"W-what the hell am I doing here?" Kane said with a bewildered expression. He began to look around himself as he stood in front of the net, his gaze shifting between all of his teammates.
Looking back forward, he lets out a sigh, releasing all his pent up hesitation and frustration. "Whatever! The game is about to start anyways," he muttered to himself, before getting into a game-ready stance.
With his legs spread apart in order to react to any plays made by his opponent, he was confident in his ability to act as the middle blocker for his team. Whether or not his height could contribute much, Kane knew he could at least jump higher than the rest.
The man standing opposite of him gives him a nasty glare, before smirking — this instantly got on the nerves of Kane. "Don't get yourself hit in the face with the ball, pipsqueak," the boy with the buzzcut spoke, his voice deep and aggressive.
"Tsk… for a prestigious academy, I suppose there'll always be a few bad eggs," Kane thought while returning the glare back at the boy. He clenches his fist in an attempt to subdue his anger. "I'll make sure you'll regret calling me pipsqueak…!"
And without further ado from the teacher, the whistle is blown. Behind Kane, the setter who held the ball took a deep breath with closed eyes. Nobody knows what he was thinking, but he gave off a serious aura around him.
He reopens his eyes and begins to take a few steps forward, before tossing the volleyball high into the air. With all his might and effort, he jumped up and slammed his hand into the volleyball. His serve was perfect and clean.
It flies over the net and to the side of the enemy. The way they retaliated was that of a coordinated national volleyball team. It was a scary sight for Kane's team as it looked like a dance.
First, one of their opponents kept the ball in the air with a set. Kane notices this as the perfect attack from the opponent, but he also knew that they could feign it and go for the empty side if they were to go and defend it.
His team watched with their utmost vigilance since it was a matter of life-or-death… Well, in a sense, at least — in all honesty, they didn't want to get labelled as the worst class sports-wise.
One of the students on the other side of the net sprinted up to the ball before jumping with his hand raised in the air, ready to strike. A gust of wind followed in his wake.
Kane, still remaining steadfast in his expression, responds by sprinting to the supposed location of where his opponent would strike the ball. It was a risky move, yes — but there was simply no room for error in this match.
Kane crouches down before using it to propel his body upward, like a spring. It was a magnificent sight to behold seeing Kane soar in the air, ready to block the ball with his arms. It would bring a frog to tears.
"ACK!" The beautiful display of skill would then come crumbling down as Kane gets hit directly in the face with the volleyball. The ball digs itself deep into his face, before bouncing off to the other side of the net.
"KOYASU-SAN!?!"
Kane falls to the polished wooden floor and onto his back, his eyes spiraling and the impact site being as red as a tomato. He then speaks with a traumatized tone, "I-I don't want to play… anym—"
"PWOHH!" The volleyball comes back for round two as it hits his face once more, taking the air directly out of his mouth —- but thanks to gravity and anime logic, the ball once again goes back to the other side of the net.
"W-what the hell!? Hey! Hit that ball properly!" One of his opponents shouted, utterly bewildered by this impenetrable wall —- or floor, that is Kane, who was still lying on the floor, looking even more messed up.
Instantly, Team Class 1-B get a great idea as they notice the enemy repositioning for their next strike. It was their final trump card that landed directly on their laps.
On the other side of the net, the setter of the enemy team gasps with widened eyes, before thinking with a terrified voice, "M-masaka[1]…" His entire body begins to tremble at this sight. It was unknown to him at this time, up until now.
"THEY'RE USING THEIR TEAMMATE AS A SHIELD!!!" He shouted in his racing mind.
His gaze was fixated on the absolute impenetrable strategy they had concocted. They held Kane like a revered statue. The team ran over to where the enemy would strike, and it came all according to plan.
"GAHH!" The ball impacted the already dazed Kane once again in the face. Their eyes widened as they watched the ball fly over the net as if it were blocked successfully.
A cheer erupted after their newfound experiment did indeed work based on their hunch, wherein the volleyball somehow defied all physics since it was Kane being hit.
"This is it! This is Class 1-B's legendary grade strategy!" The setter of Kane's team shouted with a wide smirk on his face, clearly taunting the enemy team and their desperate attempt to defeat them.
The ball once again impacts Kane's face, before flying over the net with a gush of wind trailing it. Without any warning, and catching him off-guard, the ball comes flying directly in front of the setter of the enemy team.
The enemy setter was too late to notice as it hovered over the floor. In a last ditch attempt, he tosses himself onto the floor and extends his arm out. His heartbeat grew louder and louder, until…
"IMPENETRABLE WALL X!" Team Class 1-B shouted in unison as the ball made contact with the floor.
The entirety of Class 1-B erupted into cheer as they had secured the first point at the cost of Kane's face. It was an intriguing spectacle that even caught the attention of the other first years, who had stopped watching the other match.
Kane, on the other hand, had already lost consciousness after repeated strikes directly at his face. He was then shortly sent to the clinic to recover from his concussions, despite the pleas of his teammates.
⋆｡°✩
Now lying flat in bed with a blanket over his chest and his eyes closed, his face was now covered in an absurd amount of bandages. An ice pack had also been applied directly on his forehead.
He slowly opens his eyes as he regains consciousness. The white ceiling was the first thing he saw, albeit blurry. "W-where am I…?" Kane spoke, his voice low and strained.
"You're in the clinic, obviously," a feminine voice spoke out in a relaxed tone, which made Kane confused. Who would visit him at this time while classes were still ongoing?
