Teiko's Princess
First Quarter: Taking the First Steps
Summer. The clear blue sky with the sun's rays glaring down onto the city of Tokyo. In the suburbs and parks, lively cicadas let their presence known with their loud clicking as they rested in the shadows of trees and walls.
Leaning forward on the window of a certain house with his arms crossed, a young red haired child around the age of four stared out at his neighborhood with a bored look. There was nothing to do inside his house and his fingers twitched once in a while, wanting to do something. Anything. Just so he could clear out his boredom.
The heat wasn't helping either as sweat continued to accumulate on him. He sighed.
There's nothing to do...I'm so bored here!
The muffled sound of the front door opening and closing followed by 'Tadaima!' caught his attention and his face lit up, immediately running out of his bedroom and down the stairs, calling out. "Okairi!"
Along with his parents, someone else was at the back. He looked about the same age as his father, wearing a blue and white track suit with a duffel bag by his side. Hearing the young boy racing down the stairs, he looked up and smiled. "So this is Seijuro-kun?"
"Yeah." His father answered, turning to his son and beckoning him to come over to greet the stranger. "Come here Seijuro, don't be shy."
The young boy walked up to the stranger, noticing how tall the person was. How could anyone be this tall?! Seijuro looked up with his mouth slightly agape at the giant in front of him. He's even taller than his father!
"Hello, Seijuro-kun." The stranger greeted, crouching down to young Seijuro's level. "I'm Kuroko Koutou. Pleased to meet you." He grinned, patting the young boy on the head.
He had light blue hair and lashes and matching colored eyes. And his hands was probably big enough to engulf Seijuro's head. Ruffling the boy's hair a little bit more, Koutou stood back up and took off his shoes, politely excusing himself as he stepped onto the wooden floor of the house.
"Koutou, you can wait in the living room for the moment, I'll have Rin make some tea for you!" Seijuro's father called out from upstairs.
On cue, Seijuro's mother lead the tall man into the living room with the young redhead following them.
"Seems like Akito's in high spirit today." The tall man remarked as he sat on the couch of the living room. "I haven't seen him like that in a while!"
"He was recently been chosen to lead the company he's working in. Apparently, the current CEO have always had his sights on him, saying that he was the 'perfect' successor." Seijuro's mother smiled as she went out of the living room calling back. "Seijuro, don't give any troubles to Kuroko-san, okay? I'll be back with some tea."
"Hai." Seijuro answered back, sitting on the couch with the tall Kuroko Koutou-san. It was really strange sitting side by side and not talking and both of them could feel it. Soon enough, the young boy asked. "Kuroko-san, why are you so tall?"
Finding the question amusing, the tall man chuckled before answering back. "Well, I guess I was born this way."
"Born this way?" Seijuro echoed, cocking his head to the side curiously.
"Hm. Maybe basketball have something to do with it." Koutou pondered, tapping his chin lightly as he looked up in thought.
"Basketball?" The young boy seemed intrigued. What is this 'Basketball' this man was talking about?
"It's a game with a ball." The man explained, reaching for the duffel bag beside him and grabbing out an orange ball out of the bag. It looked tiny while the man held the ball but when given to young Seijuro, it was huge! "Here."
The boy got off his feet as he carried the ball, feeling the rough bumpy surface of it with his arms and staring at it like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. He looked back up to see the man nodding in response, giving him permission to play around with the ball although he didn't quite know what to do with it.
"Seijuro-kun never seen a basketball?"
The boy shook his head.
"Odd. I thought that your dad would definitely introduce you to it by now." He studied the boy as he randomly rolled the ball around. "Hehe, you'll probably get along with my daughter if you two were around."
The boy looked up curiously and Koutou fished out his cellphone, flipping it open and showing the screen's wallpaper to the boy. In it was a picture of a girl about her age with long light blue hair and eyes just like the tall man smiling cheerfully as she hugged onto a basketball plushie.
"Who's that?" Seijuro asked.
"That's Takara, meaning 'Treasure'. She's almost a year younger than you." Koutou chuckled as he returned the phone to his pocket. I'm sure you two will get along if you meet!"
"I want to play with her!" Seijuro beamed as he held the ball with both hands up above his head.
"Careful now, don't play in the living room." Akashi Rin giggled as her son nodded and jumped back onto the sofa and handing the ball back to Koutou. "Here's the tea."
"Oh, you showing Seijuro basketball?" Seijuro's father asked as he walked in. "I was thinking about introducing him to it." He laughed as he sat on the opposite sofa with the glass low table between the two.
