XLI

June 12th, 2021

My friend told me that the main character always has a window seat, but American schools don't usually have windows. I went to a school in a different country in seventh grade and ofc I had to tell her that I had the window seat; so I was the main character then, right?

The match immediately went intense. 

It had been obvious that Mailo desperately wanted to beat them- but their intent was a little alarming up close. Within the first five minutes, they'd gotten two warnings from the referee. Kosaku murmured, "They're playing... really aggressively."

"Yeah..." Kita wasn't paying as much attention as he should've. His mind kept straying to his conversation with Suna, and he had to keep forcing it back. 'Focus. Don't think about that.'

His eyes landed on Mailo's bench- one of the reasons he especially liked their team was because their captain, like him, wasn't a starter- as a matter of a fact, he didn't play at all. And he happened to be Kita's childhood friend... and cousin.

Hiroshima Karu had always been expected to become Mailo's captain one day. Mailo had both an elementary school and middle school, and Hiroshima had attended both. In his first year of middle school, it became clear that he was no ordinary player, even to the upperclassmen. Two of the high school third-years had actually come to watch him when he was a second-year.

Hiroshima was simply overflowing with natural talent; he was born to play- and not just volleyball. He was skilled in almost every sport he came across- his vast extent of ability was considered a miracle.

But of course, with every gift came a price.

Hiroshima was injured in his first year of high school. Gravely. He could barely walk for a few months, let alone play volleyball efficiently. The doctors had made his condition very clear- Hiroshima wasn't to play volleyball for the rest of his high school career, and perhaps even after that.

Kita had visited him in the hospital as soon as he was allowed. Hiroshima had cried while telling him about the doctor's decision. To make things worse, his parents had decided to move- secretly, Kita resented them for the decision and thought it was pointless- to a town an hour away.

Now, over two years later, their friendship was being tested- they hadn't ever gone to the same school in the first place, and living apart made it harder to stay in contact. The slightly bitter relations between their two schools made it even worse, and their friendship now resembled a rivalry.

They hadn't talked since their last practice match, which had been early in the summer. Now, looking at him for the first time in months, Kita felt... guilty.

'So this is how Isuma feels every time a team loses to us. It hurts... I almost want to let him win, just to get rid of this feeling-' Kita slapped himself, much to the surprise of everyone around him. "K-Kita Senpai! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He silently cursed himself. 'No. Don't.'

Kita's eyes landed on Hiroshima, who was watching the court so intensely it was odd his eyes weren't on fire. "Shinsuke? Are you okay? You look distracted."

"-no, I'm fine," he answered, glancing at Akagi. "Man, they're really not letting down, huh? I think this has been one the fastest sets we've ever played."

The score was 23:21. "It's not surprising. Everyone's hyped up."

Atsumu executed a perfect serve, which ricocheted off the floor so powerfully it flew right at a girl in the bleachers; she squealed and clumsily caught it. "Yeah. They are."

"-Sensei, I'll go get it from her." Isuma rose as Atsumu, with a new volleyball, stepped forward to serve. The gym filled with yells and the familiar squeaking of shoes as she climbed the steps. The girl glanced at Isuma warily as she approached. "Um, excuse me. Could I have that?"

She didn't answer for a second. "Well..."

Isuma asked, "What?"

Her two friends exchanged glances. "It's just-"

The gym suddenly filled with cheering, distracting them. Inarizaki had taken the first set; the players were returning to their benches. "Listen, I have to go down. The volleyball?"

"...I can't." The girl gripped the volleyball tighter. "You what?"

Down at the bench, Atsumu asked, "Where's 'Suma?"

"Up there." They all looked at her and the other girl. "What's taking her so long...?"

"A- Atsumu-san served this ball." The girl murmured. Isuma almost asked her to repeat what she'd said. "Sorry? You want to keep the volleyball because Atsumu touched it?"

"H-hey! You don't understand!!" The girl snapped, tensing with anger. Isuma bit back a retort; Atsumu's lovesick fans occasionally amused her, but not this time. This girl just gave off crazy, obsessed vibes. "Listen. I'm not going to waste my time asking you for it. Hand it over or I'll take it. Atsumu's fingerprints on a volleyball aren't worth arguing over"

The girl raised her hand and slapped Isuma so hard everyone in the gym looked over, gasping. Even she looked stunned that she'd done it.

Isuma barely winced; the girl watched in horror- she hadn't meant to lose control like that- as she touched her cheek, then her jaw. Her hand came away dabbed with blood. "I-I'm sorry!!"

Isuma wiped away the blood with the back of her hand and looked at the girl, her eyes blazing, who jumped in fright- Isuma hadn't said anything, but the message in her eyes was clear.

Before she could even say a word, Kita grabbed her arm from behind- he'd run up the stairs the second Isuma had been slapped- and warned, "Isuma! Don't. Go back."

"Kita-san! I-"

"Isuma, go!" He raised his voice slightly; his tone made it clear she was not to disobey.

"...fine." Isuma retraced her steps; the gym filled with voices as everyone craned their necks to look at her. Kita glanced at the girl, who flinched. "You're lucky I stopped her. Even I don't know what she would've done. That girl's endured more in her past than you could in ten lifetimes."

All in all, it wasn't the most... normal of intermissions.

Fortunately, the next set started without a hitch. Isuma's jaw had stopped bleeding and she was free to take notes as usual, although the others kept glancing at her more frequently. When their coach glanced at her for the umpteenth time, she said, "Sensei, I'm fine."

"You've told me."

Inarizaki had taken an early lead of two points. Isuma's eyes landed on Mailo's captain. 'Amazing... he'd be an incredible player if it weren't for his injury. Dang, what's with all the good players in Hyogo being injured?' She could see why he wasn't allowed to play volleyball- his left leg was under strain even now, while he was seated. It was surprising he was allowed to even walk. But she could also see what he'd been like before his injury.

'He must've been a wonderful athlete back then... I wonder what happened?' Isuma glanced over at Kita, who was looking at Hiroshima too. 'Does Kita Senpai know him...?'

<<Flashback, Winter 2010; almost two years ago>>

"Karu-chan, are you going to play volleyball after high school?" Kita glanced at him as they walked on the sidewalk, heading home from the gym. "Of course!! What about you, Shin-chan?"

"I don't know. Maybe if you do..." Kita answered. Hiroshima asked, "You won't if I won't?"

"It wouldn't feel right. You love volleyball a lot more than me... and you're better at it than me too." Kita managed a smile. "We'll see. Come on, let's go."

Hiroshima hesitated before following. "It's not like I'll dislike you for continuing with volleyball if I don't..."

"Still. If I do continue, then I want to do it with you," Kita replied. "Okay, but don't back out! I'll definitely continue with volleyball, Shin-chan!! You will too!"

He was positively beaming- as if nothing could go wrong at that moment. "...yeah."

The small crowd of people began crossing the crosswalk. They were still dozens of feet away. Hiroshima grabbed Kita's arm. "Come on, we can run!"

"Karu-!" 

Hiroshima just pulled him along even faster; they ran out onto the road just as the signal turned green for the cars. No one went ahead, as they all saw the two teenage boys there. "Karu, hurry!!"

"I know!" They were five feet away from the opposite sidewalk when a truck came barreling down the road; the driver only saw the green light and hadn't noticed them. It was ten feet away- five feet- two- Hiroshima tackled Kita, pushing him away in the split-second he had. 

"KARU-CHAN!!!" 

I wasn't gonna make them cousins. But then I did cause I don't want to ship them cause their friendship is so cute. 

Ty for 89K :>