The Girl On The Volleyball Team

12. Hurt Pride

"Selene-san," Kiyoko called, catching up with the stiff walking female.

"I-i'm fine, Kiyoko," she replied, feeling the female put her free arm around her shoulder.

"I know you try to act tough around the boys, but their going to worry anyways. So stop trying to push them away," Kiyoko states, making Selene stop in her tracks.

Biting her lip, the said female looks down at her shoes. Selene's vision begins to get cloudy as her walls begin to crumble.

"K-kiyoko... I- ... I let them down, all of them," Selene admits. "I promised them I'd help them win, but so far, I'm just holding them back-"

"Selene-san, your are important to this team just as everyone else is. What happened was not your fault," Kiyoko defend.

"I don't deserve to be on that court," Selene finishes before freeing herself form Kiyoko.

Taken back, she silently trails behind the player as they approach the medical ward. Opening the door for the player, Kiyoko helps her inside as a medic guides her to a bed. Sitting down, he begins to ask questions on what happened.

"Someone in the crowd threw a full metal can at Selene and got her in the side," Kiyoko explains as the said player slightly looks away.

"Alright, let's see the damage," he replied.

Sighing, Selene takes her jersey completely off so that the doctor may have full range. His eyes slightly widen, seeing the bruise forming and the cut still bleeding. Careful, he checks around her ribs, making sure nothing was broken before applying pressure to the cut.

"Your lucky its just grazed or you wouldn't be able to play for a while," the medic boosted.

Kiyoko couldn't help but stare at the females back tattoo. It was mesmerizing to say the least. Sighing, Selene stared at the wall in front of her, her back facing the door just incase someone came in. Conflicted, her hands found her shorts as they balled into fists. It wasn't the pain that started to make miss ol' america cry, no, it was the thought that she let her team down when they needed her the most. Kiyoko's eyes widen, seeing the tears fall from her intense features. Slightly patting her on the back, Kiyoko left to let the coach know.

"There, now, let's get you wrapped up," the medic replied after 20 minutes of non stop bleeding.

Standing up, she let the doctor do his thing before grabbing her jersey from beside her. Looking down, Selene looked longingly at the number thirteen. Taking a deep breath, Selene begins to put her jersey on when the door swings up. With her shirt halfway on, exposing half her back, Selene turns around startled. Staring back at her was her panicked teammates with Sugawara in the front. They were staring directly at her tattoo and wrapping. Turning back toards the wall, Selene puts her shirt down the rest of the way.

"Selene, your eyes are buffy," Suga points out with concern as they all enter the medic ward.

Balling up her first, she fully faces her teammates with more tears sting her eyes. Their eyes also widen, not ever seeing their toughest player cry. Taking an apologic bow, Selene speaks up.

"I'm so sorry! I- I don't deserve to be on this team or that court!" Shaking her head, Selene continues to yell at the floor. "I failed you all, I- I was too weak-"

"Shut up!"

Looking up, she's met with the face of a frustrated team and Sugawara.

"Stop apologizing for something you had no control over. None of what happened was your fault and... You deserve to be on this team and that court! Your our teammate, Selene, and I'm not going to let you downgrade yourself for something you aren't," Suga spoke, walking towards the female.

Her teammates watched as he pulled her in for a hug.

"Now stop being so soft and man up like you always say..." He finishes.

Shocked, Selene struggles to put her hands on his back. Gritting her teeth and putting her pride away, she hugs her teammate as hard as she could with a sob. He grabs the back of her head, bring it into the crook of his neck so that she could cry in peace. Behind the two, her teammates began to tear up.

"Selene-san!" Tanaka and Noya cried before joining in the hug followed by Asahi and Daichi who were also tearing up.

"Selene-chan!" Hinata cried, jumpping into the pile.

"Selene...!" Yamaguchi followed behind the ginger.

Kageyama put his own pride behind him and joined in the hug, dragging Tsukki with him. They all stood there for a moment, just enjoying each others company as their teammate cried. Everyone began to let go, leaving Suga to hold Selene for a moment longer. Pulling back, she whipped away her tears.

"N-next time im acting like a baby, someone please just punch me," she laughed.

Everyone followed up with a laugh in response after Suga lightly punched the females shoulder. Laughing softly, Tanaka spoke up.

"Selene- we won!" He announced.

The females eyes instantly brightened up before a sigh of relief left her.

"I'm glad, i knew you guys could do it."

A blush breaks out upon her teammates, not expecting praise from their number thirteen. Coming in next was Coach Ukai and Ittetsu with relief.

"I'm glad it was nothing too serious and your still able to play," Keishin stated.

"Yes, I am too," Selene replies.

"Oh, since finals will be live on TV, they plan on getting more security up before then so something like this doesnt happen again," Ittetsu adds.

"That's good, cause I was about 10 seconds away from going up in the stands and beating that bastard myself," Suga smiled, too calmly for their teams taste.

"Scary..." Selene, Hinata, Noya, and Tanaka whisper.

"Well, now that's over, let's pack the bus and head back to Karasuno. We'll have a meeting when we get back," Keishin announced.