[COMPLETED]
(Book #1 of 'The Clever Series')
There couldn't be two people more different than each other, but there couldn't be two people more alike, as well.
Perceptive eyes that notice everything.
Battle of wits, with intense romance.
But what...
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At first, it was a dull ache in the crown of her head that she felt. Then she felt a constant breeze of air hitting her everywhere from the left side. She tried to open her eyes and move her limbs, but she couldn't. Everything felt heavy. With the rising panic that was now threatening to bring her to tears, her breathing became shallower and more rapid. She forced herself to calm down despite her state of helplessness.
Think! Escape.
With the deeper breaths that followed, she sensed a familiar plumpness of a pillow at her nape.
I'm lying down... And on a bed...
Soft murmurs nearby gradually floated into her conscious hearing, but the words spoken were barely audible.
I can't hear a thing. Who is whispering?
She attempted to open her eyes once again. But all she was met with was darkness. A fresh bout of panic was about to overwhelm her, right before her vision started to brighten up and become grainier. She was gaining full consciousness.
Finally!
The first thing she saw was white ceilings with a gray-haired boy hovering near her head.
Osamu?
She let out a quiet groan while trying to sit up, which alerted everyone else in the room, causing them to swoop down to help her sit upright.
"What happened, 'Sssamu? Where are we?" she croaked, as she rubbed the aching spot on her head.
"Ren-chan, what happened to you? The nurse says you didn't get injured today like Hina-chan, here," said Atsumu, before Osamu could respond back to her. He plopped next to her, on her bed.
"It's Satoru-san, for you Atsumu," quipped Hina.
"Eh? But you call me by name," exclaimed Atsumu.
She only responded back with the rise of a singular eyebrow at him.
That was when she saw Hina, whose presence she had not been able to register so far, sitting on another infirmary bed next to hers, taped up around her knee.
Her rough skidding on the wooden floors!
She gasped slightly as the most recent events of day came rushing back to her. In the corner of her eye, she saw Suna hovering around the foot of her bed too, sporting an unusually disturbed look. Hina seemed to gaze at her with a lot of concern. Seconds later she heard Akira and Ginjima-kun run into the infirmary.
"Ren! Hina! What happened? Are you guys feeling okay?" Akira asked, panting slightly.
"Yea, I just passed out. Hina is the one who's injured actually. She skidded real hard on the gym floor," she replied.
Akira's gaze fell on Hina's taped up knee and then looked into her eyes. They seemed to have a wordless conversation between them, while the other occupants of the room wondered at their unusual silence. Akira shifted his gaze back at Ren.
"Ren. Was it a relapse?" Akira asked.
She nodded. "Most likely."
"Shimizu-san," said the school nurse as she entered the infirmary, "How are you feeling now? Let's do a quick check-up of your vitals, though I don't think you have a concussion. Your friends relayed what happened."
"Yea, I just feel a dull ache near the top of my head. I think that's where it hit the gym floor."
"Mostly, yes. Now I'll press. Tell me if it hurts, okay?"
She nodded.
The nurse pressed some parts of her head to check for pain, then moved on to flash a little torch into her eyes, did some small talk in the meantime, and finally told her put some ice pack on her injury to reduce the swelling and take pain medications.
"You probably passed out because of dehydration, or increased stress. Just drink of plenty of fluids today, take a nice soak in a warm bath to loosen your muscles, eat warm food and rest it up tomorrow okay?"
She nodded at her and reached out to get the ice pack that she was handed. But before she could, Atsumu grabbed it instead and shifted closer to her. On HER the bed.
"What happened Ren-chan?" he asked.
Ren was amazed to see the ever carefree, bullying Atsumu, regarding her so seriously.
She shook her head saying it was nothing.
"Ren, if I may? I think you should tell them about your therapy," said Hina, while Akira also nodded his head.
Ren frantically looked around the faces in the room as Hina uttered the word "therapy," but judging by the look of concern her friends showed her, she sighed and decided to tell them.
"It's a long story guys are you ready for it?" she asked, wishing that they would reject it.
"Yes," said Atsumu, gazing firmly at her, as the others nodded their heads.
"But Hina, how's your knee?"
"It's painful, but I've taken pain medication. It's a superficial scrap, so I will just let it heal. But I'll get an x-ray tomorrow just to make sure, so don't worry about it. Please, continue."
She sighed.
"Junior high, in my final year, I injured my knee. It was pretty bad and I couldn't walk without wincing for almost 6 months. It was a deep injury. Half a year after that, almost 7 months into my first year in High School, even though I cleared all medical examinations, I still felt pain," she sighed again.
"Yips" said Atsumu.
She looked up at him wide-eyed, surprised at how quickly he picked it up. He took her hand in his, his warmth enveloping her. He continued to gaze back at her, waiting for her to continue.
"Well, yea. That's the short version of it. I haven't worn my studs ever since. A while ago I couldn't see a soccer ball without panicking, but now it's better. I think seeing that much blood dripping down Hina's knees, brought it all back, and I may have forgotten to breath."
She smiled sheepishly at them and continued, "Currently, I'm undergoing brain-spotting therapy to overcome my fear, and I'm much better."
"I have to be better," she added after short pause.
"So that's why you didn't join soccer in high school?" asked Atsumu.
"Yea."
"But student council?"
The corners of her mouth quirked up when he posed that question, thinking to herself, that it was so typical of him to not miss out on any detail.
Well, now she had let the dam open, might as well go all out!
"That's my new life. My new avatar! An ungraded version, if I may say so," she grinned cheekily at his puzzled face.
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A/N: Posting the next two chapters within the next 24 hours. Complete backstory is finally being established for the future chapters, but there's more details coming up! <3
