IX

Kita had been right. Isuma was so shy around people and had it been anything else, she probably couldn't have reacted fast enough to block it. But with the volleyball-

"Suna-chan?" Isuma glanced at him and Ginjima. "Ginjima-chan? What's wrong?"

"-nothing." Suna shook his head. "Come on, we're going to watch from the sidelines."

"Is that all?" She asked, puzzled. Ginjima added, "Not just watch. Can you point out their mistakes to us? Maybe we could help them out."

"I guess. Although..." Isuma paused as they reached down on the single line of benches at the side of the court. "What?" Ginjima asked.

"The boy who threw the ball." Isuma sat down in between them. "Did you see how he was running?"

"...no..."

"It wasn't his running, I guess, but more of the way he stops. His foot made this little twist as if he was forcing it to stop. Both times. When he ran to us and back." Ginjima and Suna gaped at her; she said it so casually, it might've been something anyone could notice. "How did you see that?"

"I don't know. I just did." She looked at them uncertainly. "It's not like I'm trying to. It just happens. I can just tell what's wrong.

"Is that... strange?" She asked. "No, of course not. It's cool!" Ginjima exclaimed. "Do you see anything else?"

"Yes..." She began listing a dozen other small mistakes the others were doing. At first, Suna and Ginjima didn't see what she was explaining, but they slowly began to see what she was explaining in a low voice. Suna grabbed a notebook that was sitting next to him and started writing down everything. She repeated several points so he could write them, and fifteen minutes later, Suna had filled two pages. He neatly tore it from the notebook and handed it to Isuma. "You want to give that to them?"

"...me?" She hesitated. "I'm probably wrong though, it's just what I think; we don't know if it's right..."

"Come on! They'll like it!" Ginjima encouraged. Isuma tugged on her hood. "Can I at least take this off? They'll probably feel weird talking to me like this."

"...fine, but we're coming too." All three of them stood up as Ginjima walked to the boy wearing the #1 jersey. "Could we talk to you and your team?"

"-sure, Senpai." The guy yelled to the rest of his team, all of whom ran over. Isuma stepped forward and pulled back her hood. Everyone took a step back, gawking at her. The boy who had misfired the volleyball towards her looked shocked. "You're a girl?! I'm so sorry about earlier!!"

"...it's fine." She smiled slightly; she was shorter than all of them, yet they looked nervous around her. Or maybe they just thought she was pretty. "I just noticed some things. About the way you play. You're really good, but I thought this would help."

She held out the piece of paper. The captain took it and began reading through, while one of the others leaned over his shoulder curiously. "Oh. Wow."

"Thank you, Senpai!" The captain bowed hastily. "Can you watch us while we try this?"

Isuma glanced at Suna and Ginjima, who nodded together. "Sure."

They stayed standing but moved back several feet. Suna observed the captain, who was talking to his team. "He seems to trust you completely."

"Of course he does. It's Isuma-chan." Ginjima smirked slightly. "We don't know if I'm right yet, Gin."

She gripped Suna's right arm and Ginjima's left tightly. Both of them looked down at her and then each other: while neither of them minded, Isuma never did things like this. She usually stayed at least five inches away from them, but right now, she seemed to be out of her shell- at least briefly.

"Nice serve! "The player who had been having trouble with his serves threw the ball in the air. This time, he used Isuma's advice and jumped a split-second later than usual. To the entire team's shock, the serve went over perfectly, sailing over the net. But nobody had time to compliment it: their libero managed to pick it up, using his elbows the way their captain had explained. For several minutes, they kept at it, spiking, serving, receiving, and setting consistently.

"They really did improve..." Suna murmured, his eyes flicking to Isuma. She was smiling as she watched the team play, her gaze intense and focused. Ginjima locked eyes with him: this was what Kita was talking about. He had been right.