The hallway was quiet. An awkwardly uncomfortable time passed, enough to be dreadful.
It was a time when everyone was devoted to club activities, so it was natural, yet Henry was dissatisfied with this. Since he didn’t like the situation, everything in the world was irritating.
Henry walked with a limp on one foot, leaning on Declan, who was slightly larger than him.
They clearly said it was a mild sprain, but perhaps because it was right after the injury, pain came rushing in once he started moving.
Unable to endure the pain any longer, Henry faintly frowned. Declan, who keenly noticed this, asked.
“Does it hurt?”
Henry, who looked up at Declan by raising his head slightly about half a span, awkwardly nodded.
“I didn’t notice when I was sitting, but it hurts a little when I move.”
“…Want me to give you a piggyback?”
A slowly flowing question. Henry doubted his own ears. Thinking he had misheard.
However, he realized from the gaze that stopped walking and quietly looked down at him. That Declan Russell was being serious.
“Are you crazy?”
“I’m in my right mind.”
“How are you going to give me a piggyback?”
“…I think I can do it.”
It was somehow a confident answer. It felt bad.
“Have you ever lifted me?”
“No.”
“Then why are you so sure? Or are you making fun of me for having little muscle right now?”
“I’ve never thought that.”
Seeing a face that was incomparably peaceful unlike himself who was growling made him even more irritated.
If it had been before, he would have freely gotten annoyed.
Now that his secrets had been discovered to the fullest and he had received all kinds of help—
He no longer dared to throw a tantrum. Henry tried hard to regain his composure and said.
“…It’s fine, so just go. We’re almost there anyway.”
He nodded and continued to lead Henry.
***
Even after arriving at the nurse’s office, Henry’s ordeal continued.
It was because the teacher had left her seat, perhaps called somewhere. Sitting in a chair waiting for the teacher, Henry occasionally—no, actually quite often—watched Declan.
“…You can go first.”
“I have to explain to the coach and David.”
Ah, right. Yeah.
Henry, who had forgotten David’s words while caught up in awkwardness, made a face of realization.
Confirming this, Declan sat in the waiting seat. He too, right after finishing the game, seemed tired from supporting Henry, who was as tall as himself. He had his eyes closed and his head leaning against the wall.
Henry unknowingly stared at him openly. After some time passed like that, Declan opened his mouth.
“…If you have something to say, say it.”
At the low voice resonating in the air, Henry was startled and turned his head.
“I don’t!”
“Then never mind.”
How did he know when his eyes were closed? Anyway, that perceptive bastard. Even now, he must have already figured out that it wasn’t that there was nothing to say, but that he didn’t want to say it.
Henry, who had been badmouthing Declan in his mind, eventually opened his mouth in a sulky voice.
“Have you been perceptive since you were young?”
Hearing the question, Declan slowly gave an answer.
“…Well.”
At the insincere answer, Henry furrowed his brow.
“Ah, if you don’t want to answer, then don’t.”
“That’s not it… If you’re placed in an environment where you must be perceptive, anyone would become like me.”
“An environment where you must be perceptive? What’s that?”
Henry tilted his head, not understanding his words.
Declan slowly opened his eyes. They were eyes with a very slight hint of fatigue.
No answer came back. A bit of melancholy filled the eyes that held greenery.
The atmosphere felt like he shouldn’t talk to him, so Henry just stared at him blankly as if caught by something.
“You…”
After a long while, when Henry opened his mouth to say something—
Clatter—!
The door opened. A teacher wearing a gown came in, holding an armful of emergency supplies. Seeing Henry and Declan in sportswear with a tired face, she burst into a hearty laugh.
“I just finished treating the basketball club kids, and now it’s football?”
At her words, Henry awkwardly scratched his head.
“Are you both hurt?”
“No. Just me.”
Henry raised his hand low to indicate he was the injured one.
“Henry Lowell, right?”
She asked, recognizing Henry, a famous figure at school, at a glance.
“Yes.”
“Okay. Before you leave, write your grade, name, and parent’s number on the paper over there in front.”
“Yes.”
“Where are you hurt?”
She asked as she sat down in a chair after putting down what she was holding.
