"Hello." She tried, smiling slightly. Ran nodded, unsure eyes scanning both from head to toe once more. How did they get here and how did they know?
She sat down on the floor. The man followed. Ran had to tilt his head to fully see them. "We got a call from your neighbour. He originally thought that someone broke in. The police is already gone. It's just us two. Ran, right?" Ran nodded. "My name is Suzy, this is Hiro." The old man waved at him.
"W-why?" "You had a panic attack. We needed to give you some painkillers and put ointment on the wound on your head. The wall took some damage too, but that is not my responsibility." She joked, laughing at her own joke.
It was a warm laugh, and it certainly relieved some tension within Ran. The smile disappeared all of a sudden, a serious expression on her face as she checked her phone. "It says here that you attempted not too long ago." The hint of a smile disappeared from his face as well now. "I don't-" "I understand why. But I need to ask you- Are you being abused, Ran?" He gulped, then shook his head. "No." "It's okay. You don't have to pretend to be strong. It's not your-" "I am not being abused, get it? I have an appointment now. Goodbye." His efforts to try and get rid of the two paramedics was in vain.
Though he got up and paced around the room to collect his stuff, they wouldn't leave. "Alright. Your parents have already been-" "No! Not my parents! Fuck! They cant know, please. They cant know. What did you tell them?" She looked taken aback. Most likely, because Ran hadn't spoken almost a single word before and now suddenly-
"That you are injured, and unconscious." "Nothing else?" "No." Thank god, Ran thought, falling back down onto the couch. His head hurt.
-
In the end, he claimed to have tripped over his own backpack, and that he had hit his head on the floor. They obviously mistrusted him, but some shouting later his mother and father took their leave again after being assured that their son would recover within one to two weeks.
-
"I am not letting you play with that." Philippe repeated once more. He grabbed his clipping board again and with that signalized that the conversation was over.
Like a little, pissed child, Ran stomped over to Tatsunori, sitting down on the bench next to him. The older let out a small laugh. "No success?" Ran shook his head. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. So Tatsunori continued talking. "But, look at the bright side. Once it's healed, you can play again. It's nothing fatal and if you rest enough, it's gonna heal properly." "But I don't want to, I want to do something." The older nodded in agreement.
Philippe suddenly shouted from the middle of the court. "Ran, Tatsu. Come here. We are discussing everything. Ran, you can help collect balls today." Great. What a punishment.
-
Thursday, 6am.
Ran knew he needed to attended school. He was lucky that his doctor had finally prescribed him medication so he could finally sleep longer than two hours. And, wow, how he had missed it.
The wound on his head was starting to form a crust, healing slowly. That also meant that it started blending in with his natural hair color. Quite beneficial.
-
Kanta noticed it as soon as Ran entered the class. The wound caught his eye immediately. But he managed to suppress the urge to stare or walk up to Ran. No, he had to keep his act up: Be angry at Ran.
He seemingly wasn't the only person who had caught sight of the red spot. Haruto didn't even try to hide his staring. But there was something different in his eyes, compared to his own. Haruto's looked lustful, almost demanding. And it suddenly made sense. Seeing Maya's loving eyes look up at Haruto who didn't even notice her standing there. Maya had been the one to walk up to Kanta and tell him about everything.
Fast forward
Start from the beginning
