STONE HEARTS ❨ ushijima wakatoshi ❩

「 SIX 」

CHAPTER SIX

"Are you listening?" Sai asked, turning towards their captain.

It was during afternoon training that Sai noticed their captain spacing out. Hara had been out of it since earlier, and it was obvious that she was hiding something. The captain didn't know how to respond to her vice, not wanting to let out what was supposed to be hidden- her injury. However, the way Sai was looking at her, the raven haired female thought that there was no way she could hide something from Sai. Instead of a lengthy reply which could give it all away, she offered a short one.

"Nothing's wrong," Hara muttered, looking away from the amber haired vice captain.

"Your ankle. There clearly is something wrong. What did you do again this time?" Sai whisper-yelled, making the captain widen her eyes.

Of course. Nothing escapes Sai's eyes. What could ever miss Sai's set of eagle eyes? The vice captain has such sharp eyesight which also helps them a lot in matches, and of course in noticing things like this. Especially with their captain who can be quite stubborn with training. Sai could not count on her fingers the number of times that she caught Hara hiding an injury.

To Hara, Sai was like a mother. Of course, that also applied to the team. Sometimes she would even think, why was she chosen as the captain if someone as reliable as Sai was present? She was caring towards every member, and was especially strict on Hara who overworked herself more often than not.

"Sai," Hara tried to reason out, "It will be fine."

"It clearly won't! If you keep overworking yourself like this, you're gonna end up injuring yourself over and over again! Why didn't you tell me and the coach?" Sai exclaimed, earning the attention of the other members of the club. Hara froze on her spot, not wanting the attention they were getting. Uh oh.

The captain closed her eyes to stop herself from speaking. She was lucky that the coach wasn't in the girls' gym, or else she'll get another earful. At times that Sai would act like a mother, Hara felt like she couldn't blame her either. She was responsible, and she was good at keeping the members in check. She was simply doing what was best for the team.

"It will heal," Hara tried, about to walk away from the gym but Sai held her wrist.

"It won't heal completely in one or two days. You got it last Saturday, didn't you? Even a minor sprain takes about 5 days to completely recover." Sai scolded, making the captain sigh.

"What should I do, then? Rest while all of you are working hard to reach the top? I can't just sit here and drag all of you down," the captain replied, furrowing her brows. Her statement managed to get the members' attention, silencing them.

"You'll drag us down even more if you're just gonna injure yourself and worsen it," Sai retorted, and then dragged the captain out of the girls' gym.

Whispers echoed throughout the gym as the members of the club conversed about the little argument their captain and vice captain had. Some were concerned about the victory, and some were concerned about the captain herself.

"Captain doesn't really talk much to us, but you know she wants what's best for the team. But isn't she working way too hard to the point she's hurting herself? Can't she rely on us a little?"

"Right. If she's stubborn about overworking herself again this time, we have to tell the coach,"

"She's way more into volleyball than the rest of us. Maybe she just finds playing the sport an escape from-"

"Shh, we don't speak about that,"

As Sai dragged Hara to the boys' gym where the coach was, the captain just sighed and let herself be led inside. The sound of squeaking against the floor echoed, as well as the dribbling of balls and grunts of the players. She could hear her own heartbeat in her ears, a sense of nervousness spreading throughout her body. What if the coach pulled her out of the game? What if she was benched during the upcoming tournament?

Sai and Hara easily became the center of attraction as the students who were watching the boys train whispered about them. Coach immediately took notice of the two, then followed by the whole boys' team.

"What happened?" asked the coach, his arms folded across his chest.

The red haired member of the boys' club called their captain, gesturing to the two girls who barged in their practice. Seeing them, Ushijima slightly raised his brows in surprise to see a slightly furious Sai and a stunned Hara. He wanted to step in, but he knew that doing so would only make things worse.

So Sai found out?, Ushijima thought to himself, silently watching the scene unfold to them.

"She sprained her ankle and wasn't about to tell us. She's overworking herself again," said Sai, so the coach placed his gaze on the girls' captain.

"The match is in two weeks. What are you doing?" Coach Washijo asked, making Hara sigh.

"I was trying to improve my service," she muttered, voice almost a whisper. "It should heal in a few days."

"Nonsense. You won't be having any training on the court until that sprain of yours fully heals. Train your hands' strength instead and watch the practice. Point out whatever you think looks wrong with the team's performance." Coach said, and Hara was about to protest but opted not to. It won't lead anywhere.

"A-Alright," she replied, and then Sai let go of her.

"We'll be going back to practice-"

Before Sai could finish her sentence, the coach spoke.

"What do you need, Ushijima?" Coach asked, making Hara turn her head towards the boys' captain who happened to now stand in front of them.

When their eyes met, she tried to erase everything that happened that day. She tried not to think about how he helped her even though she would always shut him up because of a stupid grudge she held on to for so long. His gaze fell straight on her, and she wondered what he needed. Did he have something to say?

"Don't overwork yourself again next time, Watanabe," Ushijima started, "I want to watch you defeat your opponents, too."

Coach Washijo raised his brows, amused as he was looking at his aces interacting. He remembered scolding Hara about her grudge on Ushijima, and their little interaction proved that even by a bit, their relationship improved. It seemed to him like they were slowly fixing whatever went wrong before. Hara, however, had to turn away from embarrassment.

Why would he want to see her do so? Rolling her eyes, she was about to stand up but a hand stopped her from doing so.

"Come watch the boys train with me today," said the coach, so she dropped her jaw. "Give me some insight."

"But, my team-"

"You have your vice captain taking care of them," the coach replied. "Ushijima, show her how merciless the team can be on the court. Set an example for the girls' team."

"Yes, coach."

She wondered, why is fate intertwining her with him so much more than she wanted to? If the past few years, they didn't have to interact much with each other and she could still avoid him, why did things go wrong? Why did they have to interact with each other when she was not ready for it yet?

"Watch closely, Hara. Those with good eyes always grow faster than those without."

"Yes, coach."