~Chapter 1~
/TW/- Transgender, fainting, anxiety, binding, bruises
(flashback) -A year and 2 months earlier-
Noya was confused, panicked, and overwhelmed. His anxiety mounted with the squeezing pain in his chest. He could barely breathe, but fear and pride kept him from seeing in a reasonable light. He kept diving, popping the ball back up with every ounce left in him. Taking the hits to his tender body, no doubt bruises blossoming over his collarbones. Sweat trickled down his face like the tears he kept bottled up inside. Suga looked worried, but Noya gave him a determined hawks-eye look and persisted. After all, no pain could be worse than outing himself and being forced to leave the club, not to mention his pride. Volleyball was his life, so why didn’t this feel right?
Kraka-WHAM! All at once, Asahi’s spike was shut down by a wall of blockers. Noya knew what he had to do. He dove, landing straight on his vulnerable chest. The ball ricocheted off his sharp wrist bone, spinning through the air in a high arc. A save! But the pain- it threatened to engulf him. He couldn’t breathe. He tried to stand, but reeled and everything faded to black.
His eyelids felt so heavy, and his head pounded with every breath. He awoke laying on the stiff, blue bed in the nurse’s station. Sugawara stood over him, looking a mixture of worried, frantic, and confused. He felt a cool draft of air against his stomach, and his heart dropped. He lifted his throbbing head and sure enough, he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He panicked and instinctively covered his chest, but it was too late. Suga knew, and Noya could not be more terrified.
The expression on Sugawara’s face was hard to read, but when Noya tried to get syllables to come together, Suga silenced him with genuine concern. “Why didn’t you tell us?” he said gently, quietly.
