"Urgh… My head hurts…" [name] thought to herself as she did her warm ups with her teammates. She held onto her head as she squatted down, she then stood up and immediately felt dizzy. She staggered slightly, causing her teammates to stop in their warm ups as they looked at her worriedly.
"[name]?" Rumiko called out, and [name] placed her hand up to cease her from asking anything else.
"I'm fine…" [name] mumbled out as she headed over to the push-charts to grab a volleyball and start their usual before-match routine. The girls decided not to probe the matter any further and headed to do their routine as well.
"Let's go, let's go Miranda!" the team cheered as Miranda ran up to spike.
"Nice kill!"
"Let's go, let's go Hinami!"
"Nice kill!"
"Let's go, let's go Rima!"
"Nice kill!"
"Let's go, let's go [name]!" and [name] ran up to hit the toss, but her vision blurred all of a sudden, and her head started to pound like as if someone was hammering her in the head. She stopped in her actions and landed with an unbalanced posture, causing her to fall down onto her bottom. She held her head as the pain shot up even more, and her whole team crowded around her. She looked around and noticed her vision was focused and soon it became blurred once more. She shut her eyes tightly and shook her head, opening her eyes once more to see that her vision has went back to normal.
"[name], are you alright?" Miranda asked as she held a hand out for [name]. She grabbed hold of the hand and Miranda pulled her up onto her feet. [name] nodded as she fastened her kneepads as it has slipped off her knees, and then the whistle was blown.
"There they are!" Nagisa yelled out as he ran towards the best seats that was available on the bleachers area to watch the Iwatobi High's volleyball girls team. Rei then quickly followed suite, along with the rest of the swim team, as well as Rin and Sosuke.
"Eh? [name] looks a little off today." Makoto commented, and this caused everybody to look at her. [name] was standing together with her teammates in front of their coach. However, her posture was slightly slouched. Not her usual confident posture.
"Captains!"
"Right!" and three blockers from the opponents ran up to block [name].
"Nice kill!" [name] then landed and looked around. Her head started hurting once more and she held on to it as she ran back towards her position.
"Is [name] sick?" Rin asked Sosuke, who could only shrug his shoulders in response.
"[name]?!" and the boys attention snapped back towards the court as they spotted what had happened. [name] had missed her serve.
"Alright!" the opponents shouted out as they huddled together. Miranda then gritted her teeth as she was extremely worried about [name]. This was a first. A first that [name] had missed her serve.
"[L/N]-senpai!" Hinami yelled out as she spotted [name] staggering slightly and shaking her head.
The whistle was then blown, and everybody's attention was shifted to the referee who was pointing towards Seirin who was holding the number 1 playcard, signalling for [name] to switch. [name] then gritted her teeth, as she walked towards Seirin and grabbed hold of the card; allowing the referee to make the switch.
"Take a break. I'll put you out as soon as you calm your nerves down." The coach spoke to [name] as she sat down beside him on the bench, clenching her hands together.
"That's the first time [name]-chan got taken out from a set." Nagisa commented as he turned to look at Sosuke who was gripping the railings tightly.
"Sosuke, the railing is practically screaming for you to let go already." Rin commented.
"Nice kill!" the opponents called out as their ace managed to get through the three blocker wall set up by the Iwatobi High girls. Yuri gritted her teeth as she stared at the part of the floor where the ball had smacked.
"Set point!"
The Iwatobi High girls had won the first set, but apparently they were losing the second set; with a score of 23 – 24, and the match had been going on for a good 32 minutes. The Iwatobi High's coach was getting rather anxious, and he finally decided to take a look at how [name] was reacting. [name] was sitting on the bench, looking extremely calm with her emotionless expression as usual.
.
.
.
The whistle was blown, and everybody's attention turned to face the referee. [name] was standing by the sideline, holding the number 8 playcard. Seirin then smiled as she walked towards her senior and grabbed hold of the card.
"[L/N]-senpai is being put on court again!" Rei shouted.
"[name]!" Makoto yelled, and [name] turned to see the boys waving at her. She then gave back a small smile as the referee did the switch, and she stepped back right onto the court.
