THE GAME CONTINUED ON WITH BOKUTO CLEARLY not mentally present for the game. A few more points were earned, continuing the give and take between the two teams. Though after an unpredictable setter dump from Akaashi, the score was 23-22 in Fukurodani's favor. All the while, Bokuto was just blankly staring at the ball as his teammates played on.
Sakura shook her head, "How childish is he?" She asked no one in particular about Bokuto. "Throwing a tantrum like a toddler."
Though surprisingly Karasuno had gotten a point back, thanks to another one of Bokuto's blunders. He hadn't dived for the ball which meant that the score was now 23-23. Ukai then called for a timeout. A moment to give the crows a quick rest and to stop the final push that Fukurodani needed for the win. As the managers plus Sakura handed out some water bottles to the boys, the coach turned to the benchwarmers, "Endo," Ukai called out, motioning to the blonde boy.
Waltzing up to his coach, Endo smirked, "baby Ukai."
Disregarding the nickname, Ukai just told him, "you're getting subbed in."
Endo blinked at him, dumbfounded, "huh?" It was literally one of the last points to be played. In Endo's mind, the game was most likely going to be won by the owls. Why the coach would think that it would be a good idea to sub him in at a moment like this was a good idea was beyond Endo.
So he was subbed in for Nishinoya. A bit of a surprising development since Endo hasn't been subbed in like this. Especially as something like a pinch server. Though he wasn't going to give up the opportunity to show off. As Nishinoya bounced off the court and patted Endo on the back, Endo caught the ball and took a few deep breaths. Hopefully, all those extra serving practices with Asahi weren't going to go to waste.
Taking one final deep breath he held the ball in his hand and focused. He wasn't going to embarrass himself after just getting put into the game. So he backed up, threw the ball up in the air and jumped up to spike the ball. Much like with his usual spikes, reminiscent of Oikawa's monster spikes, it was quite powerful. Not as pin-point accurate as the Great King's spikes, but still difficult to stop. Since all Fukurodani could do was attempt to stop the ball, but it just bounced off of #3, Sarukui Yamato, arm.
For a moment, it was like anyone in the gym could hear a pin drop. Karasuno… was in the lead?! 24-23 was the new score, causing most of Karasuno to cheer. Endo smirked on his side of the court, "impressive, right?" That certainly had given his ego a boost, as if he needed anymore.
Fukurodani was quite impressed, since they hadn't seen how he played. A killer serve like that was going to be difficult to deal with. Though why hadn't he been put into the game sooner? If he had been a pinch server earlier in the game, maybe Karasuno could have won the game sooner.
So he was given a chance at another serve, causing Fukurodani to focus hard. After all, they were still technically down a player with Bokuto so they would have to make up for that space. Which is what Endo was focusing on. He was going to attempt to aim the spike right in the corner where Bokuto was standing. So just as before, everyone held their breath as Endo jumped up, hit his serve and watched as it flew over the net. As it was headed right for the uninterested and lost Bokuto, Akaashi jumped back from his spot to save the spike with a smirk. Endo's brow twitched at that. Which meant that now that Fukurodani had control over the ball, they made quick work of getting a point. Unfortunately, Karasuno was not able to stop them from getting it. Making the score 24-24, a deuce.
Only slightly dejected, Endo was subbed back out in favor of Nishinoya. "You did good!" The energetic libero called as he walked past Endo. He also got some pats on the back from the other bench-warmers, which he just smiled at.
Even if he was only on the court for a short while, literally just two rounds, Endo did feel pretty good about it. Endo earned his team a point, it felt.. almost rewarding. Sure he's played games in the past, gotten plenty of points in the first two years on the team. Though this time it felt different. It was only a practice match, nothing too serious, and Endo didn't feel like he really improved too much during this training camp, but it was something. This time felt like it meant more than the past two years. After all, this year felt different, like they were actually going to finals this year. Maybe he was hopeful about this year, ready to see his friends get the dream that they wanted. Or it was something else. Though he was enjoying the praise that he was getting from his teammates as he walked back over to the sideline. That definitely was a plus.
The score came to a head with it being 24-25 in Fukurodani's favor. Though Akaashi had finally decided that it was time for their ace to get his head back into the game. Even though Tsukishima tried his best to read the setter, Akaashi sent a set right for Bokuto, giving them the win.
