Life Saver

17, you dreaded the number. It would be your age when you graduate high school and have to go to college and become an adult. But it was also the number on your shoulder that predicted the age you would die at.

Many people who turned 13 saw their number as a blessing. They knew exactly how long they had left to do what they want. But others, like yourself, saw it as a curse. A reminder of the miniscule amout of time you'd be on this Earth.

You walked around the ever famous, Aoba Josai High School in search of a good spot to sit quietly and read. You didn't want too many people to miss you when your quick death occured, so you stayed away from most people. Reading was a pretty good substitute for socializing.

"Oh- are you here to watch us practice? I haven't seen you around before." You could hear the flirtatious-ness in the way he spoke.

"No, I'm just here to read." You looked intesely down at the book. You hoped acting like you were reading made them go away.

"What are you- ow!" The flirtatious guy leaned very close to see what you were reading, but the guy beside him smacked him over the head.

"Mind your own business, Trashikawa." He shook his head and dragged the brunette off into the gym.

You didn't know the other guy very well, but you knew the one who spoke to you was Oikawa, Tooru. You eavesdropped on numerous conversations where he was the topic. He was pretty popular, and the school's star volleyball player.

You faintly heard some bickering inside the gym, before it sounded most likely volleyballs hitting the gym floor. You really wanted to continue reading, but your curiosity of the volleyball boys distracted you.

"I can just watch for a second then leave." You thought. You put your book into your bag.

You stood at the edge of the door, hiding from the two guys. The brunette was no longer wearing glasses, and the strong guy looked very focused and a bit angry.

"I thought you were good at this, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa said.

"Just serve another one." The other guy replied.

You watched as Oikawa stood back, throwing the volleyball in the air then jumping up and hitting it over the net. It was beautiful, especially when the other guy perfectly received it. Unfortunately, right after that you sneezed and the two guys looked in your direction. You were quick enough to hide and they went back to practicing. Your face was bright red for awhile after that.

Later that day, you were continuing your book at the end of class. Everyone was standing around and ready to leave, since the bell would ring in only a few minutes. But, you needed to know what happened to the main characters, and you were almost done with the book. It wasn't like you were in any rush to leave anyways; you hated trying to get through small hallways that are filled with people.

The bell chimed and the class rushed out, leaving only you still at your desk. You were so engrossed in the book that you didn't even notice someone walk into the roon and stop beside you.

"Wow, you read fast! You were only at chapter 13 earlier." The person's voice startled.

You looked up to see Oikawa Tooru. He was back and somehow found which class you were in.

"Why are you here?" You asked bluntly.

"I saw you watching us play earlier. Your face was so cute when you thought you were hiding." He replied.

You turned a bit red but replied with disgust, "Thats a bit creepy."

He ignored your statement, "I'd like to invite you to come watch our real practice after school. I'm sure you'd love to see more of me so many girls do."

"Why would I want to do that?" You stood up. There was no chance you could get back to your book now.

"Lots of girls come to see me play. I'm sure it will entertain you more than reading your book." He said.

"No thanks, I don't like spending time with lots of people." You began to walk away, but Oikawa was blocking you from going forward.

"It's not usually too many girls. It might be no one but you today." His suave personality began to falter. It sounded like he was almost begging you to watch his practice.

"It sounds like you really want me to be there." You smirked slightly.

He didn't know how to reply at first, but he got saved from having to speak by the other guy from earlier entering the room.

"Shittykawa, I told you not to bother her anymore." He growled and began to pull Oikawa out of the room.

"I was only asking if she'd like to watch us play!" Oikawa insisted. His personality was entirely different around this guy.

"I'll see, Oikawa. Maybe I'll be there to watch." You decided to be sly and calmy walked past the two. You walked down the now empty hall, a bit happy with you interaction with the volleyball captain.

"Stop this. You can't be too close to him. You're just going to hurt more people when you die." You thought a bit sadly.

"Watching their volleyball practice can't be too bad, can it?" You wondered.

It started every week, you would go to watch one of their volleyball practices. At every waterbreak, Oikawa would try to flirt with you. Eventually you would come with a sly comeback that got him to shut up before they went to practice.