"[L/N]-senpai/[name]!" the team yelled out, and she smiled slightly as she got into her position on court which was at the middle front, getting into a ready position.
"A little bit of a kick will you?" Rumiko commented, and [name] smirked slightly.
"We're gonna win this!" [name] yelled out.
"YEAH!"
"Left, left!" [name] yelled out, and Miranda came along with her to block.
"Nice block!" the team yelled as the ball had hit [name]'s hand dead solid, causing her to be able to do a solid kill on the spike. Both [name] and Miranda then landed and hi-fived one another.
"Great read!" Miranda yelled out as she smacked [name] on her back.
"You too." [name] smiled weakly.
"My head…" [name] thought to herself as she tried her best not to hold onto it for fear she might be taken off court once again.
"Match point!"
"One more point girls!" [name] yelled out.
"Right, right!" Miranda yelled out, and Yuri quickly ran towards the right to help Miranda in blocking, however the kill got right through it…
.
.
.
"NICE SAVE!" [name] had dove for the ball and sent it right up towards Rumiko who was waiting to toss.
"Center!" Yuri yelled out…
.
.
.
"NICE KILL!"
"Iwatobi High wins!"
"That was a great match!" Makoto commented as swim boys united with the volleyball girls. Sosuke immediately headed over towards where [name] was standing, gripping onto her sports bag extremely tightly, trying to ease the pain in her head. He then grabbed hold of the bag from her and looked at her straight in the eyes;
"Are you alright?" he asked, and [name] nodded in response as she smiled weakly. Sosuke was definitely not buying it, not one bit. He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair and turned to look back at the huge group.
"Shall we have dinner around here?" Rumiko asked as she took a look around the area. Her vision then stopped as she noticed someone standing at the side of the gymnasium, looking at them. Somehow and somewhat, that someone just looked extremely familiar.
If only she recognised the man who had chased after [name]. If only it wasn't so dark that night, she will then know when [name] is in danger.
"[name], do you need any help?" Yuri called out as she stood at the kitchen entrance of [name]'s house. The volleyball girls and swim boys had decided to crash at [name]'s house as Hinami said she missed [name]'s cooking.
"It's alright." [name] spoke out as she continued to mix together the ingredients in a huge mixing bowl. Yuri then shrugged her shoulders as she left to enter the living room. [name] then stopped mixing and set aside the bowl as she reached out to grab hold of the jar of flour.
*CRASH*
Sosuke and the others immediately bolt right out of the sofa and ran into the kitchen; only to be greeted by [name] who was balancing herself while holding the kitchen counter edge, and holding her head in her hand; with flour floating about in the air.
"[L/N]-senpai, are you alright?!" Rima asked as she walked deeper into the kitchen.
"I'm fine. Stay outside." [name] spoke as she opened her eyes, only to be greeted by a blurry vision.
"[L/N]-san, I'm afraid that you're going blind within a month's time."
"A month is more than enough. I'm graduating in a month's time."
"Are you sure you don't want to get surgery for it?"
"It's alright. I'll find a way to work this out."
"Have you told your guardian?"
"I don't have a guardian. I live alone and all."
Graduation Day
"[name]!" Yuri yelled out as soon as she spotted [name] descending down the steps from the stage after receiving her graduation certificate. [name] then quickly made her way towards where Yuri was standing, along with Makoto, Haruka, Rumiko and Miranda.
"[name], what are your plans after today?" Makoto asked as he walked alongside [name], heading towards the hall where the principal is giving a farewell speech for the third years who were graduating on that day.
"College, I guess." [name] replied, and Makoto smiled slightly.
"[name]! I'm glad you're talking and smiling a lot more for the past one month!" Miranda cheered out as she gave [name] a one arm hug, which [name] returned a little too late. [name] then smiled and answered with a small nod.
"Makoto! Haru!" and the third years stopped in their track as they heard a familiar voice calling out to Makoto and Haruka. They then turned and spotted Rin and Sosuke who had a bouquet of flowers in his hands, walking towards them. They soon stopped infront of the groups of graduates, and smiled widely.