On the sidelines, all of Bokuto's team cheered him on. He broke out into laughter at the praise as he shouted, "I'm the best after all! Hey! Hey! Hey!"
Yachi blinked at the shouting from Fukurodani, "he is quite a whirlwind."
"That almost seems like an understatement," Sakura deadpanned.
Though that made them all realize just what kind of team Fukurodani is. It's not a one man show with the powerful ace at the helm. Bokuto was strong and loud, and annoying in Sakura's opinion, he wasn't as incharge as his arrogance may indicate. When he ended up depressed, his team was able to pick up the pieces and keep them in the game until their ace could get back into the groove. It worked somehow.
On the court, Asahi exclaimed, "I'm sorry! My last serve ended up being an 'I freaked out, so please attack,' serve!"
Endo chuckled, "we really should work on your nerves!"
"If you can figure that out on your own, you're well off." Ukai said as he walked over to the boys. "In that situation, how much one is going to get blamed will affect our ability to win. No one wants the game to end because of their mistake."
Kageyama then commented to his partner, "He must be talking about you."
Shōyō glared at him, "Shut up."
"But there's no one who tries to hold back a winning serve," Ukai continued.
Asahi nodded, "Right!"
"Now that it's over, that was definitely our loss, but there's one thing that's for sure… Your plays will be effective at a national level of competition."
"Right now, your serves and combinations can't match the other teams'." Takeda stepped up for a little speech, "Because you started so late on them, it can't be helped. But you mustn't stop. You mustn't think that this is the limit of your power. When you mix colors, they become muddled and dirty, right? But once you finish mixing you get the color black, which won't be overtaken by any other. Please make our team's color black, which fits us crows." He finished strongly, before growing sheepish at a few of their questioning looks, "W-Was that metaphor a bit hard to understand?"
Daichi shook his head, "No! Thank you very much!"
"Thank you very much!" The other boys shouted as well.
"All right. This is gonna be our final training camp penalty…" Their captain said as they turned, "One lap of diving drills!"
"Right!"
"At least this time I feel like I deserve to be punished," Endo grunted, "I got to play just a bit." So he joined in the punishment, just like usual, though this time with a sense of acceptance. He was right. This time he did actually participate in the game that they lost, so this time he did deserve to join in on the punishment like the regulars. Though that didn't make them hurt any less.
Sakura watched them all go with her arms crossed. The camp was finally coming to a close now that they finished their last match. As much as she was glad that the camp was over so she could go home, she also felt a bit glum. Only a little bit though. After all, she had planned on this being the last camp or trip that she joined the volleyball club on. She's only the photographer and doesn't need to tag along on these trips all the time. That and the main issue is that Sakura wants to separate from her brother. So it certainly is a bit of a melancholy feeling. However, change was good in this situation. Change could be difficult to deal with, but it was something that could only create something good for Sakura. Still didn't mean that she didn't feel a little bit sad about having to leave Shōyō's side for longer points, but it's an important part of her development.
So the boys started to wind down after the rest of the games finished. Some continued to practice, while others sat down for a bit to catch their breath. The likes of Shōyō, Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Kageyama continued to hit some tosses since they never seem to run out of energy. Even Suga, Asahi and Endo joined in on practicing a bit more. Though even after they lost their last game, all of them were fired up, sans Tsukishima. They really had improved in little ways. Now all they had to do was prove themselves in the next tournament. Though there was one thing they had to do first.
---
There was quite a bit of excitement when everyone got outside. The grills were already hot as juicy meat sizzled on them. The managers were finishing cutting up some vegetables and setting up silverware for everyone as all the boys' mouths were watering while they waited. Sakura had been designated to help Yachi with setting out plates and helping with drinks. She had to keep Yachi from grabbing some of the food before they started.
All the coaches stood in front of the boys. Nekomata gave them all his signature smile as he said, "Thank you all for your hard work, it's been a great training camp. And now you can fill your bellies as much as you want." All the boys were zeroed in on the food waiting to be eaten with mouths drooling. "Let your muscles repair themselves to your heart's content." After that, all the boys started diving into the juicy, juicy meat.
