A kick in the head

"Alright, everyone. Pair up in groups of two and start with stretching. Five minutes"

I don't particularly hate grouping up with other classmates, but these things always made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I would never get left alone as the 'last one that nobody wants to pair up with', but I didn't have a go-to friend in these situations. Well, Juno would be one but it would look a bit odd for me to pair up with him while all the other boys are paring with boys and girls are paring with girls.

I looked around to grab just anyone that was nearby and free but then saw Mina walking towards me.

Is she gonna ask me to pair up with her?

Then I saw Tasha following Mina from behind and it looked like she wanted to ask Mina to pair up with her. I don't like to get mixed up in these situations so I just grabbed a random girl spacing out next to me and asked her if she was okay with me, to which she nodded yes.

I then threw a quick glance at Mina and our eyes met. Did I see some kind of disappointment in her eyes?

But if there was, it quickly disappeared as Tasha asked Mina to pair up together and Mina gladly accepted.

Well, maybe I was just imagining things.

"So… Nanaka?"

"Oh yeah, you can start first"

The random girl with glasses that I grabbed just now spoke to me.

"Thanks"

We then quietly helped each other stretch.

Hm. This girl's alright. She doesn't talk much.

"Right, time's up! We will play 5-on-5 indoor football today since a senior class is using the outside field. Juno, Kayno, step forward"

Juno and Kayno stepped forward from the group.

"You guys are probably the best two at football here. Take turns picking a player each. Rock paper scissors, start"

Rock, paper, scissors - Juno won.

There were other classmates on the other side of the gym, but here we were already divided into a group of ten so both Juno and Kayno get to pick 4 more players each.

Juno called out one of the boys without hesitation. I've already noticed they seem to hang out together during lunchtime and stuff.

Kayno then picked another boy, and Juno picked yet another boy. These guys picked boys first, so two places were left in each team for the girls.

This is where shy guys get nervous and others get a bit mischievous, "Ah, so you picked her first out of all the other girls, eh?" kinda thing.

Juno then looked at me, and I knew he was gonna pick me, so I moved my eyes to direct his attention to Mina. Come on Juno, you get what I mean right? Pick Mina.

"Nana, come over here"

Idiot. Juno picked me so I joined his team with no other option, and Mina got immediately picked by Kayno.

"Hey, why did you pick me? People gonna think it's weird"

"Lol, what are you saying? You are not bad when it comes to football"

"Pssst. Pick someone pretty like Mina next time. I'm gonna be stuck with you forever at this rate"

"She sucks in sports though", Juno shrugged his shoulders and just brushed it off.

Man, is he even interested in girls? I looked over to Kayno's team and he seems to be happy to have Mina on his team. She was his first girl pick after all. I could see him trying to strike up a conversation with her and Mina was listening to him and saying a few things back too, then they both laughed.

Hey Juno, someone else will come and take your girl if you keep being so dense, but oh well, whatever.

With the whistle of our sports teacher, the match started. It was mainly boys getting all worked up and hard tackling each other and politely passing the ball to girls every now and then. I saw that Mina was standing at goal for Kayno's team as I received the ball on my feet. I'm not here just to stand around you know…

I flashed my eyes at Juno who was standing close to their goal and he nodded in confirmation. I floated a nice cross from the right side and Juno rose up to do… what the hell, bicycle kick?

:Baam:

Ah. Shit.

For someone as clumsy in sports as her, Mina was too pumped up as she rushed out of the goal to grab the ball, and she ended up getting Juno's bicycle kick straight on the right side of her head.

Flop.

Mina went down like she's been shot and did not move.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry!"

Juno was quick to apologize and was kneeling to check if she was okay.

I ran up to the spot at full speed and shoved Juno aside.

"You freaking idiot! What have you done!"

"I'm really sorry"

"Mina, are you okay?"

"It hurts very much", she slowly replied with her face still flat on the ground.

"Sir, Mina got kicked in the head! I will take her to the infirmary", I shouted across the gym to our sports teacher and he hurriedly ran to us.

"Is she okay?"

"I'm ok... Just a bit dizzy", Mina mumbled

"She needs to rest. She has ane-"

"Nana, don't", Mina reached out to hold my wrist and stopped me mid-sentence.

