The room had gone very quiet.
Diego crossed the floor and sat down on the bench beside him. He did not say anything at first. He picked up one of Hiro's discarded socks from the floor and turned it over in his hands as though it fascinated him.
"Tell me what you are afraid of," he said at last.
"That I'll make it worse." Hiro's voice dropped. "I don't know how to talk about it. I was standing there, and I felt..." He searched for the word. "Helpless. For a moment, everything just came at me, and I couldn't do anything."
"I know."
"And I'm not the captain. I'm not the oldest. I don't know why it should be me."
"Because you are the man of the match," Diego said simply. "And because you are shaking."
He looked up.
