With the acute pain stabbing her wrist, Ritsu glimpsed at their teacher with whom Akashi went to consult right after the game, and wondered about what she should do about her injury. In a cautious and discreet movement, she closed her right hand into a fist and then opened it, repeating it twice. The pain was bearable for the remaining time, although she was aware that some treatment would still be needed to not worsen it. Only thirty minutes remained until the end of class, she could just sneak away and go treat her injury without alarming anyone, particularly Yagami.

As a fellow member of the volleyball club, Yagami certainly would not let it slide calmly. Definitely not at this point of time with the volleyball playoffs coming up. Of course, she didn't plan to hide it completely from the club, she wouldn't manage to do that, but she wished to at least minimize the commotion caused. Suffering this careless injury was enough trouble for her, no need to add more.

As she walked up to the little group of girls, the other girls went to cheer her up, unaware of her sprain. While light-hearted giggles and cheers tickled her ears, she glanced at Yagami's reaction. A vague yet apparent suspicion restrained her joy to a very measured smile. By the look of things, the navy short-haired girl was suspicious of something. Ritsu gave her a friendly gaze as a simple response and avoided to prolong it more than necessary. Given how awful she played at the end, any observant eyes would have noticed that something was off about her, even if they didn't detect the injury. In fact, it would have been much stranger if Yagami hadn't manifested this sort of reaction.

The smile vanished and lips pressing into a thin line, Yagami took few steps closer to her, with a question on the tip of her tongue as it seems.

"Asaka, you–"

"Akashi-kun!" a girl yelped suddenly, bringing the group's attention to the red-haired boy.

As surprised as the rest, Ritsu could only gawk at him, half-listening to the girls' chirpy whispers around her, all wondering what business Akashi wanted with them. Once the surprise effect wore off, she didn't have to think hard to know the reason of his presence here. Yagami aside, if there was one person among all the students present in the gymnasium that might have been able to notice her sprain, it would be none other than Akashi.

"Asaka-san, I need you to come with me to the nurse office."

The little group of girls shouted their astonishment to everyone's ears. It didn't take more than a minute for numerous pairs of curious eyes to turn their way.

Unfazed by the commotion, Akashi didn't try to say anything further, and earned a bit of gratitude from Ritsu for his silence. While he patiently waited for a response, she saw Yagami faintly motioning her head to tell her to accompany him. Any trace of perplexity had been erased from her face as Akashi unintentionally confirmed what she wanted to know.

"Did you get hurt Akashi-kun?" a girl asked as she approached him, a bit worried.

"I'm just taking some precautions." He fielded the question with a polite smile that left no room for another comment.

Enquiring looks circled around the girls. Before their curiosity took shape of words, Ritsu went ahead and accept to accompany him.

"We're going then."

Akashi slid open the door and announced their presence. As silence greeted them, Ritsu took a peek over his shoulders and scoped the place. There was no sign of the nurse inside. A trickle of nervousness spread inside her body at the thought of being alone with Akashi. Far from disliking the idea itself, she just felt quite embarrassed for having Akashi witness this careless side of her.

Inside, she sat on a stool near the nurse's desk while Akashi took a seat across her.

"Let me see your wrist." He requested, going straight to the point.

"When did you notice?"

"Just after you fell. You avoided to use your right hand as often as possible and tried to play with you left hand. That said, it didn't require this much observation to notice it. Your aptitude in both accuracy and power dropped. With you suffering from your injury, your team's offensive turned up to be rather muddled and easy to counter."

Only a faint breath escaped her mouth, a mixture of disconcert and amazement seizing her throat. His observation was accurate on every point, and needless to say it stirred her feelings up. Her intuition wasn't mistaken not to underestimate his power of observation in an actual game. Akashi was able to catch sight of changes in a player's motion with an impressive accuracy. Admittedly, her case was quite blatant to the eyes as he mentioned it, but as a fellow athlete, her respect for him remained intact. His ability was neither fake nor misplaced arrogance. In another context, the picture of him trying to read the tide of a game through constant and dynamic motions and to use it to his advantage seemed to fit his poised nature in more than one way.

