The Third Miya: Isuma

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."