"Well, looks like I beat you to it." Koutou grinned as he picked up one of the cups of tea on the table, taking a light sip from it.
"Well, he can try it out for now. Seijuro, mind going out in the yard to play?" His father took the other cup as well. "You can take Kuroko-san's ball and play outside."
"Nn!" The boy replied happily as he got the ball from the tall man before dashing out into the yard to play around with the ball.
It wasn't long before Seijuro noticed that the ball bounced pretty high on hard ground. It was quite fun to try with all his might to see how high the ball could bounce.
I wonder what if I stop it from bouncing so high? He thought as he once again bounced the ball but this time stopping it with his hand and once again, it hit the floor and immediately bounced back up again but it went out of his hands. Interesting!
For the next few minutes, the young boy continued to try and see how long can he control the ball from leaving his side while bouncing it until the adults came out onto the yard.
"Seijuro-kun learned how to dribble!" The tall man laughed. "He's pretty good!"
"Haha. Maybe we could show Seijuro how to play, neh?" Akashi Akito grinned as he crouched down with both arms held in front of him. "Seijuro! Try throwing the ball this way!"
The young boy grinned as he threw the ball with all his might and barely reached the distance where both Koutou and his father was. Seeing that, the boy felt somewhat disheartened to see that it didn't make it all the way to his father.
Noticing Seijuro's expression, his father walked up and ruffled his son's hair. "Don't worry, it wasn't bad! You did great! Say, you wanna watch as me and Kuroko-san play basketball?
Hearing that, the young boy beamed again and nodded enthusiastically, earning a chuckle from his father.
"Alright then! Let's go!" He picked the boy up and perched him sitting on his shoulder as he held the ball under his free arm. The boy cheered and playfully ordered his dad to move forward as they walked towards a nearby park. The young redhead was so excited that he couldn't sit still on his father's shoulder that time as they continued their walk.
Not long later, they had reached a nearby park and right beside it, Seijuro could make out a tall fence surrounding a small area. Entering the area, the young boy noticed that the shape of the area was rectangular and there were two posts on either far sides of the place with a basket-like net sticking outwards facing each other. Lines were visible on the ground although the boy wondered what they were. The place looked really interesting and the boy just couldn't wait to be set down on the ground!
As soon as he was back on the ground, the boy ran up to one of the posts and curiously examined it before waving back at the two adults. "Otou-san! What is this?"
"That's a Basketball post." His father answered, taking off his jacket to reveal the jersey he was wearing. "It's where we score points."
"You still have that old jersey of yours?" Koutou laughed as he teased Akito. "I can't believe that thing still fits you!"
"Ah, give me a break. It wasn't that old!" Seijuro's father lightly punched the taller man's shoulder before jogging onto the middle court followed by Koutou. "Alright! Let's start! Seijuro, stay near the bench over there and watch your daddy beat this guy." He pointed back to where he and Koutou left their jackets and the young boy nodded before leaving the post to sit on the bench.
"Your son's pretty obedient." Koutou commented as he readied himself as the one on defense.
"Of course! He's disciplined." Akito answered, getting into the same position in front of the taller man, his eyes narrowing with a grin. "One on one, ten points."
"You're on."
Immediately, the air around the court tensed up as the two stared each other down as if their eyes could kill. Their grins never left their face as they continued to stay hunched ready on the court. But soon, the air was broken as Akito moved to the right only to stop halfway and instantly switching direction, running for three steps to the left before being stopped again by the taller man.
"Not a very impressive fake." Koutou commented with a smirk.
"Heh."
Again, the shorter man moved but this time much more fluidly and swiftly, side-dashing to the left before ducking to the right and passing through the taller man while he was still moving due to the momentum when he was moving to the left. Koutou gaped as Akito easily sprinted past him and did a simple lay up, watching as the ball beautifully entering the hoop without touching the rim.
Seijuro on the bench could only stare in awe at what his father just did. He couldn't even catch up with the speed his father had shown when he got past Kuroko-san. It was amazing!
"Looks like you haven't lost your touch." Koutou's remark made Akito grin triumphantly. "...Although you're fourty years old." That ticked him a bit.
"Oi! I'm only thirty two! And you're about the same age as me!"
"Hai hai, let's keep going." The taller man waved dismissively as he went back into position as did Seijuro's father.
"One zero." The smaller man smugly said as he once again started dribbling the ball.
"Come on."