Soon you started going to more and more practices until you were there everyday. Occassionaly there would be other girls there who would faun over Oikawa the whole time. Those girls were usually never confident enough to walk into the gym.

"I guess Oikawa was bluffing when he said tons of girls come to watch." You realized.

You got pretty close to all the other volleyball players too. They were all nice and welcoming to you, and quick to make fun of Oikawa with you. You eventually learned that the guy that always yelled at Oikawa was named Iwaizumi. He was very nice to you and, unlike Oikawa, respected your peace and quiet while you were reading.

One day after practice, you had talked to Yahaba and Watari for awhile before leaving. It was getting pretty close to your 17th birthday and this point, and you were thinking more and more about your tattoo. You knew you shouldn't have even made all these friends in the first place.

"(Y/N)-Chan, wait up!" Oikawa ran after you. It only took him a few minutes to change this time, usually he spent almost 10 minutes in the club room.

"What is it Oikawa?" You asked.

"Let me walk you home. It's getting dark outside. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to my little (Y/N)-Chan!" He replied.

You rolled your eyes at his behaviour, "We're the same age, Oikawa. I'm not some little kid."

"But I'm already 17, and you aren't. So I am older." He stuck his tongue out at you, like it proved his poiny.

"Whatever, you can walk with me if you want." You walked in the usual direction of your house.

"So (Y/N)-chan, I've never seen your tattoo before." He started. Your expression dropped at the mention of your life tattoo.

"Why do you want to know? Are you planning on ending my life early?" You tried to joke.

"Of course not! I'd just like to know!" He said.

Oikawa's tattoo was on his leg, you saw it a lot during practice. His number was 96. Most of the volleyball players had high numbers in the 80s-90s.

"I don't see tattoos as that important. Don't worry about it, Oikawa." You said.

Oikawa decided for once to take a hint and move onto to a different topic. Although, he did start worrying about what your number was.

You were at another summer volleyball practice. You wanted nothing more than to wear a tank top with how hot it was, but you didn't want to risk anyone seeing the tattoo on your shoulder. You were 17 now, every moment made you worry that it would be the moment you die.

The practice went from noon all the way until the sunset. Oikawa was acting odd the whole time. He was pretty quiet during waterbreaks, and you caught him staring at you a few times.

"Good job guys!" You said as everyone was walking out of the gym.

"Thanks (L/N)." Maki said. You decided to wait for Oikawa that day and fortunately he changed quickly today.

"Hey (Y/N), can we talk?" Oikawa asked.

"Sure, is there something wrong?" You replied, following him to where he led you.

"I really... nevermind." He quickly said.

"Oikawa? Is there something wrong. Whatever it is, you can tell me." You asked.

"Its nothing, just go. I- need to do something. I can't walk with you today." Oikawa replied. You were worried about him.

"Okay, just call or text me later if you want to tell what it is." You said. It took you awhile to process what Oikawa was saying earlier.

"I really, thats all he said. What could he have said? I really like you? No, that's ridiculous. He has so many better options, and even if he did- you would only break his heart." You were lost in thought until you bumped into someone. Few people walked along this sidewalk except an occassional dog walker.

"Sorry!" You apologized. You tried to keep walking, but the person grabbed your wrist.

"Um- could you let go." You said. The person was dressed in all black, and their face was hidden. They had a hand in ther hoodie pocket and pulled out something.

"I'm going to scream if you don't let me go." You said. The person didn't do anything.

"Theres a police station a block away!" You continued. You looked at their other hand, they were holding a switchblade.

You screamed as loud as you could and tried to pull your arm out of the person's grip. They brought the knife up, but only got it into your shoulder. It still stung and bleed badly, but that didn't seem to be what they wanted.

"(Y/N)!" You heard someone call out. It was definitely Oikawa.

"Shit." The person mutttered. You assumed they were a guy from the voice.

"Oikawa!" You called out. The guy quickly ran away, and you saw Oikawa quickly running up to you.

"(Y/N), what happened! You're bleeding!" Oikawa was freaking out.

"Th-that guy, he stabbed me." You managed to say.

"I'm going to call an ambulence! Keep pressure on the wound a-and stay awake okay!" Oikawa said. You nodded, sitting down on the sidewalk.

