Personal Warfare

As the day drags on, Kenma's mind keeps circling back to the same sentence.

"You're dead in gym class."

The words replay in his head over and over, annoyingly clear in Kuroo's smug voice.

Kenma lightly adjusts the strap of his bag on his shoulder, weaving through the crowded hallway as students shove past each other, laughter echoing against the walls. Lockers slam shut every few seconds, conversations overlapping into one loud blur.

Yet somehow, out of all the noise around him, his brain chooses to focus on Kuroo.

*I mean... Kuroo was acting all friendly yesterday in the dorms...*

Kenma's brows knit together slightly.

One minute Kuroo was leaning against his room door with that lazy grin while talking about disgusting things. The next, he's threatening him about gym class.

*Or maybe he just has multiple personalities.*

Kenma immediately regrets the thought.

*Okay, maybe not that dramatic.*

Still...

The guy was weird.

.

.

.

Later on... last period finally arrives.

Gym class.

And worst of all?

It's a joint class with another class meaning...

Kuroo's whole gang is here.

Tsukishima is leaning against the wall near the bleachers with his usual bored expression, arms crossed like he'd rather be literally anywhere else. Iwaizumi is stretching nearby while Kageyama bounces a dodgeball against the floor with terrifying focus.

And then there's Kuroo himself.

Standing in the middle of them all like the leader of some athletic cult.

Kenma instantly regrets coming to school today.

And no wonder Kuroo said Kenma was dead...

Because guess what they're playing?

Dodge-fucking-ball.

The loud squeaking of shoes against the polished gym floor echoes everywhere as students split into teams. The smell of rubber and sweat already hangs in the air even though class barely started.

Kenma sighs loudly, shoulders slumping.

Of course this would happen.

Of course.

Meanwhile, Hinata already looks horrified for him.

Actually horrified.

His eyes dart nervously between Kenma and Kuroo's side of the court like he's watching someone moments away from execution.

Because somehow - somehow - Kuroo's entire gang ended up on one side while Hinata and Kenma are on the other.

Across the gym, Kuroo notices them immediately.

And smirks.

That stupid, knowing smirk.

He lazily spins a dodgeball in one hand before leaning closer to Tsukishima and Iwaizumi, whispering something to them. Kageyama glances over toward Kenma afterward.

That just makes Kenma even more nervous.

He's usually not the type to get worked up over things like this. Most of the time he's calm, detached, unbothered.

But if he still doesn't know what Kuroo meant by "You're dead in gym class," then obviously he has reasons to be nervous.

Because Kuroo looks way too excited right now.

Like he's been waiting for this all day.

Kenma narrows his eyes slightly.

What is wrong with this guy...?

The coach blows the whistle sharply.

The sound cuts through the entire gym.

"BEGIN!"

And immediately, chaos erupts.

Rubber balls fly across the court at terrifying speeds, students scream, and shoes screech against the floor.

A ball slams against the wall behind them with a loud BANG.

Kenma slowly turns his head toward Kuroo's side of the court.

Kuroo catches another ball effortlessly.

Then points directly at him.

Oh.

So this is personal.

Kuroo suddenly launches the ball straight toward Kenma with way more force than necessary.

The rubber ball practically whistles through the air.

Kenma instinctively stumbles backward, panic flashing across his face for half a second. Since he isn't athletic at all, his movements are awkward and rushed, and in the process of trying to dodge, his shoe nearly slips on a streak of sweat across the gym floor.

His balance tips dangerously.

For one horrifying second, Kenma thinks he's about to both get hit and eat the floor in front of the entire class.

But somehow,

The ball flies right past him.

Barely missing his shoulder.

Kenma catches himself before fully falling and immediately sighs in relief almost too quickly, one hand pressed against his chest.

The ball smacks loudly against the wall behind him.

Kenma slowly lifts his head and glances toward Kuroo from across the court.

Kuroo clicks his tongue.

Then he mouths toward Kenma with narrowed eyes and an annoyingly smug expression.

"That was just luck."

Kenma deadpans instantly.

Yeah no kidding.

Before Kenma can even mentally recover, another ball suddenly flies across the court.

Iwaizumi swings it directly toward Hinata.

"ACKKKK-!!"

Hinata lets out the loudest scream imaginable while twisting his body into the weirdest side position ever to dodge it. Somehow his limbs bend in ways that honestly shouldn't be physically possible.

The ball zooms past him by inches.

"WHY AM I GETTING ATTACKED?!" Hinata yells dramatically, pointing accusingly across the gym. "I DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING!!"

Meanwhile, Iwaizumi doesn't even look guilty.

He calmly grabs another ball from the floor before answering in the most casual voice possible.

"Why?"

He shrugs.

"Because you're the easiest target."

Hinata freezes.

His expression slowly fills with utter betrayal.

Complete heartbreak.

*How could he???*

Hinata clutches his chest like he's been emotionally wounded.

"THAT'S SO MEAN-!"

Fueled entirely by spite now, Hinata quickly snatches up a dodgeball from the floor.

"I'LL SHOW YOU!"

He winds his arm back dramatically before hurling the ball toward Iwaizumi with all his strength.

And honestly?

It looks insanely impressive.

The ball flies high into the air, cutting across the gym while everyone instinctively looks upward to follow it. Even the screaming and chaos around the court dies down slightly for a moment.

People stare.

Some students blink in shock.

Wait... Hinata can throw that hard?

