Chapter 148 - Somewhere In Her Mind

Walking through the empty hallway behind the dojo, with the glass windows next to us, as sunlight dimly lit the floor in front of us. The sound of the wooden floor creaking as we walked was overwhelming, even in the faint noise of the crowd outside.

I swiftly moved my eyes towards Naoto, who had a blank look on her face, as her long black hair was messy and she was resting her body against me. At that moment, it felt like she was really vulnerable.

I couldn't think at the moment. But whatever it was, it was rather odd since Naoto wasn't the type of girl to act like that. She wasn't the type of girl to stare blankly at those voids empty of any ambitions. 

Something odd was going on as I found her looking at me with her avid eyes, which seemed to reflect the dim light in the hallways. She was looking stunning as ever with her calm composure.

"Does it hurt?" I asked, as it seemed like she was trying her best to not let the pain show up on her face.

"A little bit…" She nodded awkwardly as we kept walking, still staggering a bit.

"Can you walk?" I asked again, as ankle sprains can suck depending upon how severe it is. People like Gaisen and Naoto are used to injuries like that, so that may not be a big deal for them.

"Seems like so." She gave a strong affirmative nod

"You're still limping though…" I said, noticing her struggle to walk and trying not to lean completely on me. I knew her pride wouldn't allow that.

"Yeah… don't worry, I can manage it."

"If you say so…" I just gave her a shrug and pulled slightly towards me. Her shoulders shook for an instance as she looked at me, surprised. But I said nothing as we headed towards the infirmary.

As we entered the infirmary, it was rather empty since not even the nurse was there. We could hear the sudden noises that the crowd made reverberating from the closed windows. The wall fan was spinning left to right slowly, and the sound of the clock ticking filled the room.

Senpai slowly walked towards the bed as I helped her to sit down. She rested her hands as she let out a sigh. She glanced at me for a second, but quickly looked away. It was a bit awkward for the two of us to be alone in the room.

Especially when none of us had anything to say, and neither of us was the conversation starter. She was probably waiting for the other person to start a conversation like me.

I didn't say a word about the match because asking that would be a waste of time in itself. And judging by her reaction, I could tell that she wasn't in the mood to talk much about it.

As I was standing there like an idiot, I heard Naoto's voice as she started a conversation, "I heard you positioned second in the sprint."

I shifted my gaze towards her, and asked in a blunt tone, "Ah… who told you?"

I thought she wouldn't know since she was busy with her club. But somehow she got this news, and it amazes me how fast something spreads in high school.

"Oh… so it is true?" She tilted her head in curiosity as she probed more and looked at me with her sparkling eyes.

Narrowing my eyes at her, I gave a slight nod and said, "Yes."

Her lip curved into a smile, as she looked rather interested in me suddenly. She chuckled and asked, "You seem quite surprised yourself."

"Yeah actually, because I haven't run like that in so many years that my speed surprised me to some extent." I answered while smiling awkwardly.

Catching onto my words, she asked, "To some extent?"

I hated the fact that she literally listens to everything and will point out even the smallest of details, which don't mean shit.

"Yeah…" I nodded, but didn't dive further into it because it was unnecessary to do so. At that moment, I was staring at Naoto's face and it appeared to be relieved of any pain or stress that was on her face a few moments ago.

"So you're quite athletic after all, huh?" She asked, looking at me as if she was checking me out. Her confidence is kind of overwhelming. That makes sense why, despite being a beauty, few boys approach her.

"I wouldn't say that… because…" I opened my mouth to explain why I wasn't athletic, but she cut me off, "Doesn't matter… congrats, by the way…"

She was smiling at me, which was already rare for her and on top of that I wasn't fantastic at taking compliments, so I just gave her an awkward, "Umm… thank you?

It wasn't that I was a generous guy who wouldn't believe the compliments he gets. I was actually quite arrogant and somewhat looked down on people sometimes. I know it's a bad trait, but it sometimes triggers inside me.

On the other hand, I was that type of guy too who will sink in the depths if he fails to do something. If I fail to score my usual 85% in an exam, I would feel like the biggest loser to ever walk on earth.

I was an extremist if I were to think from this point of view. Far end of both the spectrums. There was no middle space for me, and I think I got it because of my upbringing.

She was sitting on the bed, while I was glancing at her frequently to check her expression, but she was staring at the floor in front of her. There was something odd that I have realised by now, but it wasn't the appropriate time to discuss that.

"Ara, what happened?" A sharp feminine voice suddenly directed towards us. I turned my head in that direction to see our nurse walking towards us with a concerned look on her face.

She was a young lady with a petite body and short magenta hair hovering over her shoulders. She always had a soft expression on her face and wore spectacles which always gave an intellectual vibe to her.

"She sprained her ankle." I answered as she walked up to her and bent down to check her leg.

"Can you move your leg?" she said while examining her sprained ankle. Naoto was as cold as ever, as if she didn't feel pain at all.

"Yes…" She said, picking her leg up slightly, but her movements were rather odd. Since I also have practiced martial arts, I had a subtle idea about movements.

"Let me check… can you stand without support?" She asked her, and Naoto thought about it for some moment before saying, "I mean… no."

Hearing her, the Nurse just nodded and adjusted her spectacles. She advanced her hand and pressed near the tendon in the ankle and asked while looking towards her, "Does it hurt here?" 

"Here?" She was moving the area of pressure inch by inch as kept asking until Naoto said, "Yea…"

She stood up and sighed, as it seemed like she was thinking about something. She turned towards me and pointed behind me while saying, "Kid, bring me that ice pack."

Now in schools, an ice pack was a rather common thing as they would give you an ice pack even if you have lost your limbs or something, but in this case it was plausible.

I picked up the ice pack and Nurse instructed me to keep it on her ankles for a while. I kept the pack against her ankle, and all that while kept averting her gazes from me. I was slowly understanding what was going on.

The Nurse came back a few minutes later and applied spray for muscle pain and then wrapped crepe bandage around her ankle and told her to take rest for the rest of the day.

As everything was done, I headed towards the door to exit the room while waving her off, "I'll see you later than Senpai… take care."

She gave me a small nod, and said, "Yeah… Saishi!"

The hesitant tone in her voice was odd, but I didn't pay attention to it as she was quite stressed already. I turned back and gave a questioning nod, "Huh?"

She kept silent for a few moments before saying, "Thanks for today…"

I just shook my hand, and said with a soft smile while looking at her, "No problem Senpai… I can do this much for you."

Her eyes widened up a bit in surprise, as she probably wasn't expecting that answer from me. Quickly turning her face towards the wall and she buried her face in the pillow and acted like she was trying to sleep.

I chuckled as I left the room. On my way back, there were many things on my mind, but what kept troubling me was Naoto's odd behaviour. Though I had already thought of something, I needed to confirm it from her.