With that, Akito switched the ball from his left to his right but stepped to his left, hoping that the taller man would fall for it but failed to as he backed one step and walked to the right again. Koutou seemed to be taking up a more sturdier defense this time. Better off playing it safe. Akito thought before stopping again. Bending down with a burst of speed, the shorter man sprinted once again towards the left, barely passing Koutou and reaching the three-pointer line and halting instantly, making Koutou nearly running past Akito.
But without pause, the offensive player seemed to have slidbackwards in a flash and jumped, shooting the ball and making a perfect shot into the hoop, earning him another point.
"Two zero." Akito announced proudly before being passed the ball again.
"Not bad." Koutou grinned, impressed that his friend was still as strong as he was. "But..."
As soon as the third round stopped, the ball was slapped out of the smaller man's hand without him realizing and was soon on the defense as Koutou got the ball. "...This is just starting!" He finished what he was saying before charging in, dodging Akito's attempt to steal the ball and making three pointer near the middle of the court.
"Dang. Nice one." The smaller man huffed as he jogged to get the ball back before passing it to Koutou. "Two one."
For the next few rounds, they kept scoring after another until finally the flow was ultimately changed when Koutou faked to the left then right then passing the ball between Akito's leg and sprinting towards the goal, jumping as soon as he was under it and slammed the ball into the hoop.
"I win!" Koutou turned around, picking up the ball and passing it to Akito.
"Yep. Nine ten." Seijuro's father sighed. "Ah man. I haven't played like this in a long time. Was fun."
"Yeah, it was." Koutou chuckled.
"Seijuro, what do you think?" Akito asked, turning to his young son who was eagerly watching the whole game on the bench. "Do you wanna try?"
The young boy's face was lit even more as he got off the bench, nodding. "Nn~ I wanna try!"
"Whoa there." Koutou caught up, giving the young boy a pat on the head. "Unfortunately I have to get going. Sorry."
Seijuro pouted when he heard that. He really wanted to try.
"Don't worry, your Otou-san here will teach ya." The tall man assured, glancing towards the shorter man with a smirk.
"You bet I will."
"Anyway. I'll bring my daughter over as well the next time I visit." Koutou grinned. "Seijuro-kun and Takara will definitely get along."
"Hehe. You'll never know but we'll see." Akito laughed.
Soon, they left the court with Seijuro once again on top of his father's shoulder as they head for home and parting ways with Koutou half the way. Both father and son continued back home as they looked up into the evening sky, admiring the darkening view until the first dim specks of twinkling from stars began to appear on the dark blue sky.
"Neh, Otou-san." Seijuro wondered as he continued to look up at the sky. "What's good about playing basketball?"
"Hm?" Akito looked at his son who was perched on his shoulder, wondering how should he answer the question. "Well, I guess the first and foremost for me is the fun and enjoyment of it."
"Fun and enjoyment?" The young boy cocked his head.
"Yeah." His father grinned. "That's what I think that made me stick to basketball like glue."
Seijuro returned the smile. Basketball seems really fun! He couldn't wait to try it!
A year later, the young redhead had grasped the basics of the game. He had also seen live basketball matches during the nationals season and it only made the boy that much more hyped to practice and play basketball more. The players that were playing in the matches were awe inspiring and Seijuro had since then determined to be just as good in the sport.
Along the way, his father had taught him another game but it was playable indoors on the table, Shogi. When he first introduced the young boy the chess board game, he had told him that this would strengthen his mind and allow the young redhead quick thinking and tactical planning which would be extremely useful in the future...Although the poor boy didn't understand it at first.
He had strictly remembered what his father taught him that day, the strategies and methods that could execute the pieces' potentials. That's what he would learn by playing numerous matches with his father and other people. He would even play by himself, moving the pieces of both teams, countering himself each turn and push his mind to outwit himself.
And right now, he was in the middle of one of those games, patiently observing and tactically thinking. Despite the age of five, the young redhead was extraordinarily smart, having his mind trained for the past year by himself and sometimes with the help of his father when he was not busy. But his game was interrupted when he heard the front door unlock and quickly dashed from the living room to the main corridor to see who it was.
"Otou-san! Okairi!" Seijuro greeted his father, standing near the living room's entrance.
"Ah, Seijuro." Akito greeted his son, closing the umbrella and allowing the excess water to drip from the tip as he took off his shoes. "I have someone that I'd like you to meet."
As his father said that, lightning and thunder boomed as if on cue. When his father looked up then, the solemn and sad look in his eyes and the tone of this voice gave the house's atmosphere an ominous and gloomy feel to it. But what surprised the young boy the most was that he didn't notice the young girl beside his father who was staring at him by Akito's side.
