The Third Miya: Isuma

XIII

Isuma ran to the school's main building, which was full of people by now. The teacher's lounge was off-limits to students unless they had permission. A teacher coming out glanced at her. "What do you need?"

"Kurosu Sensei asked to see me," Isuma replied. "What's your name?" 

"Miya Isuma, Class 2-1."

"Give me a second." The teacher stepped back into the room. "Kurosu Sensei!! Miya Isuma is here to see you!!"

"Let her in!" The teacher motioned for Isuma to go in. She walked in: teachers were seated at their desks everywhere, some were talking with others, a few were standing, others were sipping coffee or talking on the phone. It was surprisingly quiet and calm. Kurosu Sensei's station was in the middle of the room; Isuma anxiously walked over to him. He was on his computer, typing away. "Isuma, good! I needed to ask you about something..."

She clasped her hands behind her back. "Yes?"

"Kita told me you wanted to become our manager this morning." Kurosu turned away from his computer to look at her. "I wanted to ask why. Kita told me, but I want to hear it from you before saying anything."

Isuma's gaze fell to the floor. "...I just like volleyball. It's one of the only things I have in common with my brothers and I love it. I've always helped Tsumu and Samu when they need to practice. I'm not the best at playing... but I like helping out our team. I know them really well and they're my best friends." Her voice was so soft Kurosu was having a hard time understanding her. But he was beginning to see what Kita had meant about volleyball helping her. "I see. And what about your ability to see everything on the court?" 

"...I don't know. I've always been able to do that." Isuma hesitantly looked up. "Is that-"

"It's a good thing!" Kurosu assured quickly. "Listen, thanks for coming. Could you go find Kita and ask him to come over here during lunch?"

"H-hai. Excuse me." Isuma practically ran out of the teacher's lounge, her mind racing. She thought she would collapse talking to the Sensei. Then she remembered she had to go talk to Kita. Isuma climbed a flight of stairs to the third-year classes, lost in thought. She pushed open the door and started walking through a hallway-

She suddenly crashed into someone and fell down. Isuma winced and rubbed her head. "Isuma-chan? Are you okay?"

She looked up: Kita and Aran were standing over her, concerned. Isuma stood up hastily. "I'm sorry, Senpai!! I wasn't looking where I was going and got distracted-"

"It's fine! Where are you going?" Kita asked. Isuma tapped her forefingers against one another nervously. "Kurosu Sensei asked for you to go to him during lunch."

"You talked to him?" Aran asked. "How'd it go?"

"...okay. I don't really understand what he wanted to know but... yeah." Isuma looked down, unable to even look at them. "Um, I should get to my class."

"Yeah, go. We'll see you at practice, Isuma-chan." They walked into one of the doorways lining the left side of the hallway. Isuma hurried to her own classroom, where Osamu and Suna were waiting. Both of them looked up when she came in. "How was it?" Osamu asked.

"Okay, I guess." Isuma sat down in her seat. "I don't understand why he called me in the first place."

"What do you mean?" Suna asked. "What did he ask you?"

"He just asked why I wanted to join the team. I barely even said anything and he seemed happy with it." Isuma looked back at Suna, who shook his head. "He probably has a good reason."Osamu looked at Isuma. "That's it?"

"He asked me to call Kita Senpai for him." Isuma's eyes flicked over to her brother. "He did?"

"Kita Senpai has to go to him during lunch," Isuma added. Osamu and Suna locked eyes: Kita. Their Senpai had something to do with it. They were sure of it. For some reason, it made them both smile slightly. Isuma looked from one to the other. "What?"

Suna looked away from Osamu. "Nothing. Isuma-chan, can I-"

She handed him one of her notebooks before he'd finished talking. Suna thanked her just as their teacher walked in to start their first class.

A few hours later, during lunch, Atsumu and Ginjima stopped by their classroom to frantically scan Isuma's notes before their next class. Somewhere towards the end of lunch, Akagi came by their class. "Atsumu, Osamu!!"

They all looked up. Akagi called, "Could you come here for a second?" 

The two of them exchanged glances, pushed back their chairs, and walked over to Akagi. "Yes, Senpai?"

He whispered something in their ears. "Got it?"

"We'll get it done." Osamu nodded. Atsumu asked, "So Sensei agreed?"

"He must've. Just make sure Isuma-chan comes to practice today. That's all." Akagi looked at them. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Hey!"

Akagi laughed and darted down the hallway. The Miyas returned to their seats together. The other three looked up. Ginjima asked, "What was all that about?"

Osamu replied, "We'll explain later. Suma-chan, you're coming to our practice tonight, right?"

"...I don't know. What if Sensei-"

Atsumu assured, "He won't mind if you stop by."

"Do you really want to be our manager, Isuma-chan?" Suna asked out of the blue. Everyone looked at him at the same time. Isuma's voice dropped to just above a whisper. "I- yeah. I do."

"Why?" Suna asked. "Because I like volleyball." Isuma's voice suddenly strengthened. "And I like helping you all with it. You're the only people I actually like being around."

"But why don't you like being around others?" Ginjima asked. Isuma looked up. "What do you mean?"

"You've never had a single friend other than us in high school. Aran Senpai told us you would always be with Atsumu and Osamu when you were younger. Why?" Ginjima asked. Isuma looked down at her hands. "I- don't know."

None of them spoke at all for a while. Finally, Atsumu said, "We should get back to our class, Gin."

"Right. See you at practice." The two of them walked back to their class together. Ginjima's eyes flicked over to Atsumu. "Well?"

"Well, what?" Atsumu blinked. Ginjima asked, "Aren't you going to ask me why I brought that up?"

"No."

"No?" Ginjima repeated in disbelief. Atsumu looked up. "I wonder the same thing. It's not like I'm complaining or anything. And now I feel bad because I've never considered helping her change."

"...but that's not really your fault. You just said you didn't mind her being shy," Ginjima replied. Atsumu hesitated as he sat down in his chair. "Right."

I'm re-reading this and realizing that Suna and Ginjima sound like terrible friends. They aren't. It kind of sort of explains how they know her so well in Part 16.