"Congratulations on your graduation!" Rin called out as he fisted both Makoto and Haruka in the chest. Sosuke then smiled as he approached [name], and handed her the bouquet of flowers.
"Congratulations, [name]." Sosuke spoke, and [name] gladly accepted his gift with a wide smile.
"Thank you." [name] spoke out with ease, but deep down in her heart, she knew that Sosuke and the others will get hurt sooner or later.
A Week Later
"I'm sorry." [name] apologised as she shut the door behind her, pulling her suitcase along with her as she locked the gates of the house. She smiled sadly at the once happy-filled household, which was now filled with nothing but emptiness. She gripped tightly onto her suitcase handle as she walked towards the taxi that she had called, climbing into it after placing her suitcase into the boot of the taxi.
The taxi soon drove off, leaving behind a trail of dust; and soon disappeared down the streets, but not realising a certain car was tailing the taxi.
"Guys! This is an emergency!" Rumiko yelled as she ran towards the third years who had graduated, and decided to meet up before they started their days in college life. She soon stopped in her tracks as tried her best to catch her breath as fast as she could while Hana patted her on the back to help out.
"What happened?" Rin asked.
"[n-name] …" Rumiko mumbled out, still trying her best to catch her breath.
"What happened to her?!" Sosuke immediately reacted as soon as he heard [name]'s name coming out in a panic manner from Rumiko's mouth.
"S-She's gone…"
"What?! What do you mean she's gone?! She said she's coming today!"
"Sosuke, calm down."
"SHE'S GONE! HER HOUSE IS EMPTY, NOT A SINGLE CLOTHING THAT BELONGS TO HER IS AROUND!"
"N-No…"
"It can't be! [name] promised to go to college with us!"
"If you need any help my dear, just call for me alright?" the landlady spoke as she showed [name] around the apartment that she had decided to rent; somewhere far from where Samezuka and Iwatobi is. Somewhere, far from the others.
"Thank you." [name] spoke with a smile as the landlady left the apartment, shutting the door behind her. [name] then sighed as she looked around the apartment; it was small, but it was enough for [name] to be contented with. She smiled slightly as she started to unpack her suitcase, occasionally stopping as she held her head. Her vision will often flicker from focused to blurred.
"Soon…" [name] thought to herself as she placed the photo frames onto the shelves which were in the living room. Her fingers ran across the frames that held the photographs of people that were so dear to her in her life; her family, the volleyball team, the swimteam which includes both Iwatobi High as well as Samezuka Academy, and lastly; a photo of her and Sosuke together; having fun.
[name] then grabbed hold of the last photo frame that held the photo of Sosuke and her together. She sat on the sofa, and her fingers ran across the frame, she smiled slightly as she remembered that very outing she had with Sosuke;
"Sosuke! Let's go out!" [name] spoke as soon as Sosuke had answered the phone call.
"W-What? [name], are you alright? This is the first time you've asked me to go out!"
"I'm fine! I mean, we should spend some time together before we start college life!"
"That's true… We'll both be extremely busy then… You seem weird, but why not. Let's go out."
"Alright! See you at 7pm at the station?"
"Alright, see you." And Sosuke hung up the call to get ready. [name] could only smile sadly at her phone while tears slid down her face;
"I'm sorry Sosuke… I'm so sorry…"
"There's a carnival happening at downtown, let's head over there?" Sosuke asked the moment [name] and him met up at the station. [name] then smiled widely at Sosuke's suggestion and nodded in response; causing Sosuke to smile a lot more than usual.
"Woah, there's so much things to do and eat here!" [name] cheered out as she looked around the area. Stalls ranging from snacks to game stalls; to gift stalls as well.
"[name], let's take a photo together." Sosuke suggested all of a sudden, and [name] looked at him in a weird manner. She then smiled widely as she stood beside Sosuke;
"Sure!"
"I'm sorry…" [name] mumbled as she placed the photo frame back onto the shelf and resumed unpacking.
"She's… Really gone…" Sosuke mumbled out as he sat on the sofa of the house which [name] used to live in. The others were in the living room as well, trying their best to find any hints of where [name] had went to.
"Why…"