The girl was about the same age as him with long light blue hair. Her eyes had a dead look to them as if she had given up any hopes of living as she stared at Seijuro. Her expression was just as gloomy as his father's and it only adds to the confusion the young boy has. A few seconds past before the young boy couldn't take it and asked.
"Who is this?"
"She's Kuroko Takara, Seijuro." The name rang a bell as he recalled who had said that name before.
"That's Takara, meaning 'Treasure'."
"She's Kuroko Koutou's daughter... She will be living with us from now on." His father informed him, giving the little girl a gentle push towards Seijuro which she stumbled a bit before Seijuro came and caught her before she fell. Now with a closer view, he had a closer look into the blue haired girl's eyes. They sent a cold chill down his spine as they slowly looked up at him. He didn't like the void look they gave off...
Trying to lighten the atmosphere, the redhead smiled. "I'm Akashi Seijuro. Pleased to meet you."
She didn't answer. But the young boy shrugged it off, something told him that now was not the time to fuss over something like this. Gently tugging onto her hand, he lead her to the living room. "Come on, you should sit and rest a bit."
It was rather awkward, having the two kids just sitting in the living room. Facing each other on opposite couches with nothing to say or do. Seijuro was the most ticked about it. He had no idea what was going on and every minute he spent with the blue haired girl had just continued to increase the confusion within the young redhead's mind.
Why is she here? What happened to Koutou-san? How long is she living here? His mind kept these questions in a loop and it irritates him to no end. He didn't like the look she has, he didn't like the atmosphere at this very moment. He had to change it somehow.
"Sei! Come help me take the tea to the living room please!" His mother called out from the kitchen down the hall.
"Hai!" The young boy called back, getting off the couch and glanced at the silent girl. "I'll be back with tea." It was strange. He didn't need to inform her but for some reason, he just did. The blue haired girl looked up and despite the blank and empty expression, the young redhead could see the faint pleading look in her eyes as if begging him to stay.
But reluctantly, the boy left her there but stopped just at the doorway and assured her firmly. "I'll be back. Promise, neh?" and left to grab the tea.
Entering the kitchen. her mother had already started preparation of a meal although it was still too early for supper. Curious, the boy walked up beside his mother and looked at what her mother was cooking before asking. "What's this for, Okasan?"
"It's for Takara-chan." Her mother answered, smiling a small smile. "Maybe it could cheer her up...I hope."
"Cheer her up?"
"It's nothing, Sei-chan!" Her mother would only add the -chan prefix whenever she wants to switch topics and distract her son. Even though Seijuro knew that, he couldn't help but retort to that. "Now hurry and bring the tea to her, neh?"
"Mou...Don't add -chan to my name, Okasan!" He complained before walking over to the tray where two cups of tea were and carried it back to the living where he noticed that the girl was now huddled up at a corner of the sofa with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapping around them. Head dug into the folded arms but her sobbing could still be muffled through.
She's...Crying...
"Papa..." Her muffled soft voice could be heard between her sobs as the young boy got closer. Setting down the tray, Seijuro was at a loss on what to do next as he awkwardly stood there, just watching and hearing her crying. What could he do? He fiddled a bit, wondering with all his might just what exactly could he do that could cheer the girl up.
Think, Seijuro! Think!
A ridiculous idea popped into his mind as he attempted to think of a way to get her to stop crying and immediately, he gibbered out 'I'll be back!' and dashed out of the living room and scrambled up the stairs, reaching his room within ten seconds flat and began to rapidly clean up the room of his shogi pieces and the board before heading back down with it.
Setting it down on the small table between them with a small thump, catching the girl's attention, the young boy just grinned at her. Clearly, the girl didn't know what exactly was that laid in front of her as she stared at the shogi board with her teary bloodshot eyes in mild curiosity. That's great! It seemed that his idea is working...Somewhat.
"Wanna know what it is?" He eagerly inquired her, which she nodded slowly. "This is Shogi!"
Instead of vocally responding, she tilted her head questioningly.
"It's a board game! Wanna try it?"
She didn't say anything at first, switching her eyes from the board to Seijuro for a a few times before nodding. "Mm..."
Her voice was still shaky but at least it seems her mind is now currently away from whatever sad things she was thinking of earlier. This might work! "Here, let me teach you!"
At least for now, she seemed to be opening up a bit...The young boy tried to keep her focused on this game so that the mood would gradually change overtime. Within minutes, the girl seemed to have gotten the grasp of the game which surprised the young redhead as she seemed to be a fast learner like him except she might be even faster than him.
