XVI

Okay, we reached 1K and I was trying not to freak out. Then 2K- and I was screaming internally. Then 3K. Then 4K. Then 5K. Then 6K. And now we're close to 7K... and yeah, I'm not okay. But let's talk about Suma-chan. This part is mostly going to be flashbacks of them when they were younger.

Isuma ran into the nurse's office, breathless. Everyone glanced at her as she asked, "You needed me, Sensei?"

The others were all sitting on various chairs and tables inside the office, while Atsumu was putting his shirt back on. "We just got done measuring the jerseys," he explained.

"Could you take these to the store that makes their jerseys?" Kurosu handed her several sheets of paper. Isuma rifled through them. "I'll go now. Anything else?"

"These are their jerseys." Kurosu handed her a cardboard box. "Just give these to her."

"Sure."

Atsumu asked, "Are you going by yourself?"

"I can go by myself. It's fine." Isuma's hand stopped on the doorknob. Atsumu stood up. "I can go-"

"I can go myself, Tsumu!!" Isuma's voice was surprisingly firm and cold. Atsumu withdrew his hand, which had been reaching out towards her. "Right."

Kita looked at Isuma. "Are you-"

"I'm fine, Senpai." Isuma shut the door behind her; no one spoke for a few seconds. Kurosu glanced at the team. "Get to the gym, okay?"

"Got it." The second their sensei was out, Kita turned towards Osamu and Atsumu. "Don't follow her. Just talk to her later, when she's cooled off."

"Fine..." The two of them sat back down, lost in thoughts.

<<Flashback: Second Year of Middle School>>

"Hey, Miya!!"

Isuma stopped in the hallway and turned around when she heard her name. A boy was running towards her in a panic. "Your brothers are fighting in the gym!"

Isuma's eyes widened and he pushed past the boy, running towards the gym. Sure enough, Osamu and Atsumu were fighting while several teachers and teammates yelled at them to stop. Isuma's eyes sharpened and, to everyone's astonishment, she raised her voice. "Tsumu!! Samu!!!"

She pushed them away from one another, and the two collapsed on the ground. For a brief second, they glared at each other... and then they saw Isuma standing in between them, her eyes flaring. "What the heck are you doing?!?!!"

Both of them fell silent, seeing the anger in her expression. "What's wrong with you?! What on earth is so important that you need to beat up each other about it?!"

Nobody had ever seen Isuma talk more than a few sentences, let alone so worked up- except her brothers, of course. As the two of them got to their feet, Osamu murmured, "It's something about volleyball. You wouldn't understand."

Neither of them could see the dozens of people around them; in the Miyas' mind, they were the only people who existed right now. Isuma took a step back. "What do you mean, I wouldn't understand?"

They were was already testy, and seeing their sister wasn't helping. Atsumu snapped, "Because volleyball has never meant anything to you!! Just leave us alone!!!"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them. Isuma's eyes widened and she caught her breath. Osamu reached out his hand. "Wait, no-"

Isuma darted out of the gym without another word. Atsumu and Osamu exchanged glances before racing out themselves. "Suma!!!"

Their coach yelled, "Hold on-"

But all three of them were gone. Atsumu and Osamu caught up to their sister, who was running down the empty hallways. Atsumu caught her by the sleeve and pulled her back. "Suma!"

She pulled her hand away from him. "Just- just go!"

Without waiting for a reply, Isuma started running again. Osamu didn't seem to have heard her and followed. "Suma!!" Atsumu hesitated and then ran after his brother.

"How is she so fast?" Osamu panted as they pushed through the doors at the end of the hallway. Atsumu suddenly grabbed his brother's arm. "We can't talk to her now."

"What, why not?! Come on-"

"She wants to be alone right now. Let's talk to her tonight, okay?" Atsumu looked over at Osamu, who murmured, "Fine."

They'd apologized eventually, but Isuma could never stop thinking about what her brothers had said. Part of her knew they were right: she had never taken volleyball as seriously as them... but she had never taken anything that seriously. She never told either of them about it, but she was afraid... without her brothers, was she really much of a person?

<<First Year of High School>>

"We're in Class 1-3 together! What about you?" Atsumu looked at Isuma. She replied, "Class 1-1..."

Osamu and Atsumu exchanged concerned glances. "You'll be fine, Suma-chan! We'll see you at lunch or something?"

"Yeah, sure." Isuma gave them a small smile and walked back into her classroom. It was full of people, all of whom were talking with others. Isuma forced herself to walk to her seat and sit down: the chairs on either side of her were now taken: the first boy had dark hair and a slight accent, while the second had sandy brown hair. They both looked up when she sat down. "Hi, I'm Ginjima!"

Isuma didn't say anything and just looked down.  Ginjima exchanged glances with the other boy, who shrugged slightly.

<<Skip to After-school>>

"How'd it go, Suma-chan?" Osamu asked her. She answered, "It was okay."

"We're going to the volleyball gym!" Atsumu handed her two sheets of paper, which she looked over. "You both signed up for the team?"

"Yeah!" Osamu nodded. Isuma replied, "Have fun, then."

"See you tonight, Suma-chan!" Atsumu and Osamu both waved before running off towards the gym. Isuma smiled slightly before starting to walk home. Halfway there, she suddenly noticed she was holding something in her hands tightly. "Their sign-up sheets!!"

Isuma hesitated and then decided to run back to the school to give them back. Five minutes later, as she ran towards the volleyball gym, she could hear people yelling, squeaking shoes, and balls slamming on the floor. Isuma hesitated, then walked in through the double doors.

The first thing she saw was a ball flying towards her.

Isuma backed away and slipped on the step behind her, falling down. She instinctively held her hands in front of her face to stop the ball... but someone else did it before she could. It bounded off their arm and dropped to the floor. Isuma lowered her hands tentatively: a boy- maybe a year or two older than her- was holding out his right hand to help her up, his left hand on his knee. His hair was a silvery-gray with black fringes, and his eyes were a light shade of brown. He looked concerned as he reached out his hand to her. "Are you alright?"

Isuma stared at him for a second before slowly taking his hand. "...I'm fine."

"Suma-chan?" Her brothers- and everyone else in the gym- walked over to them. "What happened; are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Samu," Isuma pulled out the two forms from her bag. Atsumu took them from her. "Suma-chan! Thanks; we were looking for these!"

Isuma noticed the dark-haired boy who sat beside her in class beside Osamu. He looked at them. "She's your sister?"

"Yeah. Sorry senpai... this is Isuma." Atsumu looked at the others, all of whom were staring at her. Isuma looked overwhelmed by all their gazes and took a step back. "...hi."

Atsumu noticed her unease and touched her shoulder. "Go home, okay? We'll see you there."

"Right. Sorry for bothering you..." Isuma hastily added. "No, it's fine. It was nice to meet you!"

Everyone began going back to whatever they were doing. As Isuma turned to go, Kita called, "Isuma."

She turned to look at him. Kita flashed a smile as he picked up the ball that had flown towards her. "Come by anytime."

Her cheeks colored and she replied,  "...sure, Senpai. Excuse me."

Okay, that's all for the flashbacks. Just to be clear, Isuma is the one remembering all this, it's not like a side-story or anything. I will probably never do side-stories. I can't understand the concept of them. Like why would you spend time writing something that's not actually beneficial to the plot...? Idk maybe other people enjoy them. Also, I just realized that Suna probably stays at the dorms at Inarizaki cause he's from a different prefecture. AND. Kita's current concern is that his grandmother's already looking forward to his wedding. You can probably tell from the last few chapters (especially this one) but I'm TOTALLY going to use that!!