Your Voice(please, I want to hear it again.) || TOMMYINNIT

15:

The air around them had been humid that day as waves of hot wind breezed through the sky. Though, strangely enough, Nana had been wearing a short-sleeved, black hoodie that day, receiving a few lingering stares from people every-once-&-a-while.

A brown drawstring bag had wrapped around her shoulders, the straps coloured in a vivid black colour.

Tommy had stuck around Nana, staying as close to her as he could while they walked through a gym as if Tommy was a moth attracted to dying light. His head had turned in every direction it could as continuous thoughts ran around in his mind.

- Nana, are you sure we can be here? We don't even have a membership or pass.

Tommy lightly grabbed onto Nana's hoodie, feeling as if he was starting to lose pace with her while asking the same question for what Nana counted had been the fifth time in the 4 minutes they were there.

- It's alright, Tommy. The workers here are friendly. They're okay with this as long as we don't stick around for too long, plus, we can always just run away too. What are those old managers going to do? Catch us? Anyway, we're here.

The hallway came to an abrupt stop as Tommy entered a volleyball court, the extremely high ceilings making him take a step back. Nevertheless, his shock had disintegrated as quickly as it came & continued following Nana, who hadn't stopped walking for not even a second.

The sound of sneakers grazing against the gym floor had been so sentimental, an epiphany flowing through the floor, making Nana finally stand still as if her stance could turn back time. As if it could rewind back to the day she had her first ever tournament. That tournament was her official debut in the sport.

- So, when can we start playing?! - Tommy asked as his voice echoed throughout the large room, audible excitement ringing in his tone. - I want to know how to hit the ball already!

- Hold on! I haven't even got the ball out of the fuckin' bag yet.

They moved to the side of the court, standing near the net while Nana placed her bag away & water bottle on a bench, watching Tommy eagerly stretch himself.

- Okay, I'm done with stretching. Now show me how to hit it.

- We'll get to that part later. For now, you need to learn the basics of volleyball, that being receives. Do you know how to do that?

- It's the—, - Tomyy quickly muttered before putting his hands out together, holding his fists close to each other with his arms extended, - this thing, right?

- Yeah! Let's practice receiving first, and then we can try sets.

...

- Wait, how high do I have to jump?

- Just enough for your head or arm to get over the net, I'd say.

- You're kidding, right?

Tommy stared at the volleyball in his hands, baffled by the entire reason why he came along with Nana to the gym today. There's no way he can jump that high.

Barely any seconds later, he could feel his back being gently hit, Nana's hand patting it as if using it as a way to comfort him.

- Well, you have to remember that you are pretty tall. Your height is a big advantage when it comes to jumping, so don't so upset now! If anything, a bit of practice will definitely change things.

Tommy could remember how her: "pats on the back" used to feel like a crushing weight that bashed against him. The air inside his lungs vanished into carbon dioxide in mere milliseconds. Now, he could only think of two reasons why her power had disappeared.