It wasn't long before his mother came in with a nice meal comprised of a small children-sized bowl of miso soup and a small plate of rice with some little vegetables and a bit of meat chopped into little cubes at the side of the rice. "Uwah, Takara-chan! You know how to play shogi too?!"
The girl merely shook her head and looked up at Seijuro who answered for her. "No, I taught her just now."
"Oh? That's something!" His mother clapped her hands together. "I never thought you'd teach someone!"
"T-That's not true!" The young redhead flustered, taking a glance over to the girl and just for a second, he thought he saw a soft smile on her lips but it was there only for a mere fraction of a section. But somewhere in his mind, he knew it was not his imagination. He felt like he accomplished something from that and despite being flushed red, he had a triumphant grin. "W-Well, let's keep playing! The game's not over!"
The girl nodded and the mother just watched as the two continued to play shogi, their eyes focused intently on the board in front of them before taking her leave to return back to the kitchen. It seemed that her son had taken a liking for the light-blue haired girl who was now an addition to the family. A soft smile of relief appeared on her face and it stayed there for the entirety of the day until night.
*RING! RING*
The redhead tapped the top of the alarm clock and grumbled as he got up from his bed. Looking over at the calendar, he read the date; April 14. The start of his first year in Middle School. Glancing over to the clock that had just woke him up, it showed that it was still six in the morning but he knew that once he was up, he would never be able to get back to sleep again and reluctantly left the soft comforts of his bed.
His room was spacious, its size comparable to a one-room apartment except it was a full bedroom and not an apartment. With much of its space being empty, the room's furniture on consisted of a dresser, a room closet, a bed with a night stand and lastly a set of couches which were set on the corner nearest to the door with a small glass coffee table for guests if they were visiting. Although there had never been anyone that was on good terms to visit his home.
A knock came from the other side of the door as he was heading towards it, getting his attention and letting out a grunt in response.
"Seijuro-sama," The voice of a polite middle-aged man greeted from the other side of the door. "Good morning."
"Good morning Okanatsu. You may come in." The boy returned the greeting along with giving the person on the other side permission to enter.
"Yes sir." The door opened, revealing a man with graying hair and a well trimmed mustache, his attire consist of a black suit with a white collar and fancy looking trimmings completed with a black bow tie and dress shoes. Bowing politely, he entered the room and waited.
"So what brings you to come get me, Okanatsu?" Seijuro asked as he walked past him, heading his way down the large hallway with the butler following behind him.
"Takara-sama wanted to inform you that she would be leaving first."
"I see." The boy merely muttered but inside he was restraining himself from busting out of their house to find her. She had tried countless times to convince him that she would be alright being alone outside but it was only recently when he started to give in and try to not be so protective of her. Throughout the eight years they had spent together, Seijuro had always treated her like his very own little sister despite the fact that they were not related. But ever since they had adopted her at the age of four, even the whole Akashi family started treating her like their very own daughter. At first it was merely because of sympathy and empathy but it was soon developed into genuine familial love.
Although still keeping her original surname, she was still treated as an official Akashi family member and thus would also inherit the family fortune along with Seijuro. It was only three years ago when the Akashi family had taken over a rather well known and big company in Japan and once his father was the new CEO, the company blossomed even further, eventually having branches not only across America and parts of northern Europe but nearly everywhere in the world.
And because of the rising power within the Akashi family, they had both Takara and Seijuro transferring to more private schools which started the distance between the children and their parents. Akashi Akito, their father, had chosen that Seijuro would succeed him which unintentionally forced a heavy weight on the young boy. Although Seijuro had no problems with succeeding his father, the time spent between him and Takara were beginning to lessen as time went on.
"Get the car ready." The redhead commanded calmly as he entered the bathroom.
"Yes sir." With that, the butler was sent off to prepare the car, leaving the boy alone.
After a quick shower, the young boy swiftly got dressed in his new school uniform and made his way downstairs, passing the main hall and entering the dining room to quickly finish his breakfast before heading out towards the main entrance where the car was ready for him. Okanatsu already had the door open as he stepped aside to allow his young master into the car before closing the door and making his way towards the drivers' seat.
"Find Takara" was all Seijuro said and the butler was quick to obey, nodding politely as he started to drive out of the Akashi household's courtyard.
Their 'house' or in better words, mansion was located out near the outskirts of Tokyo. It wasn't long before they reached the first streets of the suburbs, passing by small vacant streets and middle-tier houses. From time to time, passers by would look curiously as the rather fancy looking car would drive by, wondering why would such a car appear in a place like this.