Even Iwaizumi pauses, eyes tracking the ball carefully because he genuinely can't tell where it's going to land.

Tsukishima squints upward.

Kuroo raises an eyebrow.

Kageyama looks impressed somehow.

The ball keeps soaring dramatically through the air like the climax of a sports anime.

And then...

It slowly loses momentum.

Everyone watches in silence as the ball gently plops down onto the floor.

Nowhere near Iwaizumi.

Not even close.

It doesn't even make it halfway across the court.

Silence.

A long, painful silence.

Hinata remains frozen in his throwing position, staring ahead with a blank expression.

The gym collectively processes what just happened.

Then immediately everyone goes right back to screaming and throwing balls at each other like nothing happened.

Chaos resumes instantly.

Meanwhile, Iwaizumi just stares at Hinata for a long silent moment.

Hinata still hasn't moved.

"...."

"...."

Finally, with almost concerning calmness, Iwaizumi lightly tosses a ball toward Hinata.

Bonk.

It hits him directly.

Hinata is out.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Hinata cries in betrayal while the whistle blows for him.

Iwaizumi doesn't even react.

He already turns away and jogs back into the chaos of the game, immediately aiming for another victim while Hinata slowly walks off the court looking spiritually defeated.

Kenma just stares blankly as Hinata drags himself toward the bench in complete defeat, shoulders slumped like his entire spirit left his body.

He watches Hinata flop down onto the bench with a devastated expression before slowly looking back toward the court.

*...I guess I'm on my own now.*

Which is honestly terrifying considering half the people here seem weirdly determined to target him specifically.

The gym is still complete chaos around him.

Balls are flying everywhere, students are yelling, shoes screech loudly across the floor.

"KENMA! WATCH OUT-!"

Kenma's eyes widen.

He quickly turns his head,

And suddenly everything feels weirdly slow.

A dodgeball is hurtling directly toward him.

From Kuroo.

Of course it's from Kuroo.

The ball spins violently through the air, moving way too fast for Kenma to react properly. He barely even has time to process it before another figure suddenly moves into view.

Atsumu.

Kenma watches in stunned confusion as Atsumu practically launches himself in front of him like some dramatic action movie scene.

"Atsu-"

THWACK.

The ball slams directly into Atsumu instead.

The impact is so loud several people nearby visibly flinch.

Atsumu's body jerks backward before he collapses onto the gym floor dramatically, sprawled out like he's just been taken out in battle.

Dead silence hits Kenma for half a second.

Even Kuroo pauses.

Then Kuroo clicks his tongue again from across the court.

"Ah- hey!"

Kenma immediately crouches down beside Atsumu, concern flashing across his usually calm face.

"Atsumu?"

Atsumu doesn't move.

"...."

Kenma awkwardly grabs the side of Atsumu's head a little, trying to see if he's alive.

"Why did you help me?" Kenma asks in genuine confusion. "We barely know each other."

Atsumu slowly opens one eye.

He honestly looks half dead.

His hair is a mess, one arm stretched dramatically across the floor like he's in the final moments of a tragic movie scene.

"Why...?" Atsumu mutters weakly.

He lifts a shaky hand slightly toward Kenma.

"Because yer Hinata's friend..."

He gives a half-hearted smile despite looking like his soul is actively leaving his body.

"That means yer my friend..."

Then Atsumu lets his arm drop.

His head tilts sideways dramatically.

Gone.

Absolutely gone.

Kenma stares at him.

"...Hey."

No response.

"Hey..."

Still nothing.

Kenma narrows his eyes slightly.

"You actually dead?"

Right as he says that, the whistle blows loudly.

"OUT!"

Atsumu instantly sits back up like nothing happened.

"Man, that hurt."

Kenma deadpans immediately.

Atsumu casually stands back up and dusts himself off before walking toward the bench area completely fine now, while Kenma slowly rises back to his feet.

Kenma slowly exhales as he stands there again, still trying to mentally recover from Atsumu acting like he sacrificed his life for him.

The gym is loud as ever around him.

Kuroo is still glaring at him like this is personal warfare.

And honestly?

Kenma's tired.

Then suddenly,

Bonk.

A random dodgeball lightly hits Kenma on the shoulder.

Not even hard.

Barely enough force to hurt.

Kenma blinks once.

"...Huh?"

The whistle immediately blows loudly through the gym.

"OUT!"

Kenma slowly turns his head in confusion.

Across the court, Kuroo looks equally shocked for a second before quickly whipping his head beside him.

Tsukishima is standing there.

Atsumu's entire dramatic sacrifice was for absolutely nothing.

"Hey!" Kuroo snaps immediately, sounding genuinely offended. "The plan was for me to hit him!"

Tsukishima looks completely unbothered.

"Yeah," he says with a lazy yawn, "but you were taking too long."

Then he casually walks off to grab another ball like he didn't just ruin whatever weird villain scheme Kuroo had planned.

Kuroo looks personally attacked.

"You can't just steal someone's target!"

"You were monologuing with your eyes."

"I was NOT."

"You literally pointed at him."

"That was intimidation."

Kenma just stares at them blankly from where he's standing.

The fact they're arguing over who gets to eliminate him is somehow making this worse.

"...."

The whistle blows a second time for him to leave the court.

Kenma just stands there for another second, staring blankly in complete confusion before silently walking toward the bench like his brain stopped processing things five minutes ago.

End of episode 3.

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