“My ankle. The coach said it seems like a mild sprain.”
“What were you doing when you got hurt?”
“It was during a practice game, I tripped over a defender’s foot and fell.”
The teacher lightly clicked her tongue.
“Take off your shoes and socks.”
“Yes.”
Henry removed his sneakers from his feet with his hands, then took off the socks that came up to his calves.
“Let me take a look.”
“Yes.”
The nurse put on gloves and held Henry’s foot.
She glanced at Henry’s uninjured right foot and said.
“It’s a bit swollen and there’s heat too.”
Her hand lightly pressed the inside of Henry’s ankle.
“Is it okay here?”
“Yes.”
“How about here?”
This time she gently touched near the outer ankle bone. Like when the coach checked the condition, Henry flinched and trembled.
“It hurts.”
After nodding her head, she lightly rotated the ankle in a small range. Henry unconsciously gripped the chair with his hands.
“Just as the coach said. There doesn’t seem to be ligament damage. It’s definitely a mild sprain. You’ll be fine if you rest well for a few days.”
Speaking dryly, the teacher took out a bandage from the drawer where medicine was kept. She continued her explanation while carefully wrapping a compression bandage around Henry’s ankle.
“Even if it’s a minor injury, if you move wrong, it can get worse. Be careful for the time being. Ice for 15 minutes at a time. At least twice a day. The more often the better. Since there’s heat.”
“Yes.”
“If it doesn’t get better even after doing this, come back. Or go see a doctor.”
“Thank you.”
Henry nodded and answered. She finally wrapped the bandage firmly and secured it.
“All done. You can go. Don’t forget what I told you. Ah.”
Henry, who was about to get up from the chair, stopped awkwardly. She held out an ice pack to Henry.
“Take it and use it.”
“Yes.”
Henry received it with both hands. He roughly stuffed his socks into his pocket and roughly put his feet into his sneakers. There was no way they would fit because of the bandage anyway.
Declan approached Henry as if he had been waiting and supported him. The teacher nodded seeing that thanks to Declan, who was about half a span taller, Henry was in a position where he didn’t have to use his foot.
Henry greeted her while being supported.
“Okay. Help him out a lot while he heals. Be careful going.”
Receiving her farewell, he left the nurse’s office while being held by Declan.
“I’ll take you to the dorm.”
“…Now that it’s bandaged, I think I can go alone.”
He really wanted to get away from Declan’s body, which was hot like a fireball beyond just warm.
At the answer that came with an excuse, Declan silently asked.
“You’re going to climb the dorm stairs alone with that foot?”
“No, it’s bandaged and…”
“Do you want to quit football?”
Huh—Henry let out a hollow laugh at Declan’s question.
No, this guy is even worse than the coach and David?
“No, hey…! With just this level of injury. This level will just heal slowly even if I use it a bit. It won’t get that much worse!”
Henry shouted in an aggrieved voice. He shouted, but Declan gave no answer.
When Henry, who had somehow become embarrassed, was about to declare he understood and would be supported—
“Do you… do football because you like it?”
Declan asked.
“Of course? Why? Are you forced to do it?”
“…But why didn’t you get angry at that kid earlier?”
“That kid? Who… Ah. The kid named George?”
Declan nodded slightly.
“You know because you heard from my sister last time. That I was really bad when I first started football. I remembered when I first started. Back then I was overflowing with competitive spirit, but my body couldn’t keep up, so I made a lot of small mistakes.”
“…You’re too generous.”
“Then what? He said it wasn’t intentional either. What’s the point of getting angry? He just became a 9th grader.”
For a long while, Declan’s answer didn’t come back.
What is he thinking? When he was raising his head thinking that, he heard a small murmur.
“You have so much leeway.”
“…What?”
At the words he heard in passing, Henry became dazed and asked back.
Instead of repeating his murmur, Declan held Henry’s hand on his shoulder and walked.
Henry missed the timing to demand he say it again because he was busy walking to match him.
“Rest.”
Upon arriving in front of Henry’s room, Declan said while releasing his arm. He turned around and walked away with quick steps, soon disappearing from view.
Henry muttered softly.
“…I have so much leeway?”