Little did those residents know, the passenger of the car used to live around this neighborhood. The redhead stared out of the tinted windows at the many familiar houses and roads, a feeling of nostalgia rose up within him as he looked on the slow-changing suburbs that he used to call home. Soon enough, they wounded up driving by a familiar park with familiar street courts.
Right now, to anybody the courts would look empty. But in fact, there was someone playing. Narrowing his eyes, he could see her flowing waist-length light blue hair gently swaying as she dribbled a basketball, as if going against three opponents, the girl faked and feinted with swift movements. Her elegant moves made it looked as if she was dancing on the court before she finally reached the post and did a perfect lay up.
Stopping the car, Seijuro opened its car door and walked silently towards the basketball court, making sure that he didn't distract her attention as she continued to practice alone. But apparently, he was already spotted long before he reached the court as the girl stopped in her tracks and turned to meet his red eyes with her soft blue ones.
"Sei." She greeted softly.
"Restless?" He asked, walking up to her and patting her head. "It's the first day in middle school after all."
She nodded, bringing the basketball closer to her, hugging it nervously. He could tell what she was thinking just by those gestures. She was worried. Although in most cases nobody would notice her and even if they did, they would leave her be. Some of those people that notices her were from the same group of kids that bullied her during their days in the private elementary school. He had checked the list of freshmen and seniors, spotting many that used to take out their frustrations on her and had made extra preparations to ensure they wouldn't bother her again.
"Don't worry." He assured her. "They will not going to even utter a word to you."
She slowly nodded, affirming that she was ready to go to school though she was still nervously hugging the basketball in her arms. It was actually rare to see her out alone playing basketball. Especially when she was bringing out her personal one which was the same color as her hair. It was the last present she got from her real father before the accident and throughout the years, she had only played with it on special occasions. This, however, was an oddity but he didn't inquire about it.
Noticing his curious look, the girl murmured an explanation. "I was hoping Papa could give me strength through this..."
He nodded and walked back to the car with Takara following him closely, allowing her to enter the car first before he himself entered it and soon they were drove off to their new school. But instead of filling the air with excitement, the two could only be anxious. Wondering if their middle school days would be a repeat of the hell they had to go through in the last three years.
"Neh, Sei..." Takara spoke up, catching the redhead's attention. But immediately noticing the look in his eyes, she faltered and instead asked a rather optimistic question from the one she had in mind. "Do you think we could make any friends this year?"
Despite knowing that she evaded asking a question that would further drag down the mood inside the car, he answered with equal optimism. "Hopefully." Albiet a bit vague.
The rest of the trip to school was silent. Both of them looking out their respective window, looking past the scenery lazily. There wasn't much to be seen aside from walled suburb houses and other streets. The dull greyness of everything only made the day that much more gloomy for the both of them. But soon their eyes widened as they witnessed the sudden change of color.
Passing by the last block of suburban housing, their views were immediately drawn to the many pink cherry blossom trees that lined the streets. Shedding their petals and allowing the wind to gently carry them as they fell from the trees. The sight was breathtaking for the both of them, it had been so long since the last time they had seen something like this.
"Kirie..." Takara murmured in awe, causing the lips on Seijuro to twitch upwards.
The girl kept her face glued to the window as she watched how the dull greyness of the world suddenly filled with pinks of the cherry blossoms, the blues of the clear sky, the green of the plants and so many other colors. It was then that she felt her spirit lift a bit more and that this year may not be as bad as she dread it would be. Perhaps it could be better.
Soon, they stopped in front of the main entrance into the school. Marked with gold on an onyx plating beside the gate in elegant words of both English and Kanji was the school name; Teiko Private Middle School. This was their new school. This was where they would start anew and begin their teenage lives. This was also where they would be allowed to do what they liked to do most; Playing Basketball.
Without a second's hesitation, as soon as the butler Okanatsu opened the door, both of them rushed out and made their way towards the entrance. Many of the students around them looked their way with curiosity. It wasn't common for students to be driven to school and to have a chauffeur. But also among those students were those that glared in jealousy at the two that left the vehicle.
Noticing them, Takara moved closer to Seijuro, tugging lightly onto her 'brother' by the sleeve of his uniform.
"It'll be alright." He assured her as they entered the school, passing the main gates.
"Mm." She nodded and relaxed her grip on his sleeve. After being reassured, she focused her attention back to the scenery which she had back in the car. Her eyes watched the gently falling cherry blossoms all around, reaching out with a palm as one of them landed on her hand. A small miniscule smile formed on her lips and it soothed Seijuro to see her like this.