Looking to the side to look at the person who visited him and despite his poor vision, he makes out the color purple from the blur in front of him. He immediately knew who it was and chuckled to himself, before looking back up at the roof.
A solemn smile formed on his face before he spoke, "W-what are you doing here, Erisa-san? Isn't there still gym class? Your team needs you, you know?"
Erisa scoffs at his bombardment of questions, before having an expression of dissatisfaction wash over her face. With a sigh, she shrugs and says, "Is it wrong to worry about my friend?"
Closing his eyes, Kane replies hesitantly, "Friends, huh?"
Raising an eyebrow at his remark, Erisa tilts her head to the side innocently. She took a few seconds to understand what he said, before saying, "Why are you acting so surprised? Are we not friends?"
Kane chuckles at her bout with confusion. He looks outside the window next to the bed he was lying in, before saying under his breath, "Nope, it's just so out-of-character for you to directly call me your friend."
A blush began to burn on her cheeks. Looking down while fiddling with her thumbs, before muttering with a pout, Erisa had come to understand how much she has indeed changed. "R-right… I guess you could say that…"
Silence befalls the two students, sharing this sweet moment that is super common in rom-coms. Despite this event, Kane — who is usually super aware of these kinds of things — was now in a state of peace.
It was almost like a dream how these two were so close yet so quiet. They fully immersed themselves in the moment of tranquility and peace, completely forgetting their environment and the things that plagued them.
"Do you… still remember what happened that night?" Erisa asked.
Kane freezes up after hearing that, before having those memories of being so close to her face and nearly kissing her flood his brain. The sudden rush of activity in his brain nearly makes him fall unconscious.
That doesn't happen however, as a thought passes through his head as he sneakily looks over his shoulder, "W-w-what the hell?! Why are you bringing that up now?!"
His eyes are then met with a spectacular sight. It was Erisa shrugging her shoulder and moving her body side-to-side with her hands on her lap. Her gaze pointed downward as an even more evident blush had made itself prominent on her face.
"Y-you see, the reason why I'm bringing that up right now…"
"CAN YOU READ MY MIND!?!"
"...is because… I-I keep… on thinking about it, you know?" Her voice grew weary at the same time as her breathing grew more heavy. It was a recipe for disaster. Kane could only look at her with plain white eyes and a gaping mouth.
"...S-so that's why…"
Kane gulped some saliva down his throat as his imagination went rampant. "Will she finish what she started? Is she gonna try for the second time?! Nobody is gonna stop us this time, so is she gonna do it!?!"
She then closes her eyes and bows her head deeply. "I'm really, really sorry about my behavior that night, Kane-kun!" She pauses for a moment to give herself a chance to breathe. "I was just taken away by the atmosphere, that was all!"
"D-don't take that as a sign that I like you or anything, there's really nothing that impressive with you, after all…" An arrow hit Kane in the chest, leaving him speechless.
"I only really see you as a friend and not a love interest!" And another arrow directly in the chest.
"I don't see a world where we become more than friends or anything, okay!?"
Kane finds himself in a field ridden with katanas stuck in the dirt. He looks up slowly and watches as millions of arrows come flying at him. Closing his eyes, he accepts his fate as he spreads his arms out, ready to embrace the rain of arrows.
As we return back to the real world, he is still lying on his side with his back toward Erisa, and has gone limp on the bed. His eyes rolled back and his jaw loose as his soul began to leave his body.
Now done with her quote-unquote apology, Erisa looks back up with a sigh. For a moment, she sat in silence as she looked at Kane's husk of a body.
An old memory comes back to haunt her without any warning. Her pupils glisten as tears begin to well up in her eyes. It was a memory of the year prior when they were still in junior high.
"W-why am I remembering this all of a sudden…?" Erisa thought as she held a shocked expression on her face tears rolling down her cheek. She saw the Kane she was friends with during their junior high school years, lying in the same bed.
She slightly opens her supple lips, before showing hesitation and closing it. She looks to the side with a distant gaze, staring past the white curtain that acted as a separator from the main clinic.
Blinking slowly, she looks down at her lap as she reopens her mouth. "I-I know this may be completely random, but…" Her lips quivered as her expression softened slowly. She then took off her glasses, before wiping the tears off her face with the side of her hand.
Erisa then spoke with a voice filled with regret and shame, "Do you… hate me?"
She paused, her feelings welling up and ready to explode. She exhales deeply as to contain this imminent outburst of emotions. Deep down, she knew she had said enough despite her wanting to know more.
Kane froze up after hearing those four simple words escape her mouth. It was an innocent question, but it awoke something deep inside Kane — it was something he wanted buried deep. Something that would never have to show itself.
This emotion. This raw feeling. Hatred. It consumed him once before, and he didn't want it to happen again. With eyes closed, he sits up and slowly turns over to Erisa — his expression now lifeless.
He only had one thing on his mind, and one thing he wanted to say. Kane was given a chance to finally reveal the inner turmoil he had been harboring for so long to the one that caused it.
"Erisa-san," Kane said, his head hanging low.
Erisa wiped away the remaining tears from her eyes, before putting on her glasses and looking up. She was ready to listen to whatever he had to say to hear — that was the least she could do is what she thought.
Kane hesitantly opens his mouth, his heart pounding to a melody he had never heard before. "I…"
[1] “Masaka” (まさか) simply translates to “Impossible”.