"You knew it all along and you didn't try to stop the game?" She asked out of curiosity.

Akashi did not reply, continuing the examination.

Without missing a beat, Ritsu took the opportunity to an up close look at the latter. Her gray-blue eyes traced the contours of his face. Round and delicately detailed, his features had the innocence of youth. Yet, a subtle contrast shone in the depths of this hue of red, accentuating a deep-seated rigour and consciousness of the world, which naturally overwrote colors of insouciance and reflected a perfect composure. Now that she paid close attention to this subtlety, she came to understand the reason for his popularity among girls. His beauty was eye-catching and, behind his placid nature, a mysterious charm oozed from him. She just realised it. In class, she was more used to studying his back instead of his face.

"You didn't look so ready to do so either." He eventually answered, focusing his attention back on her.

"Well, if I was told to stop, I wouldn't have gone against the decision. I'm painfully aware that it was pretty reckless of me to keep playing in that state."

Akashi stood up and said as he reached the medicine cabinet:

"In that case, you should have immediately informed the teacher of your injury."

"We were nearing the match's end, I thought it'd be okay to bear with it for the remaining time. Moreover, I didn't want to abandon Maeda and Takeda at this stage of the game. They'd have to play all over again with another member if I had given up."

Although she doubted their grades would be high considering the desperate play, just recalling the happy faces of the pair managed to bring her some comfort. But she couldn't repress the urge to sigh. Frustration still welled up inside her.

"Exactly. Your intentions were honorable, however, those actions might cost you a great deal, Asaka-san." Returning to his seat, Akashi grabbed her right arm and said, "Last time I checked, piano and volleyball are supposed to be played with both hands."

Without prior notice, he applied the cold compress to the swollen area. Because of his sudden action, the pain in her wrist spiked. Ritsu shrieked in pain, holding herself back from removing her hand. It lasted less than a minute before she could feel the cool touch on her skin.

"Y-You could have at least warned me...!" She reproached him with a pout.

Akashi removed his hands and let her hold onto the compress. With the pain gradually subsiding, Ritsu concentrated on the refreshing sensation and forced a sigh of relief. Her sprain didn't look too serious. She was able to move her fingers without the usual pain; certainly it was partly due to the numbness caused by the ice but it was a good sign. If she rested her hand for a week, healing would not take much time. But this sentiment of relief was soon clouded by the sight of an incoming storm in the near future. She knew people who would not share the same happiness concerning this injury. Distantly, she could already hear the coach, her teammates and, worst of all, her parents scold her for her recklessness.

"...I'm in trouble with just one hand." And on top of that, she injured her dominant hand. Now that she thought about it, daily chores and tasks might reveal to be the greatest challenge. "By the time my hand heals, I'll certainly manage to draw perfect doodles with my left hand."

"You've learned your lesson then." A faint smile betrayed his stern expression. His light amusement caused a frown at first and then invited a smile on her own face.

At this peaceful image of him, a light blush reddened her cheeks. A charming spell was definitely at work, but more rationally, her embarrassment was closer to shame than a fluffy feeling –Embarrassment to have offered such a poor challenge to Akashi because of that injury.

"I gave you a pathetic sight of myself. I wouldn't be surprised if the game wasn't up to your expectations."

"No, I did have fun." He shook his head. "For need of efficiency, your team managed well in teamwork. Your score is rather high compared to your team's average level. Overall, you've all reached the best level that could be expected of a team like yours."

"No need to comfort me." She sheepishly smiled. "We'd still have difficulty to win considering the gap of skill, although we made an effort. If I hadn't gone all out, I doubt it'd be that high. You really planned to crush us in the middle of the game. Your team shattered both our offensive and defence with such ease. You led your team in a remarkable way, Akashi-san, more than what I initially expected from you."

She didn't underestimate him at all, he only went beyond her own expectations. His tosses were flawless, so fine to the eyes that it attested to a good level of skills and so simple that even the clumsiest player could be successful in attack. His team coordination, although imperfect, revealed to be solid, leaving no flagrant openings to be fully exploited.

Not only did he lead with talent, his individual skills were of the same quality. She still remembered the powerful precision of his serves on her hands. She didn't know where he drew such strength from.