"I will take her to the infirmary"

"Okay, go see the school nurse and let me know how she is"

"Yes, sir. Juno, help me"

"Huh, me?"

"I can't carry her to the infirmary myself"

"Ok… Sorry Mina"

Juno whimpered and, surprisingly, princess carried her. I could see Mina's face blush beet red and she closed her eyes and turned her face away from Juno so he could not see her.

"Please excuse me. I will bring you to the infirmary. I'm sorry"

We then walked off to the infirmary together.

After we explained what happened to the school nurse she gave a brief concussion symptoms check and felt safe enough that she was okay and just needed to rest. We put her down on the bed and she seemed to fall asleep immediately, for which the nurse was a little concerned. I thought it would be okay to tell the nurse, so after Juno left I told her Mina has anemia and she told me she used to faint every now and then.

So I sat by the bedside next to Mina and waited for her to wake up. I'm sure she got bruised on her head but luckily she got hit on the spot that was covered with hair. Thank god, I'd be so mad at Juno if he got her face bruised.

I looked at Mina's sleeping face and realized once again how pretty she was. But maybe it was because of what she told me before? I felt that she looked fragile. She was always soft-spoken and gentle but still came across as self-assured, so I never saw her as fragile. But as I looked at her from her bedside I almost felt like she was a child that needs to be taken care of. Well, she's hurt after all. It's natural to come across that way.

I don't know how long I sat like that, but I must have dozed off - probably fatigued from staying up late last night playing games.

"Nana"

"Huh, oh, what?"

After a moment of post-wake-up confusion, I remembered what happened and where we were.

"Is he gone…?"

Ah.

"You mean Juno?"

"Yes…"

"Yeah he's gone. It's just me here. Disappointed? Heh"

"Oh my god… I can't believe I fainted. So embarrassing"

"Well it could happen to anyone if they get kicked in the head. I might faint too"

"No I mean… I fainted when he was… carrying me"

Ah. Ha. Ha.

"I was surprised when he did that too. I thought he would just piggyback you, as any normal person would"

"Can't believe he pri—… never mind"

"Nyahaha. Princess carried you, that's right"

"Oh stop it. It's so embarrassing"

"Well, I guess at least something good came out of all this, eh?"

":sigh:"

"I will scold him when we get back though. Kicking a girl's head just isn't cool"

"Please don't. It was just a mistake, and I shouldn't have run out like that either"

"Well, if you say so"

:Clack!:

"Mina~~~~!"

The door of the infirmary slid open with a loud clack and Tasha and Mara ran into the room.

"Are you okay?", Tasha quickly ran over and grabbed Mina's hand. Mara caught up and stood behind Tasha, looking at Mina with a worried expression.

"I'm okay. Thank you"

"I can't believe that bastard! How could he do this!", Tasha was fuming.

"No, it's okay -"

"It's NOT okay. I will make him pay for this. How dare he do this to you!"

"Please, I said it's okay"

"You are way too kind Mina", Tasha then enveloped Mina's hand between her palms.

"You sure you are okay?", Mara timidly asked.

"Yeah, thanks Mara"

"Hugh… that's a relief"

And then suddenly Tasha looked over to me,

"Oh, you are here Nanaka"

"Erm... Yeah. I've been here like the whole time"

"I owe you this one. Thank you for taking care of Mina"

"No problem. I didn't do anything", I shrugged it off. Is Tasha somewhat cool with me now that I helped her precious friend?

"Guys, I think I just need to lie down for a while. Please go back and tell the teacher I'm okay, and go to your next class"

"But we can't leave you alone here…", Tasha pouted.

"It's okay. Nana will stay here - Nana, is that okay?"

"Er….I guess..?"

"Okay then, Nanaka, please look after Mina"

Tasha got up and left the infirmary with Mara following her from behind, briefly turning to wave Mina goodbye on her way out. Mina responded with a raised palm and her usual smile.

"Er… Mina - they don't know you... like Juno?"

"No. Please don't tell them"

"Okay. I just thought they'd know"

"No. Only you know"

That somehow made me feel like I'm some kind of a special friend to her, knowing her secret that she told nobody else.

But then again, our so-called friendship is only there because of her interest in Juno. I shouldn't get ahead of myself.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone"

"Thank you"