Philophobia 2.0

The Kimura

'Huh.'

The missing boy in question, Kita Shinsuke, was rushing through the hallways—gone was his regularly calm and aloof demeanor as he internally berated himself for being late. He was practically sprinting toward the volleyball gym, and a rare look of excessive frustration was present on his face.

If there was one thing the students and staff of Inarizaki knew about Kita, it was that he was a perfectly punctual teenager.

As the captain of the boy's volleyball team, Kita even scolded and disciplined his teammates for their occasional tardiness—which only made him feel all the more angry with himself for daring to lose track of time. He had gotten caught up with a classmate about a pending project, and by the time he realized practice had already begun, Kita's mood had been soured.

As luck would have it, Kita's rushed walk was halted—with a turn of the corner, he collided with someone, and Kita didn't even need to look down to recognize his accidental victim was a small girl. Guilt began to eat at him when he looked down at her, who had fallen on her back, wincing as she used her elbows to prop herself up.

Kita's breath hitched as Ai hazily stared up at him, dizzy from the sudden collision, and the first thing that rang through his head was how beautiful she was.

Her long dark waves, which were previously half-tied into a bun had since become undone and messy—yet they fell perfectly down her shoulders, framing her face. The shape of her sharp eyes suited the cold expression Ai exhibited, but what Kita truly found attractive was the shade of her irises and the way they contrasted against her deep blue locks. For a moment, it seemed like they even twinkled, but such sparkling died down once Ai began wincing again.

Like a switch, Ai's show of pain shook Kita out of the trance she unknowingly put him in, and he bent down to help her up. Extending a hand, he apologized, "Sorry about that."

Kita proceeded to let Ai use him as leverage to let herself up, which should have been easy enough—but she quickly learned that that collision was enough to damage her bad knee. She'd have fallen again if it weren't for Kita, who swiftly snaked an arm around Ai's waist to prevent her from hitting the ground.

...To which he promptly let go of, even if there was a small part of him that didn't want to.

"A-are," Kita paused to clear his throat and any other thoughts before he continued, "Are you alright?"

Ai was doing her best to stay calm, no matter how much pain her knee was currently giving her— Kita wouldn't have even known that Ai was hurting if it weren't for her occasional grimaces and wincing.

Taking a deep breath, Ai nodded and spoke so lowly that her voice was almost a whisper, saying, "It's just my knee." She proceeded to squeeze her eyes shut, cursing herself and Kita. As nice as he was to help her up and then protect her from falling to the ground a second time, Ai knew she probably wouldn't be dealing with such pain if he hadn't crashed into her.

Since she tore her ACL, Ai would suffer sharp pains now and then—she was used to those, but this pain was on a whole other level. Even though her skin was as fair as a porcelain doll, Kita could tell that Ai was beginning to grow pale.

"Here," He said, offering Ai his shoulder to lean on. "I know a place where ya can sit down and rest it."

—

When the gym doors opened, the entirety of the teams' eyes shot towards them at the speed of light—some members were ready to chastise Kita for being late for the first time in his life, while others were painfully curious about what could have held up their captain. Such expressions died as soon as they realized that Kita wasn't alone, noticing a small and pretty girl with her arm dangling over his shoulders as he helped her limp to the bench.