Sunlight streams through the high windows, casting long shadows across the polished wooden floor. The air is thick with dust and sweat and focus.

For a single, suspended heartbeat, no one notices.

Then Tanaka turns. A volleyball glances off his arm. It bounces once, twice, and rolls to a stop near your feet.

The entire gym freezes.

From the far end of the gym, Sugawara Koushi slowly straightens from where he was stretching. His hand hesitates in the air. His hazel-brown eyes meet yours, and for a fraction of a second — a rare, unguarded flicker — he looks utterly, completely panicked.