The Third Miya: Isuma

XLVII

"Thank you for the encouragement." Isuma unraveled her scarf and shook the snow out of her hair. She had pulled some of her hair back with a white ribbon and tied into a bow, something Suna was quick to note she never did. He nodded. "You look good. How'd it go at home?"

"...alright." Isuma vaguely answered. Osamu corrected, "Terribly."

For the majority of their break, they'd remained undisturbed by the chatter around them, occasionally breaking their silence with a remark or comment. "Who came to the formal last year?"

"People," Suna replied. Isuma held back a sigh. "More specifically?"

Kosaku replied, "The higher-ups who manage the Inter-high and Nationals. Some people from Tokyo. Not all the teams around here come, but usually their coaches and captains are invited. At least a hundred people. Probably more."

Isuma rested her head against her palm; she looked oddly tired and drained as if she hadn't slept for a while. Kosaku asked her, "Did you not sleep last night? You look terrible."

"Thanks for the compliment."

"Not like that terrible, just exhausted-terrible." Kosaku corrected. "You want me to get you a shovel so you can dig that hole a little deeper?"

Kosaku looked over at Suna, who wasn't paying them any attention. "Hey, back me up- Suna?"

Suna looked back at them. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

Isuma glanced across the classroom and then back at him. "Who were you looking at?"

"...everyone, really. Why are they looking at us?" Isuma hadn't noticed their gazes before then, but it was suddenly obvious. The three girls huddled only a few feet away from them were whispering behind their hands and glancing at them every three seconds. Across the classroom, five or six of their classmates weren't even trying to be discreet and were openly watching them. "...what's going on?"

***

Upstairs, on the third-years' level, Akagi and Kita pieced things together more easily. Kita noticed something was wrong when he'd walked into his class first thing in the morning but didn't say anything about it. During their break, Akagi came into Kita's class and approached him. "Coach said you had a copy of the program."

"Yeah. Here." Kita handed him his copy- which was already full of notes and highlighted portions- and Akagi sat down in the seat in front of his. "Oh, right. Did you do something wrong?"

"No?" Kita answered, unsure. "I heard people in my class talking about you." Akagi thought to clarify, "More than usual."

"Very funny. I noticed something was up, but no one's been openly talking here." Kita looked around; the same two girls who'd been acting strangely in the morning were now watching them. Much of the class had emptied out, but the remaining twenty or so people were gazing at them interestedly. Kita glanced at the boy in front of him, Torioka. He was introverted and quiet, but was extremely well-informed about what was happening in the world around him. At the moment, he was pursuing something on his phone and furtively glancing at Kita, who questioned, "What're you looking at?"

The boy flinched and almost dropped his phone, immediately attempting to close the article he'd been reading. Kita held up his hand. "Stop."

He didn't dare argue. "Show me your phone. Please."

Torioka handed it over without complaint. Akagi leaned forward and peered over his friend's shoulder so he could read. Kita had barely finished the first sentence when his eyes narrowed. It was the school newspaper, which he- and pretty much everyone else- never read. But this article... it was impossible to ignore.