Sakura wasn't exactly a meat person. She certainly could enjoy a good piece of meat, but she wasn't going to be frothing at the mouth for any. Unlike her brother who looked to be ready to pounce on the grills. So after getting a rice ball from Kiyoko, Sakura had sat herself down off to the side. She honestly was fine with just watching those hooligans. Though there was no way that she was going to be left alone. Yua had walked on over, dragging a dejected Kenma with her as she skillfully held a mountain of food on two plates. Sakura just about questioned how she was able to handle holding that and dragging the pudding-head over, though she chalk that up to it being years of experience.
"Sitting alone, Hina?" Yua asked as she let go of Kenma, letting the poor boy sit down and play on his phone finally. "That won't do!" It wasn't like Yua was giving Sakura a choice, the duo were going to sit with her while they ate.
Sakura shook her head, but knew that Yua wasn't going to leave her be. "I was waiting for Yachi."
"Ahh," Yua hummed while munching on a juicy chunk of meat, "Are you going to get some meat, Sakura?"
The orange-haired girl blinked at her, "Are you kidding, I'm not fighting those buffoons for food." She said as she watched the boys start piling their plates full. Some of them were acting as if this was their last meal, fighting to grab as much meat as possible. Sakura grimaces in disgust, "They're like a pack of wild animals." Yua laughed since she was quite right.
"But you need food! Here, take this." Yua shoved one of the plates of food into Sakura's hands. "I was going to eat this all myself, but I can certainly share."
Sakura raised an eyebrow but didn't really complain. Though she did question how Yua thought she was going to eat two platefuls, piled high, of all this food. Though perhaps she could chalk it up to Yua being similar to the guys that way. It wasn't like Sakura was super hungry since she hadn't worked up an appetite like the boys, but she still needed something. Plus it's been a while since she's had something like a barbeque. So while Yua tried to share her other plate with Kenma, bribing him to at least have some corn or something, Sakura started quietly eating. It definitely was a good meal to have after this training camp. She wasn't a player, and technically not a manager, so she didn't really know how fulfilling it really felt to eat like this after the past week. To be fulfilled after making some improvements or evolution while the practice games must feel quite rewarding. She tried to imagine how her brother felt about this meal. He had worked hard the past month to get better so he could overcome the obstacles at the next tournament. She wished she could feel that type of fulfillment.
"Looks like your friend is in a bit of trouble." Kenma commented, barely looking up from his phone, as they all turned to see the poor blonde surrounded by some of the boys. She was shaking like an anxious chihuahua as she stumbled through the grills. Eventually, it looked like Yachi was about to be jumped by a group of delinquents as the boys all surrounded her while she choked on some burnt meat.
"Great." Sakura sighed heavily as she stood up.
As Yachi continued to quiver at the boys who were towering over her, who were just trying to help, Sakura walked over to her. "Come on Yachi." She barely even gave the worried group around them any mind as she just grabbed her friend's arm and started to pull her away. Though Yachi was still in a state of shocked fear to really say anything. All she really did was babble a bit to herself as she was pulled away.
Yua laughed around her mouthful of food as she watched Sakura save her trembling friend. She did feel slightly bad for the blonde girl since she did seem super anxious. Even through the week, Yua noticed how Yachi was a bit unsure of herself when they did work as managers. So as she watched Sakura give her friend a bottle of water to help calm her down, Yua wondered just how Yachi was able to get anything done being that anxious about everything.
Though her wondering was put to the side as an overzealous puppy bounced over towards her. Bokuto greeted Yua excitedly, "Hey, Yua!"
"Boku!" Yua smiled, even more so when she saw Akashi following him, "and cousin!"
While she was distracted by the newcomers, Kenma used this as the opportunity to escape unnoticed by his overbearing friend. Though he just didn't realize that while he tried to find refuge, Kuroo was going to find him and force him to try to get him to eat too. Kenma really couldn't catch a break with his two friends around.
"Camp was super good this time, wasn't it?" Bokuto asked as he plopped down beside her.
Yua smiled, "Yea, all these guys are great as usual." She perked up, "Karasuno also is pretty good. Even if they lost most of their sets this week." Yua lost count with how many penalty laps that they had to do. It made her cringe just thinking about how sore they must be after this week.
Akashi nodded his head and sat down to Yua's left, "Karasuno has evolved a lot. They'll be difficult to play against in a real match."
"Well I can't wait!" Bokuto exclaimed. After all, he'll get to play against his pupil, Shōyō!