She blew the pink petal off her hands lightly, allowing it to rejoin the rest of the falling blossoms as they reached the bulletin board outside the School Hall. It was a separate building apart from the main school building which had the classrooms and teachers' offices and the sports facilities just behind it. Looking at the board, they both tried to pinpoint where their names were with rapt attention, hoping to be in the same class.
Luckily, they were as they spotted both of their names under the same class. They were in Class A, the best class of their form. It was expected from the both of them, since they were raised to be extremely intellectual. Soon, they noticed that they were towered by someone behind them, the first thing on their minds was the size of the shadow that was both on the ground and covering them. They turned to see a giant with violet hair munching on a bag of chips as his eyes lazily scanned the bulletin board, probably trying to find his name under one of the classes.
It was surprising to see someone so tall standing among the freshmen that gathered around. Many would believe the giant to be a student of a more senior form but he in fact was a freshman just like Takara and Seijuro. The giant snack eater seemed to have found his name among the many that were listed on the board as he turned and left, repeating the class "1-C" like a mantra.
"That's an interesting individual." Seijuro commented, smirking as he looked back at the board. "So he's from 1-C, eh?"
"Do you think he's interested in basket ball?" Takara asked. She too thought that the tall giant was interesting. With such a height at such a young age, it would be a waste if he didn't join or even played basketball.
"Probably. Although he did look like the type that slacks off." The redhead scoffed. "I hate people like that..."
Takara's eyes narrowed as she continued to study the retreating back of the violet giant. Noticing that despite how he acted earlier, the boy seemed fit. Putting her just a bit more effort into her focused observant eyes, she mentally jot down every specific physical attributes that she could see about the tall giant. Aside from his height, his limbs were also long. She estimated an arm spanned at six feet from the tip of the middle finger to the other.
Unfortunately, she couldn't figure out the numbers on the boy's strength, endurance, stamina and agility. Letting out a small frown of disappointment, she turned her attention towards the clock tower which situated on top of the main school building, it was only a mere second before the clock struck half past eight, signalling the start of the first school day with the chiming of its bells.
Everyone filed their way into the School Hall, many chatting with the new acquaintances they had made this morning or meeting up with friends from their previous schools. It was time for the opening ceremony and the welcoming of the freshmen. The two of them decided to wait until the majority of them were inside before they head over to it as well, not liking how crowded the place was at the moment.
"Neh, Sei..."
"Hm?" The redhead inquired as she continued to stare at the crowd entering the School Hall.
"...Nothing." The girl averted her eyes from the group and looked else where. But just in that miniscule moment, he saw the lonely expression in those blue orbs of hers.
He sighed. Although knowing that the girl had some troubles kept to herself, he wouldn't press about it at the moment. He finally walked towards the Hall entrance followed closely by the blue haired girl, entering its doors and searched the wide Hall for seats for the both of them. Being the last ones to enter, there was a really low chance of actually finding two seats which are together but apparent luck was on their side as Seijuro found two seats together right next to a tanned boy and a pinkette.
"Over there." He pointed towards the seats. "There's two seats."
"Mm." She nodded, following him as they went to sit down among the sea of freshmen.
As they approached the two seats, they glanced at the tanned boy. Dark navy blue hair with eyes just the same color, the freshman seemed pretty tall as well. Sitting on his lap was a basketball which Takara raised an eyebrow at. Was that even allowed into the Hall during the assembly? She shrugged it off before she noticed that one of the unoccupied seats was actually being occupied. Only it was a bag and not a person. Seeing that the tanned boy was beside the seat, she guessed it was his bag.
"Excuse me." she tried to make her presence known as the tanned boy continued to argue with the pink haired girl beside him. "Excuse me." She repeated a little louder, causing both of them to jump in surprise with the tanned boy having the most hilarious reaction out of the two. But still, Takara kept her expression blank.
"May I sit there?" She asked, pointing to the seat where his bag was occupied.
"Oh, sorry." The dark blue haired boy apologized, setting the bag down under his own chair to allow her to sit down.
"Thank you." She nodded her thanks.
Seijuro on the other hand was glaring at the boy as he sat on the other side of Takara. But it wouldn't be a good idea to start something on the first day of school thus he relented and averted his glare to the front as the school's chairman stepped onto the stage to begin his speech at the podium. Everyone in the crowd turned silent as the chairman cleared his throat.
"Good morning, our new batch of students that made it into this prestigious school this year..." He greeted them, his eyes scanning the entire Hall with analyzing eyes with a cold look.
"His eyes...I don't like them." Takara whispered her discomfort when the chairman's eyes brush past her. Strangely, it wasn't only Seijuro who heard him as the tanned boy next to her turned to look at her.
