Blood, sweat, but no tears

3. Blood, sweat, but no tears

During the first period right after lunch, we had our first PE class in high school. Our teacher looks very young, and his height isn’t really in his favour either, he could blend right in with the rest of us.

“Class, today might be the first time you’re seeing me. I’m Mister Yamada, it’s nice meeting all of you. We’re gonna get today kicked off by running some laps outside until the end of class.”

“What?!” Nearly our entire class was in disbelief.

“I’m just joking around,” Mister Yamada laughed. “Today’s focus is on teamwork, we’ll be playing volleyball.”

I twiddled my t-shirt by the collar as I watched him go into the storage room and bring the rack to the brim packed with volleyballs with him.

“We’ll start with one on one practice. Simply line up in two lines facing each other,” he said whilst hanging up the long stretched net.

Since we’ve known each other for only a couple of days, most of us were a little hesitant with choosing a partner. Some, like me, didn’t even bother finding a partner and simply stood in either one of the lines. I could’ve expected that the person I’m currently facing… was doing the exact same thing.

Her eyes were opened just as wide as mine when she lifted her head and realised I was standing there. Like earlier this morning, she hesitantly brought her hand about as high as her stomach and waved at me.

The moment I brought my hand up, Mister Yamada threw volleyballs around.

“Catch ‘em, catch ‘em!”

My hand, flimsily raised in the air, reached out to one of the balls bouncing around before I realised. When I turned my head back to Katsumata, I saw her posture returned to before she lifted her head.

“Alright, every pair got a volleyball? Simply start by taking a few steps back. Everyone on this side,” he pointed to the people on my side, “you guys serve—preferably over the net. The others will bump pass the ball back. This exercise is all about getting the right form. When I blow my whistle, switch.”

Most people on my side opted for an underhand serve, but I've been involved with volleyball way too much because of Keito back in middle school to know that throwing it up with my left hand and running up to whack it over my head with my right hand is much more powerful.

My eyes were fixated on the airborne ball, heading right to my partner. When I looked at her posture, I noticed how she didn’t bend her knees, neither did she fully stretch her arms and clasp her hands together. She didn’t look ready to receive the ball… at all.

Through the holes of the net, I saw her bouncing the ball off her arms right into her own face, shortly after sounded her slamming onto the floor.

I crawled underneath the net, “Are you okay?”

She swiftly pushed herself up again, giving off the illusion that she was uninjured. “…I’m fine, no need to worry.” As soon as her sentence ended, her nose started to bleed.

A classmate kneeled down next to me.

“I’ll get the teacher,” I mumbled as I got up.

“I am the teacher.”

I turned back around and saw that it indeed was Mister Yamada.

“Mind bringing her to the nurse’s office?” He asked me.

“Yeah, no problem.”

Right about now, the entire class had stopped playing and looked at what’s going on from a distance.

“Everything’s alrighty over here!” Mister Yamada yelled out, “Keep volleyballing, okay?” He turned back to us, “Come back when that’s treated, alright?”

“Got it.”

Whilst we were making our way to the nurse, she pinched the bottom of her nose shut with her right hand, and held her left hand underneath to catch any drops that spilled.

“The nurse’s office is there if I’m not mistaken,” I pointed to the end of the hall. Half the reason I said it was to confirm it. She would’ve probably corrected me if I were wrong.

“Right… Should I rock my head backwards like this in the meantime?” Her voice sounded pretty funny with her nose shut.

“It’ll end up in your throat.”

She coughed before making a sour face as she swallowed. “…Right.”

I knocked on the door, but got no response. When I opened the door, the nurse wasn’t there. The two of us headed inside anyway.

When I looked at her face, staring at each other without saying a word, I got the feeling that she was awaiting my instructions, even though I’ve got little knowledge on how to treat a nosebleed. I pointed at the sink. “Just stand over there for now.”

“…Okay.”

I decided to pull a treatment plan out of thin air and see how it goes. “So, first you need to stop the bleeding… I think you need to pinch it a bit higher.”

She let go of her nose and pinched it somewhere in the middle, “…Like this?”

Blood drops swiftly drizzled down her nose, one by one, but so quickly that it looked like a continuous stream for a second. Still in a funny voice she said, “…It’s coming down faster. Is that good?”

“Yeah, don’t worry,” I said—hoping that it was normal.

I rarely have nosebleeds myself, so naturally I don’t really know what to do.

“Does this happen often to you? The nosebleeds, I mean.”

She waited a bit before shaking her head. “I don’t remember how it was treated last time I had one. Ah—it stopped dripping.”

