REINCARNATE

23, defensive specialist.

"You hit the pole pretty hard when you tumbled and your nose started bleeding. No concussion though thankfully, but you probably won't be back in for this set."

Y/n held an ice pack up to the back of her head while a medic staunched her bleeding nose. She still hadn't opened her eyes but y/n didn't need to, she'd recognize that voice anywhere.

"When did you guys get here?" 

"Around the end of the second set, we probably would've gotten here earlier if 'Samu didn't throw a hissy fit about getting snacks. Those were some tough rallies out there, they must've lasted like two minutes each."

She felt someone sit down on the bench and gently wipe away at her face with a cold cloth. Y/n shivered a little when she felt his breath on her neck and she reached out a hand to his face, immediately recoiling at the contact.

"Ew you're still sweaty." She pushed him away lightly.

Y/n heard a laugh and felt a sharp flick on her shoulder, "look who's talking Bloody Mary."

"Ok, the bleeding's stopped. You can continue playing but I want you to sit out for at least one set and rest, you and your friend can either stay here or head back to the stadium." The medic said, packing up the space.

Y/n opened her eyes slowly and focused on the person sitting across from her. Suna still had his jersey on and his hair hung down a bit from sweat, his face was set in the usual smirk but y/n was happy to see him nonetheless. 

She wanted nothing more than to lean into his arms and stay there but her face fell when she realized the game was still going on. Y/n jumped and started a sprint back to the gym when Suna's hand caught her arm and pulled y/n back into himself.

"The medic said you can't play in this set anyways, if you sprint off now your nose might start bleeding again. They won't let you back in if you bleed out on the way there." 

"Let me go! I need to be there!" Y/n tried tugging herself away but his grip was too tight. Thoughts were racing through y/n's head, had they lost? Were they already in the fifth set?

Suna placed his hands on the side of her head and gazed calmly into her frantic expression.

"Listen. They're well into the third set, if I'm going to be honest things aren't looking too great. The point gap was already really wide last I checked, but it's not over yet. It's best of three, you won two sets, you only need one more. Now, you're going to walk with me back into that gym because we're both tired as hell and I don't feel like carrying you back into the infirmary."

Y/n's voice cracked when she spoke, "The point gap is my fault. I let the other team take advantage of me and I started freaking out, I never freak out. I shouldn't have let them get to me, Rina should've been the starting lib-" her rant was cut off when Suna lightly backhanded her across the face, not hard enough to cause pain but enough to startle her into silence.

"Shut up." He said. "Take a breath, and calm down. The worst thing you can do right now, is freak out."

Y/n inhaled deeply, exhaled, calming her heartbeat down to match his own steady rhythm . Suna had a way of steadying y/n without needing to say much, just being there was enough for her to feel secure again.

"Are you really saying you're that good? That you've never once caved in or felt anything during a match? That's awfully egotistical and unrealistic don't you think?" He murmured teasingly, gently tracing patterns into her back with his fingers.

"You're not the only player on that court. You're a human being you will make mistakes. Nobody blames you for not being able to dig out every ball, nobody blames you for not being able to see fast enough. You've got five other players on that court who know exactly what your limits are. If anything, they're to blame for not backing you up more even when you don't call for help. Stop trying to take responsibility for every point that you supposedly lose."