking away quickly before the news reporters could swarm her. The audience called her camera shy, but her teammates knew otherwise.

L/n y/n was almost done her first year of high school when the accident happened. She had just joined the team for about a year and excelled quickly, a heroine with a fearless stride, well on her way to a golden glory. Though, fate had other plans, and her ambitions proved to be nothing more than the short-lived dreams of a spring child. They were on a bus in Miyagi heading for a training camp when they were caught in a storm and it was then when the coaches began to worry. 

"It's just a little rain." The driver said, insisting they would make it though deep down he knew they were in danger. Driving steeply downhill, where the rain loosened the earth until the trees' roots were barely grasping the land they were buried in? He knew what was going to happen, and the looming thought mixed with his silence and reckless maneuvers led them to the inevitable consequence.

They were caught by a landslide. 

By the time the storm died down and rescuers were able to reach the scene it was far too late, they found the vehicle by the foot of the mountain it was driving down. Rocks and debris made the bus look like it had been ripped through a cheese grater, the roof was torn off and every window was smashed in. 

Of the 20 people present, only sixteen bodies were recovered and only two were alive, barely and miraculously. The two survivors were rushed to the nearest hospital and through heavy treatment they were saved, though not unscarred. One of them had lost an arm and a leg, rendering him completely unable to continue playing. Another player was found crushed beneath another and luckily for her, his body prevented her from being impaled by numerous shards of debris. While her wounds healed, her bones strengthened, and her stitches faded, the scars in her mind remained fresh and exposed. Hearing the words for the first time, "they're gone", it felt almost foreign to her, the feeling of grief that swooped in and drowned her in a darkness so immense, they frightened even her nightmares.

The accident had shaken her to the core. To lose so many in mere hours, it had taken her months before she could even hold a regular conversation or sleep a dreamless night. Every waking moment felt like a punishment, surviving felt like a sin, and for the longest time she wondered whether people really understood the bitterness of their words when they said she was "lucky" to have lived. What exactly was lucky? She asked herself.

"You have to keep going." Her friend said, the night before they parted ways. He was to move into Tokyo to get fitted for prosthetics, while she ran far far away to the Hyogo prefecture. Her parents felt as though physically moving away would aid in easing her pain.

"Run away." They said, "Or the past will come and hunt you the way a predator stalks its prey. Run away and heal where no one will find you."

And so she ran, fleeing the looming shadows which seemed to cling to her every step. She cut ties, even with those who were once close to her and put up a vast iron wall, no way would she let their faces haunt her waking dreams.

She was now in her second year and about to start her first day at her new school, Inarizaki High. Taking a deep breath, she reassured herself that here, nobody knew who she was. Nobody would ask or pry, hopefully. 

"Why don't you introduce yourself?" Her cue, the teacher's voice and the soft creak of the door opening before her.

She stepped forward, bravely facing the sea of curious and unfamiliar faces, and smiled.

"Good morning. My name is l/n y/n, I look forward to meeting you all."