I took a step forward and leaned down so I could see her nose better. “Mmhmm, I think it stopped.” I held the sink with both my hands and got even closer to see—getting more conscious of how cute a girl’s nose is compared to a guy’s the closer I got.

“Leaning in for a kiss?”

I jolted my head back saw the nurse standing cross-armed leaning against the door opening.

“Mister Yamada? What are you—”

He shot a ominous glance at me before adjusting his glasses and chuckling, “Surprise, surprise, I’m not only a PE teacher, but also a nurse at this high school!”

“Huh...?”

“So, you’re gonna kiss her or what?” He teased.

“...Please do your job.”

He laughed and got closer. “A nosebleed, huh... Let me handle it.” As he stood next to me, I noticed he was a little taller than earlier, his hair was a bit shorter... and he forgot about the nosebleed already?

To my surprise, he actually handled it like he was supposed to. After the bleeding stopped, he gave her a cotton ball that she sprayed something on to put in her nose.

“There—all done!”

“…Thank you very much,” she said as she bowed.

“You're not actually Mister Yamada, are you?” I asked whilst intensely squinting at him. Their faces were exactly the same, their voices were similar enough, and so was their haircut to an extent… but I’m sure Mister Yamada was not as tall.

He laughed again, “Well, I am Mister Yamada... just not the PE-Yamada you’re probably thinking of.”

Then it clicked, “Oh, you’re his twin brother?”

“Correct! But don’t tell anyone else just yet... the surprise on people’s faces is always a treat.”

I opened the door, “Alright, we'll keep it a secret. Thank you for helping us out.”

I closed the door as soon as Katsumata was out.

While the two of us were making our way back to resume our volleyball activities, she, for some reason, kept glancing at me. Each time she did, I would feel her gaze fixated on me for about a second or three, then shortly after she retreats her eyes.

“Want to tell me something?” I asked as I kept looking forward.

“Yes…” She paused for a moment. When she opened her mouth again, she quickly clenched her lips back together. “…Never mind, it’s nothing.”

We arrived. I opened the door and looked around trying to find the PE-Yamada to let him know we’re back. Our class is currently in the middle of playing games, but I couldn’t see him anywhere. Right when I was about to give up, I saw one of my classmates, the karaoke boy, side-lined, looking exhausted while chugging down his water bottle. I walked up to him and asked, “Seen the teacher?”

He looked up and laughed, “Hard to spot isn’t he? He’s playing over there,” he pointed to one of the fields.

Even after squinting my eyes it took me a couple of seconds before I saw him. “Ah, found him.”

I waited to interrupt until a point was scored.

“Mister Yamade, we’re back.”

“Great! Take my place!” He let out a heavy breath and with his mouth wide opened grasped for more air.

“He’s been running all over like a dog or something,” one of my classmates joked.

I went underneath the net and stood where he was standing earlier. I apparently had to serve.

“You got this, Shima?” a teammate asked me.

I let my serve do the talking—I launched it up with my left hand, jumped up and smashed it above my head, sending it straight to the other side. Everyone stood frozen in motion and I scored my team a point.

“Are we winning now?” I asked.

“We’re only seven to three down,” he held his hand out for a high-five. I found the score little to be celebrated, but I still held out my hand to boost our team spirit, I suppose.

“I didn’t think you’d be someone into sports…” the girl standing in front of me noted.

I caught the ball thrown from the other side of the net, getting ready to serve again. “I’m not into sports or anything.” I launched the ball up. “But I’m not into losing either.” I wacked it to the opposite side this time, closing the gap on their lead once more.

“Yamada, switch with me!” One of the tired looking boys on the other side said.

“That’s Mister Yamada for you!” He corrected—already standing in position to play.

It was my turn to serve a third time. Since our teacher looked so out of breath earlier, I decided to target him, thinking he would mess up—but he perfectly managed to bump pass it to a teammate. She passed it to their tallest teammate, who had his eyes locked on the space between me and the middle of our field.

As some sort of muscle memory reflex, I launched my body forward right as he got ready to spike. His ball was going exactly where I predicted, but I lacked the momentum to reach it. I mentally gave up, but my body pushed itself forward. Falling down with my arm stretched out, somehow managing to dig the ball up in the nick of time—but I painfully landed on my chest.

“Woah! Good going, Shima!” Mister Yamada yelled out.

As I watched from the floor how my team scored another point, I painfully wondered why I was even sweating in the first place.

I’m drained.

“Mister Yamada… switch.”