"I think I ate too much," Kitsuna groaned. She was sitting on the bench before the match started, after warmups, with her hand over her mouth and glasses in the other. She was supposed to be taping up, but partway through was hit with an overwhelming wave of nausea.

"If you start freaking out the others will only get worse," Sugawara came to check on her and reminded her about the weaker-willed members by pointing at them. She complained with a long groan, so he knew she caught his meaning. She didn't move, so he picked up the tape and tapped her shoulder. She held her arm out, and he took the glasses and taped up her wrist for a second time. He saw her trying to finish reading the notes on the bus, and that was likely what set her over the edge. By the time he was done wrapping her up she was feeling a little better and stood up for the lineup. Kitsuna was joining the starters, and had to do some extra introductory stuff for the final round of the tournament. Then it was time to start, and she was heading up defense in the back with Noya and Asahi.

"Man, that's gonna be a rough start," Ennoshita whispered on the side as the star player of the opposing team stepped up to serve.

Ushiwaka, the other team's ace. He launched his first strike with a powerful serve that even Noya couldn't catch. He got four more in a row, before Karasuno could react fast enough. Kitsuna finally caught one, toppling over from the hit but managing to send it back up. The first year duo went all in on a quick, but it was stopped by the red-haired guy. Tendo. The rotation brought Kitsuna to the front, and she was gonna have to try to stop those crazy spikes from the others. Standing up close to the taller guys, in such an intensely stressful match with a bad start, she finally started to feel the pressure.

"What're you starin' at, fucker," she accidentally spoke her thoughts aloud. The guy facing her was staring her down hard, and she was getting irritated at the mix of concern, confusion, and determination to outpower her. His eyebrows raised slightly at her rude question, but he still said nothing.

Yamaguchi's serve went over the net, but it was easily caught and sent into a set. Kitsuna rushed to join Tanaka for a wall against Ushiwaka. She jumped up, easily getting higher than her teammate. The ball rammed into her right hand, slowing down a little and flying backward. A soft block, but not one she intended to do. She fell back down, Daichi saving the receive where Yamaguchi froze up. They agreed on a synchronized attack, so Kistuna lined up for a set. She sent it behind her, to Hinata. He hit it, with his left hand, when it fell short of his jump. Finally they scored another point, getting past that crazy blocker. They were at eight, so a mandatory break was called and they left the court for water. Kitsuna took a water from Yachi, but it fell to the floor with a bang.

"Hey, you good?," Daichi asked. Yachi yelped pretty hard, but Kitsuna was silent. She was glaring at her right hand, and the others finally noticed just how hard it was shaking. She put her other hand over the wrist in an attempt to stop that trembling, her jaw tightening hard when it refused to let up.

"Kitsuna?," Yamaguchi tapped her shoulder to break her out of whatever spell she was under. She shook her head and lowered her arms, shoulders slumped. She took a deep breath and turned to face the coach, and some of her teammates who were standing around him. Her expression was tense, a mix of frustration and something else.

"I think," she started slowly, knowing there wasn't a ton of time but not ready to admit there was a problem, "Ushiwaka's spike. That last block. I think it was…too much for me."

She bit her lip, and eyes widened all around. Keishin shoved past the boys and checked her wrist, noting some bruising spreading up from under the wrap.

"Will you be good with some rest?," he asked the question but knew the answer. He just didn't want to have to be the bad guy here. Not here, not now. Her other hand clenched tight, nails digging into her palms and drawing some blood.

"No," she finally got the word out. Confirming fears, and cementing her fate for the rest of the day. The whistle blew for the teams to return to the match. Five members headed out for Karasuno, the others watching their lucky number thirteen and the coach exchange pained looks.

"Go get it checked out. Tsukishima, you're up! Get out there. Uh," Keishin looked at the others, trying to decide who to send with the injured player. Daichi glanced back from the court as Tsukishima took her place. His eyes locked with Suga's and they shared an unspoken message.

"I'll go," Suga stepped forward and offered to go with her. He would miss part of the game, but it was just as important that the others stayed and watched.

"Right. Thanks. You two get goin' and get back as soon as you can," Keishin patted Kitsuna's shoulder. She left the gym, walking behind Sugawara in silence and holding her wrist. She stayed lost in her head when they arrived at the nurse's station. Through their inspection and rewrapping too. Suga explained what happened, and the nurses shared sympathetic looks as they delivered their final verdict.

"It's not completely broken, but you can't play on it any more today. Get it checked by a doctor as soon as you can."

Kitsuna nodded to show that she was listening, and the two volleyball players made their way back to the gym. Suga heard the footsteps behind him getting slower and slower, and he stopped just before the gym doors. Hand on the bar to push it open, he tried to think of something, anything, to say to her.

"Hey-"

He turned around, and something hit his shoulder. Her head. She wouldn't look up, slouched down super hard. She was sure to be in a ton of pain with a fractured wrist. The trembling of her body could easily be explained with that and how she held her other hand over the injury. Her forehead was warm through his shirt, though likely not a fever and instead from just coming off a hot set. She could be exhausted, too, from the pressure and physical exertion. That was another reasonable explanation, one that the few passersby probably assumed to be the case. But he knew it wasn't any of those, and he found himself struggling to know what to do to soothe her raging emotions.

"Hey," he spoke softly, placing his hand lightly on the back of her head. The same sort of embrace Daichi did after he returned from his injury, the bruise still fresh on his face. There was a gasp, and some hushed sobs. Suga just stood there and waited for a few minutes so she could let it out, but she still refused to fully let go of her pride. Suga wanted to sigh but held it back, pulling his face closer to her ear and pressing his cheek against her.

"We'll make sure to make it count. It's not the last time you'll get to play a powerful opponent. They said it wasn't broken at least, so you'll be able to recover and join everyone on the court again soon. I know it's gonna be hard, but just take it easy for the rest of today," he couldn't settle on one thing to say so just said everything as it ran through his mind. He didn't try to push her to enter the gym, instead staying like that until she stopped shaking. Even though it was embarrassing. Even though some passing people were giving glances and whispering to their friends. Even though he desperately wanted to be out there with the others, fighting till the end.

Kitsuna took a shaky, deep breath. Then another one, and a third. She pulled back and stood up, wiping some tears from her eyes with her jersey. One more strong inhale and exhale, and she nodded her head that she was good to go. They reentered the gym, heading over to deliver the news to the coach. Suga started to speak up, but Kitsuna tapped his shoulder and shook her head. She looked up finally, through her messy bangs to meet her coach's eyes.

"It's not broken, but I'm out for the rest of the day. I need to see a doctor after we get back, as soon as we can get to one. Sorry for taking so long," she bowed and headed to join the rest of the waiting players. Suga confirmed the information with Keishin and joined them as well. The waiting boys looked at him after they were unable to get a word out of their teammate, and he shook his head. They knew what that meant and looked down, but turned their attention back to the match.