But all in all, Akashi had been outstanding on the court.

"I did what it takes to ensure victory, just as you did. Your counter-offensive was quite impressive."

Despite the compliment, Ritsu couldn't completely accept it. Getting the best out of everyone's potential and ensuring victory with everyone's effort; that was the kind of player she inspired to be. And yet, she had been far from it.

"It helped narrow the gap but that's it. I had to take up the lead to the detriment of teamwork in order not be cornered while it was the main the requirement. Regardless, volleyball is a team sport, I don't see the point to set teamwork aside to concentrate on a single player's ability."

"Nothing is wrong about it. Even in team sports, many situations can demand of a player to rely on his own skills alone to benefit the team. Isn't it natural for players, precisely those who manifest great potential, to know when to put themselves before the team and use it to achieve victory?"

"If you ask me, individual skills should not take over teamwork."

"I reckon it does to a certain extent, but those skills make a player complete." Akashi bore his eyes into hers as though to look into her soul. "You had a good opportunity to turn the game over in your team's advantage with your serves."

Her lips parted opened. He wasn't mistaken when he said that those serves granted her an opening to make a complete turnover happen. An opening, yes. But not a long-lasting one, if she was to add something further.

"I don't think so. Teamwork aside, if I had continued on that momentum, I'd have used up all my resources. And thus, create a wide opening for you. It may not look like it, but those serves require a great deal strength and concentration. At my level, that was the wisest decision before doing anything...reckless..."

Considering what happened after, she contradicted her own argument. She wanted to be cautious and look who was the first idiot to get a sprain. However, her heart remained unchanged about her decision. Even though she got injured, she truly believed in having taken the best course of action for her team. Instead of exhausting all of her resources in one go, using them all throughout the game allowed her to perform at her best level in a lengthier period of time. And more importantly, it also benefited teamwork, just as required.

"Do you know where your limits are, Asaka-san?" Akashi enquired, his gaze becoming intense.

The question coming out of nowhere, a stem of confusion sprouted in her mind, which surely didn't escape the latter.

"One's limits are only subjective. Except body limits, there's none to one's potential." He explained, though this only served to confused Ritsu even more.

The girl gaped and searched in the crystalline deep red of his gaze the meaning of his words. Was he implying she didn't do the necessary to win?

Akashi began to compress her wrist and locked eyes with her. A glimmer of mystery lit up the red of his eyes in a beautiful yet impenetrable shade.

"So, if I may add one last thing, Asaka-san. You shouldn't belittle yourself."

"...Again with that? Sure I have my doubts over few things but I do have confidence in myself."

"I'm not saying the contrary. However, the only thing I can say about you as an athlete is that so far, you're not weak but not strong either."

Ritsu was at a loss for words. She was well aware that even after being able to play as a regular, it didn't make her an exceptional volleyball player whatsoever. She still had a lot to learn to become stronger, hence the fact she wasn't weak but not strong either. That was obvious, but then why did it sound like an offense in her ears? Besides, was his piece of advice really that important to have been told twice?

"Done."

Leaving aside her thoughts, Ritsu checked the neat work on her wrist. As expected of him, only praise could reward his efforts. Glints of happiness sparkled in her eyes. Seeing her injury treated, she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Er, thanks for the trouble, Akashi-san. I totally screwed up this time, didn't I?"

The red-haired boy tilted his head in a vague manner. "It was kind of cute to see."

"D...Did you just say c-cute?" She fumbled on the peculiar word, blood rushing up her cheeks.

"Yes, cute. You haven't misheard."

At this blunt confirmation, her blush tinged in brighter colors.

"Oh, I've never imagined you could utter such a word so spontaneously...B-But thank you."

He simply nodded. "Furthermore, I find it pleasant to talk with you."

"Likewise, if you ever feel the need to talk to me, you know where to find me."

"And vice versa, you can come fine me too."

The simplicity of his smile robbed her of any superficial words. Ritsu accepted their newly born friendship with delight, though still a bit disoriented by their whole conversation.

She could add an alien to her friend list now.

Akashi and Asaka attained support level C.