"It'll be so sad though," Yua whined, "I'll have to wait to see Hina again, Karasuno's photographer. Not unless I convince her to hang out on a weekend. Maybe using Kenma would be a good tactic, they get along well."
As Yua continued to mutter to herself about how to get Sakura to hang out, Bokuto perked up, "Oh yea, Hinata-chan! I know an old classmate of hers." He then rubbed his chin, "Though she didn't seem all that happy to know that."
"Oh?" Yua's curiosity peaked, "So maybe not a good classmate then."
Bokuto just shrugged his shoulders. "I wanted to ask her more, but Akashi wouldn't let me." He finished with a pout pointed at the other boy.
Said boy nodded his head, "you don't have to go meddling in something that doesn't involve you."
"Come on, aren't you curious!" Bokuto whipped around to Yua, "What is she like? You're friends with her, right?"
Yua's eyes brightened, "Mhm! We're great friends! It took her a bit to warm up to us being friends, but I've whittled her down." So the afternoon continued on with all the teams mingling and finishing up all the food. There certainly wasn't any food left over after a while, which made clean up at least easy. Though eventually, it became time for teams to start packing up and head home.
---
By the time the sky had started to turn orange, Karasuno had finished packing up their things and were headed to the van. The training camp was now officially over. Bellies still full from their barbeque and satisfaction swirling in their minds, the boys lazily marched their way to their bus.
"I hate being the weakest one on the team but…" Shōyō started to say, "the fact that there's so many people up above me is something that drives me to get better!" Though the boys around him just blinked at him in slight confusion. The outburst was sudden, but not super surprising coming from him.
Sakura shook her head at him, "That's an optimistic way to look at it."
Her brother jumped in place, "How else am I supposed to look at it?!"
"Hina!" A shout came barreling towards them. It was Yua who was sprinting over towards the departing team. With a grace in her step, the older girl jumped down the stairs with ease as she came skidding to a stop just before Sakura. She tackled the smaller girl in a hug, to Sakura's dismay, and swung her around, "Oh I'll miss you! We really should hang out! I'll even get Kenma to come with!"
Sakura stared at her and blinked slowly. The eager expression on Yua's face screamed not to say no. With purse lips, Sakura muttered out, "...sure."
It took all of her being for Yua to not burst into tears of joy at Sakura's (reluctant) agreement. She dropped the poor girl on the ground, nearly causing her to fall over if it wasn't for Yamaguchi catching her before she fell. Yua started to do a victory dance, "Yes!"
From up above, Kuroo smirked at the group of crows as they descended their last staircase, "Well, see ya next time."
Daichi nodded, "Yeah, see you next time."
With that, the summer training camp was over.
---
Tomorrow was going to be the day. They'll have their first games for the tournament. Spirits were high, and determination was swirling around just about everyone. Endo wouldn't say that he was exactly determined to play, since he was certain that he wasn't going to be put on the court. Not that he minded, of course. His friends deserved to be on the court more than him, so why would he want to. Even though he loves being the center of attention most days, he's fine with being on the sidelines for these games. Especially since they are so important.
The team was all huddled together in front of their coach and advisor. "If we can win twice at the prelims tomorrow, we'll go to the qualifiers in October to decide the representative team." Takeda explained to the group, "The eight schools that make it through the first prelims will be joined by eight more powerhouse schools, and they'll play the tournament that decides the representative team in October."
"There are only two games in the first prelims?" Shōyō questioned.
Suga turned to him to explain, "We were able to make it into the top sixteen at the Inter-High, so we're exempt from the first games."
Shōyō's eyes twinkled, "Wow! We're awesome!"
"Of course we are!" Endo explained, "and we'll win this tournament, easily!"
That seemed to hype everyone up even more as they started their practice with serves and receives to start off. Endo went with the flow of practice. He wasn't nervous like the others were, though they would deny it, he was more than ready to watch the games that they'll play. Yes, they will win their games tomorrow and make it to the finals. Endo is a cocky guy, full of himself in every aspect, but he can also be arrogant when it comes to his friends. They'll do it, he just knows.
Throughout the practice, he joked around with his friends and only slacked off a little bit. Not as much as usual anyway. He still would get called out by Daichi and Ukai for it. Though he would just cheekily smile at them before continuing with practice.
