!!!! TW: MENTION OF DEAD, ILLNESS, HEART PROBLEM, BAD ENDING, TRANSLATION MISTAKES
Ribbit had a heart condition, but she kept it to herself. Before her condition worsened, she had a pretty big fight with Jax, which might have indirectly affected her health. She ended up in the hospital, again without telling anyone. Only later did she call Jax through a nurse, asking him to come to the hospital because she needed to tell him something very important.
During the conversation, she confessed about her heart condition and why she had kept it a secret—she was afraid that if the higher-ups found out, they would ban her from playing because of her weak heart, since she wasn’t allowed to participate in active sports. She gave her all to volleyball and training, regardless of her health. Not only that, but she was the team captain, and the new players were supposed to look up to her. Including Jax himself. She simply said that Jax was a good friend, a great player, and a reliable person. So, due to unforeseen circumstances, she’s handing over the captaincy to Jax and apologizes for being so rude back then.
For another month, Jax visited his sick friend in the hospital. However, when the tournament rolled around, he had to devote all his time to preparing for it. On his only day off, he went back to the hospital to see Ribbit.
He bought her favorite flowers, since the previous ones had already wilted. Jax was in a good mood, thinking that this day would be just like any other—they would talk, and then training would begin, where he would have to pretend again that he didn’t know where Ribbit was or what had happened to her.
But the doctors gave him terrible news: she had suffered cardiac arrest. At first, she fell into a coma, from which they tried to revive her for five days. However, her heart couldn’t hold out, and the worst happened. Jax was stunned by the news. He couldn’t believe it had actually happened. His first thoughts were that this was just a cruel joke or a dream, and that he was about to wake up. When his thoughts began to clear, he silently nodded to the doctor, took a step back, and ran out of the hospital.
The next day, he showed up for practice in a state of complete devastation. The game against the practice team Caine had put together didn’t go well. Because of Jax’s condition, they lost several times, and another scandal erupted. Kaufmo and Ragatha were the first to notice something was wrong, while Zooble was busy with Gangle, who was just learning to play volleyball and needed the rules explained to her.
Kaufmo began accusing Jax of being appointed leader by Ribbit, even though he couldn’t even keep his wits about him on the field. Ragatha tried to calm him down, replacing his harsh words with gentler ones. Unable to withstand the attacks, Jax announced that Ribbit had died of cardiac arrest. Everyone was in shock.
Kaufmo was furious. He realized that Jax had known all along about their former leader’s condition but hadn’t told anyone. A fight broke out, and Ragatha tried to calm them down, but it didn’t work—she just ended up getting hit. Kinger, as the coach, returned late, but the fight was already in full swing and showed no signs of stopping. Kaufmo blamed Jax, saying that if he hadn’t started that scandal, their best friend would still be alive.
[As it turned out later, those altercations weren’t really to blame for what happened. It was the training sessions that had driven Ribbit to that state.] This left a deep mark on the new leader’s soul. That’s why he began to blame himself for what had happened. And to this day. Kinger calmed both of them down, and then, as punishment, made them run 42 laps around the huge hall and stay on duty until closing time.
Although everything worked out, the atmosphere in the team grew tense. Kaufmo began to distance himself from his best friend. Their communication dried up, and soon Kaufmo announced his departure, as he didn’t want to be on the same team as the “killer.”
About a year and a half later, Pomni arrived from Russia. To brighten up her life in some way, she decided to sign up for volleyball, since she had often played it in school when she was younger. Why not give it another try and relive your childhood? But that’s a whole different story.
PS: In order not to burn out from continuous drawing, sometimes I will write such info posts about the characters! Thanks for reading! Sorry for the mistakes