"Huh? He's not that scary right?"
Both of them turned to look at the tanned boy. He noticed Takara's whisper...
"What's your name?" Seijuro suddenly asked as he narrowed his eyes at him.
"Aomine." He glanced towards Seijuro and shivered, repeating his name fully. "A-aomine Daiki."
"Winning is the most important goal of Teiko! Whether it's in Academics or Sports, if you hesitate about being the victor then you'll never succeed." The chairman's speech brought their attention back to him. "Ever Victorious! That's this school's motto and it will also be yours for as long as you're still here. You will always climb on top and crush your opponent."
The blue haired girl's hands clenched into fists on her lap as she listened. It was as if the chairman viewed everything else as nothing as he continued his speech. It was uncomfortable listening to him and she squirmed in her seat as she tried to shake off the uneasy feeling. Noticing her discomfort, the red head placed his hand on top of her clenched fist, immediately soothing her as her fists began to loosen.
Mouthing a 'thank you' to Seijuro, she once again listened as the chairman continued his speech. "If you follow Teiko's way, you will succeed and will be the fittest to survive this age and world. I hope you'll do your best in this school and show flawless results." He ended his speech and stepped down while the audience applauded, most were just following the flow while the more louder clapping were from the teachers.
It was about time for the freshmen's speech. The speech by the new students was supposed to be given out by the top of the form. As that student started the speech, the crowd was once again silent. The speech by the freshmen was not something special. All it had in its content was a thanks to the chairman and the school staff for being accepted into the school and then junk about how they would do their best to meet their expectations.
Without knowing, Takara drifted off to sleep during the speech. The red head just smiled at her sleeping face as the ceremony continued on. Even though he would usual wake her up to make sure she gets any information about the school, he allowed her to keep sleeping. I'll just give her the information afterwards. I could tell she haven't slept last night, he thought as he noticed the slightest of fatigue shown on her face.
"Say." The tanned boy on the other side of Takara whispered, catching the red head's attention. "What's your name? Since I've already introduced myself."
He stayed silent for a moment before finally answering. "Akashi Seijuro."
"Alright, hope we get along." He grinned at the red head but he merely nodded.
It wasn't long until the assembly was over and the crowd was soon washed over by a wave of growing chatter. While most people started to leave and go to their respective classrooms, Seijuro remained seated beside a sleeping Takara, deciding to wait until most of the people left. Just when Aomine was about to leave, he noticed that the two that he had just met were still sitting down.
"You guys aren't gonna leave?" He asked, pointing towards the exit.
"We'll wait a bit longer." Seijuro curtly answered, not bothering to look at the tanned boy who just shrugged as he was being pulled by the pink haired girl who was beside him. Soon they disappeared among the crowds of students leaving the Hall.
It wasn't long until most of the students left, meaning that they could leave now without worrying. He gently shook Takara by the shoulder, waking her up.
"Mm..?" she mumbled as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, yawning before facing the red head.
"The ceremony's over." He said, smiling when he saw the cute pout on her face.
"Why didn't you keep me awake?" She complained as she stretched.
"You didn't sleep last night, did you?" He asked, getting up from his seat.
"...I didn't manage to."
"Then that's why." He reached a hand for her which she gratefully took as they got up and left the Hall, walking silently towards their assigned class. The walk to it was peaceful and quiet to their liking. They never really liked being in big crowds. Most of the noisy chatter could still be heard in the distance near the main school building or inside of it. "It seems like this place is a bit livelier than our previous school."
"Mm." She simply answered.
Even though he knew the girl never talked much, Seijuro couldn't help but wonder why did it sound like she's more reluctant to speak than usual. He was about to ask when they accidentally bumped into someone, receiving a grunt from the person.
"Sorry." The person apologized warmly.
"No, it's fine. We weren't looking..." Seijuro trailed off when he noticed the man's eyes. He seemed to be a sports coach judging by the attire he wore. A black and white sports jacket and matching track pants accompanied by basket ball shoes. The outfit was completed with the whistle around his neck. But those eyes...It had a slight glint of warmth but at the same time seemed cold and calculating.
"Anyway, you should hurry to class." The coach warned, gesturing to the main school building with his head. "You wouldn't wanna be late on the first day."
The two freshmen nodded and hurried their way to class.
"He's the basketball coach." Takara mused as they rushed into the building. "He had an interesting look."
"Yeah..." He agreed, remembering the coach's look but shaking it out of his head as they turned towards the corridor filled with classrooms. "Come on, we're late."
Author's Note: First KnB Fanfic. Reviews would be appreciated.