"I'm not expecting to play these games," he said to Asahi as they took a break from practicing their jump serves. He smiled widely at his best friend, "I'm just going to practice my cheering for you." He started jumping up and down like he was a cheerleader, "let's go Asahi! Asahi! Asahi!" Said boy started to blush at the enthusiastic cheers from him.
Later after practice had officially ended, darkness was starting to take over the sky. Sakura had been done with her own club for a while. Another meeting with the photography club going over the set up for the next gallery that's happening in a few days. Of course, Sakura had finished submitting her collection of photos for the gallery. This time, she took quite a few, since she really couldn't decide on which one was best. Plus, Shimada was more than happy to have a larger variety of photos to make their gallery larger.
Sakura was surprised that they were doing the gallery during the summer break, since she was certain that it would be done on the last day of school before it started. However, Shimada explained that since they have only a few galleries every so often, they do one during the summer too. Ito blamed Shimada for that entirely, since she was convinced that the club didn't used to do it like that. But Shimada somehow got it approved with her overzealous commitment to the gallery. Either way, it wasn't like Sakura had that much of a problem with it. It at least gave her something to do besides all the volleyball stuff during the break.
She made her way towards the gym. A loud sigh left her lips as she walked up to the door. Knowing her brother, he would want to stay longer to practice. Which is exactly what she found when she entered the gym. All of the other boys were changing their shoes or already leaving the gym. However, her brother and the king was still dressed up, ready to keep practicing.
"Imouto!" Shōyō exclaimed when he saw his sister. "Can you make some tosses to Kageyama for us!?"
Sakura just blinked at him, "No." The two boys blanched. "I'm going home, make sure that you don't practice too much, or you'll be tired in the morning."
"I don't think that's possible for simpletons like them," a monotone voice said.
Sakura just glanced over at Tsukishima briefly before turning to leave, "I'll see you at home."
Shōyō jumped out of his stupor, as his sister had already started walking away. "Wait, you can't go alone!"
She shrugged her shoulders, "you wanna keep practicing and I want to sleep, so I'll go home."
He puffed out his cheeks since he really, really wanted to keep practicing. Though making sure that she was alright to head on the trek back home is also important. How exactly was he going to get the best of both? A brilliant idea then hit his head.
"Oh!" He jumped over to a poor unsuspecting Yamaguchi, "Can you make sure that she gets home alright!?"
Said boy jumped at the sudden shout, now finished putting his shoes on. "Uh- huh?"
"You can make sure that she makes it home safe!"
"Uh, well, I don't really live close to you guys." Yamaguchi said apologetically, deflating Shoyo instantly.
Tsukishima scoffed, "We live almost the complete opposite way." Him and Yamaguchi live in the suburbs not too far, just a little bit of a walk. Not like the Hinata twins who's home is in Yukigaoka, over the mountain, certainly much farther than them.
Shōyō pouted, "but she can't go alone!"
Sakura rolled her eyes, a bit fondly and somewhat annoyed. "Shō-nii no one has to walk me anywhere."
"It's dark out! Anything could happen to you on the ride home!" He was right to a certain extent. Anything could happen! She could get into an accident by herself, some delinquents could hassle her, aliens could abduct her for all he knows!
She sighed deeply. Sakura does appreciate how her brother takes the title of "protective big brother" seriously when the time calls for it. She really wouldn't have him any other way. Though she could handle the ride over on her own, that she was confident of. Besides, if something happened, she had her phone to message him or anyone else. Before she could continue to argue with him, Yamaguchi stepped in.
"It's alright, Sakura, I don't mind it."
Sakura shook her head, "Tadashi-"
Yamaguchi just smiled down to her, "I don't mind, really! We can walk you a little bit of the way."
"'We'?" Both Tsukishima and Sakura asked in confusion.
That's how the trio ended up here. The street lights flickered overhead as the town was winding down. The summer heat was starting to simmer off now that the sun had gone, but there was still the feeling of humidity in the air. Walking alongside Yamaguchi and Tsukishima was not exactly what Sakura had wanted her night to end with. Not that Yamaguchi was the issue here. She still doesn't get along with the blonde giant, even though they had that sort of heart to heart during the camp.