You couldn't really feel the pain from the wound as of right now. The adrenaline coursing through your veins was pretty helpful in this situation.

"I need an ambulence now, my friend got stabbed. We- we're at (some address)." Oikawa frantically said into the phone. He took a glance at you, and his eyes noticeably widened.

"I-is it bad?" You asked, wanting to look at your arm.

"D-don't." He replied.

"Help is on its ways, sir. Is the knife still in your friend?" You could hear the operator now.

"No, she's bleeding a lot though." Oikawa replied.

"Is she keeping pressure on the wound?" The operator asked.

"Yes." Oikawa replied. You could hear sirens several blocks away.

Oikawa spoke a bit too soon. You were going a bit dizzy from blood loss, but your mind was telling you that you were definitley not bleeding.

You took your hand off the wound, feeling a bit of pain. Your hand was absolutely covered in blood and was also dripping onto the concrete.

"(Y/N), you need to keep pressure on it." Oikawa said.

"I'm not bleeding, its fine." You said.

As much as Oikawa didn't want to, he pressed his hand against the wound on your shoulder. The blood had soaked through more than half of your shirt, and was covering your arm. He was very worried you weren't going to make.

"H-how far away are they?" Oikawa couldn't hear the sirens coming any closer.

"Five minutes, sir. Please try and stay as calm as you can." The operator said.

"I'm sorry, Tooru." You suddenly said. He was a bit surprised that you said his first name.

"I-I should've showed you my tattoo before this. I'm supposed to die Oikawa, its alright." You continued. Your eyelids felt very heavy.

"No, you're not supposed to die, (Y/N). You're going to make it through this. Hey keep looking at me, okay!" Oikawa said.

"My tattoo. You asked about the numbee before, right? I-it's 17." You said.

"No, you're going to make it. You have to. Just keep your eyes on me. The ambulance is almost here." He said

"I- I love you, Tooru." You smiled.

"I love you too, (Y/N)." He said as you felt your eyes closing shut.

Then everything went black.

-

You woke up in the morning, your head was buzzing as your eyes fluttered open. You made a small grunt sound and tried to sit yourself up a bit more. Before you could even process anything you heard someone exclaim, "(Y/N)!"

You let your eyes focus to the dim light, it was Oikawa who called out your name.

"Oi-Oikawa? Why am I in the hospital?" You asked.

"Right, you don't remember getting here. Um- you got stabbed a few days ago when you were walking home. But, everythings fine now. The wound should be closed now. Your parent(s) had to go back to work since its been about 5 days since you were last really awake." Oikawa expained.

"What do you mean by 'really awake'?" You decided to focus on.

"Well, you've been awake a few times, either only for a few minutes or you were really high on pain meds and didn't even know you were awake." Oikawa tried to make some light of the situation. You nodded, bits and pieces of the events returning to your brain.

"M-my tattoo! Wha- I'm supposed to be dead! I- what else will happen that would kill me. I can't get nearly murdered again, can I?" You began mumbling trying to look for your tattoo even though the shoulder was all bandaged up.

"What do you mean, (Y/N)? You'll until your 96, thats what your tattoo says." Oikawa worriedly tried to calm down your frantic movements.

"What? But it was on my shoulder. How could it move and change?" You wondered.

"The doctors said its pretty cool, actually. Tattoos can move if the majority of the area its on becomes scar tissue. So your tattoo moved, its not as dark yet but it will be soon. It's on your forearm." Oikawa pointed to the number on your forearm.

It was light grey in big bold numbers, 96. No longer a dreadful 17, a number that only made you worried for your last year of highschool. Now it was a big number, same as Oikawa's too.

"If Oikawa wasn't there, I- I probably would be dead..." You realized.

"Hey Tooru." You used his first name, he blushed but nodded.

"Yeah, (Y/N)?" He moved close to you. You leaned over and hugged him tightly. You felt the pull of a few wires but didn't care much about it.

"(Y/N), you need to be careful!" He tried pushing you back to your previous spot.

"Thank you, Tooru." You kissed his cheek, it left him quiet for a bit. Even though he didn't know why you said it, he felt honored.