After that, they didn't talk all that much to each other besides the occasional snarky remark. Not that they really spoke to each other all that much before. Either way, it was still lessened and turned to stolen glances across the courts when they knew the other wasn't looking. Neither of them were really sure what to think of the other now. There was still an underlying feeling of annoyance between the two but there was also something else. Not necessarily a full understanding but an inkling of a mutual agreement. One that read 'don't mess with each other all that much'. They didn't respect each other enough to be friends, but they were no longer enemies. That was evident from the way that neither of them were glaring at each other from the corner of their eyes.
Yamaguchi was the only one of the trio who was contently walking along. Granted he did feel a bit of tension since he was between Sakura and Tsukki, but he did his best to disregard it. He's known that his two friends were tense with each other ever since their first meeting. It was kind of hard to miss. He knew Tsukishima and figured that it wouldn't really change. Tsukki wasn't really one to make friends, he knows that from experience. However, if there was one thing he did know, it was that Sakura was on Tsukishima's mind more often than he'd like to admit. He's known Tsukishima long enough to at least somewhat understand him without words, and he knows that Sakura is something more than just a simple annoyance to Tsukishima.
To keep the peace for Yamaguchi's sake, neither Tsukishima or Sakura wanted to speak. Just in case they accidentally pissed each other off. Though it was still awkward, with the silence around them as they exited the school gates. Sakura really kept her eyes forward or looking down at her bike every once in a while.
"You know," she started, "you did really well during the camp, Tadashi."
Yamaguchi blinked at being addressed but scratched the back of his neck. "Oh thanks, Sakura."
"You were really cool. Your serve is getting so much better. The teams you play against won't stand a chance against your float serve."
Yamaguchi chuckled bashfully, "oh, I don't know about that."
It almost felt like Tsukishima wanted to roll his eyes. Small talk isn't really his thing, and he did not want to engage in it. Besides, why didn't she want to say anything good about him? That annoyed him just a bit. Well, more than a bit, but he didn't want to admit it. It's not like he cared that Sakura was ignoring his presence during this walk. Though he shook his head and put his headphones on his head to drown out his own thoughts. He wasn't bothered one bit. They might have had an unannounced truce with each other since the training camp, but it's not like he wanted to be anything close to friends with her. Sakura, much like her brother, annoyed him to no end.
The trio turned the corner only a few blocks away from school before Sakura mounted her bike. "You guys can head back, I'll tell Shōyō that you walked me further, just to appease him." She could tell from how quiet Tsukishima was, he didn't want to be here just like she didn't. Being near him was unnerving in a way, giving her goosebumps that she did not appreciate at all. So she certainly wanted to just get home as soon as she could.
Yamaguchi blinked, "Oh, are you sure?"
"Yea," she smirked lightly, "he's definitely expecting you to walk me all the way towards the mountain, but that's too far. I still appreciated you doing this." She smiled at Yamaguchi who smiled back. Before she kicked off, she gave Tsukishima a glance, her brown eyes swirling under the night sky as she watched him. She said nothing else before pedaling away into the night.
Once Sakura disappeared from their sight, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima turned to head back. It was still quiet as the two headed back the way that they came. Crickets were starting to come out as they passed by the school gates once again.
"Sakura is pretty cool, huh?" Tsukishima didn't acknowledge Yamaguchi's words. "You know, she was the one to encourage me to chase you down that one night."
Tsuskishima pursed his lips while glancing at Yamaguchi from the corner of his eyes. That information surprised him just a little. Well, only a little. The two of them have been friends for quite a while, so it's not surprising that she would encourage Yamaguchi. The surprising part was that she encouraged Yamaguchi to talk to him.
"She was even asking about you, about why you're not that into volleyball like the others on the team."
Tsukshima raised an eyebrow, "And what did you tell her?" He really hoped that he didn't say much. After all, he didn't need her knowing all about him.
"Um, well-" Tsukishima sighed out heavily in annoyance causing Yamaguchi to jump a bit. "I didn't tell her much! She was just curious!" Yamaguchi calmed down, "Sakura is a lot like you, you know. She's standoffish and distant most of the time, but she cares. Just like I know you do, deep down."
"Shut up, Yamaguchi," Tsukishima said, irked at that.
There was a faint chuckle, "sorry, Tsukki."
It didn't matter what Sakura knew about him, Tsukshima thought. He didn't want her approval or her worry. She didn't need to know about his past or the betrayal he felt about his brother. What she thought did not concern him.