The Copy Game
"Aominecchi! Kurokocchi! Let's play!"
The door seemed to burst as Kise Ryota dashed into the basketball team's clubroom. It was club time that afternoon and the first string players were given the break from practice, so he wanted to invite Aomine and Kuroko to play the Copy Game.
Much to his disappointment, and more to his horror, he found no one in the room aside from Teiko basketball club's captain and point guard Akashi Seijuro, sitting on a chair in one corner of the room, with an open hardbound book in his hands.
"G-gomen…" Kise decied to escape before he gets punished.
Akashi looked upon the blonde and closed the book he's been reading.
"Where are you going, Kise?" he asked tersely.
As if stunned by some dark magic, Kise suddenly froze in the doorway. He slowly looked behind his shoulder, and got spooked at the sight of the captain, whose stare seem to stab a million daggers at anyone within sight. It was actually a common thing to be afraid of this five-foot-eight of a prodigy. Akashi has this rather supernatural authority over all the members of Teiko's basketball team, including the other prodigies of the renowned Generation of Miracles. Kise, on the other hand, happens to be the most bullied member of the group. Hence he wouldn't want to be anywhere near the most powerful being in the club.
"Uh…" Kise tried to come up with an alibi, or anything, just so that he can leave the place immediately. He ended up speechless.
Akashi looked at him blankly, which was scary. The last thing Kise wanted was to encounter someone whose mind you cannot predict.
"Stay." The redheaded captain suddenly suggested – although it sounded more like a command.
"You can wait for the others here."
Kise doubt that he has any other choice but to say yes.
Kise grabbed the nearest chair and sat on the farthest corner from the captain. He had no choice but to wait, and so he spent time glancing around and observe his surroundings. Soon he began watching Akashi as the captain immersed himself in reading.
He is surprisingly nonchalant in a good way, thought Kise, and he found him less threatening that afternoon.
The blonde kept on staring from the corner of the club room, noticing Akashi's ardent focus, as well as his facial expressions as he got more engrossed in the book he was reading. He even had a hint of smile on his face as he read something he found funny. Kise wondered what kind of book he was reading. He peered on the cover, and saw that the redhead's reading an English copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. It was a surprising fact to know, at least for Kise. He had never thought that the captain would be fond of fantasy books.
"Is there something wrong?" Akashi suddenly spoke. Kise almost jumped in his seat; he didn't expect the captain to talk to him while he's busy.
"N-nothing!" Kise blurted out nervously.
Akashi paused from his reading and studied the blond guy's expression. It made Kise more anxious.
"Tell me." Akashi said, but this time he sounded affable.
"What's this game you want to play?"
"Eh?" Kise was caught off guard by the question.
"Ah, well – it's nothing important – "
Akashi's eyebrows arched.
"Tell me." He sounded like a dictator this time.
Kise stared at the captain apprehensively. He wished he could sink into the size of an ant so that he could get out of the room.
"It's called Copy Game." He stammered in fear.
"Copy game?" Akashi seemed strangely curious.
"Y-yes…"Kise gulped, hoping to his fear in his stomach.
"So how do you play it?"
He acts as if he didn't get the idea of the game, Kise thought, and began to wonder if the captain is about to play a nasty trick on him.
"It's a simple child's game, really." He told Akashi anyway.
"One of the players make a gesture or expression that the other players should copy." He gave a charming grin afterward.
"You know, not even Aominecchi or Kurokocchi could beat me in this game. But it's not a surprise, isn't it? No one can beat me at copying."
At this, Akashi's eyes flashed at the blonde.
"No one?" He murmured.
Kise would soon regret blabbering about his track record at Copying Game.
Akashi paused for a moment, thinking deeply.
"Any gesture…right?" He mused.
"Yes." Kise nodded. He had a bad feeling about this.
Akashi contemplated a few more minutes. He then stood up and approached Kise.
"All right." The captain had a smile on his face that made Kise suspicious.
"Let's play."
Kise did not get the idea for a moment, but he gaped at him, dumbstruck all of a sudden.
"Let's what?"
"Let's play your game." Akashi repeated.
The two guys stood in the middle of the club room, facing each other. Kise looked at the captain worryingly. He knew from experience that no one should ever mess with Akashi without paying a huge price. The problem is, it's Akashi who wanted to mess with him.
"Err…" Kise had no idea what to do. "Captain…"
"Is there a problem?" Akashi asked. He sounded like he's in a very good mood.
"Captain, no offense, but – " Kise began to stutter.
"I think – I think I should take you to the clinic…"
Akashi's eyes widened for a moment. The silence and stillness of the clubroom was starting to scare the hell out of Kise. If this is a nightmare, he wouldn't mind getting slapped by Aomine, or even by Murasakibara. Anything to wake him up immediately.
Then the most surprising phenomenon happened. Akashi suddenly laughed. It was one of those once-in-a-blue-moon-moments, really. For it was the first time Kise saw the captain give a sincere laugh, and it's not because Teiko crushed its opponent team in the playoffs, 102-0.
"No, I am not sick, Kise." Akashi spoke afterwards.
"Now, let's begin. Why don't I try copying you first?"
Kise was too paralyzed (by fear and awe) to say no. And so he began to make various gestures, ranging from simple arms movements to the silliest and funniest facial and bodily expressions. Much to his shock, however, the captain was very willing to copy them all, not caring whether he would look like a fool or not.
"Darn." Kise soon ran out of gestures to make. "I give up."
"What, now?" Akashi asked.
Kise smiled. "You're getting fond of this game, are you?" He paused for a minute to catch his breath.
"All right. It's my turn to copy you."
At this, Akashi smiled. Kise suddenly felt like he should be running away by now.
"Very well."
Now, let's have a brief description of the captain. So far ever since his birth, there was not a single loss in Akashi's general gaming record. Simply put, Akashi has always won any game he played.
Apparently, he has no plans of losing to Kise.
Akashi drew himself very close to Kise, so close that his forehead actually touched the blonde's shirt collar. Kise could not suppress a shiver, and he became nervous. He had no idea what the captain was about to do to him.
Akashi stood on his tiptoes, so that he could reach Kise's face. And on the blonde's right cheek, the redhead gave a very gentle kiss. Kise inhaled, taken aback by the sudden gesture. He could not help but blush. His entire body became a turmoil of feelings: shock, embarrassment, resignation.
Quickly Akashi moved away, his eyes staring tauntingly at Kise.
"Now try copying that." He said.
Kise was wide-eyed and frozen for a moment, then uttered a cry of disbelief.
"Eh?"
Akashi folded his arms across his chest. "Either that, or you lose."
"B-but I can't – it's not right – " Kise's face flushed.
"W-why did you do that?"
Akashi could not suppress a smile of satisfaction.
"I win." He said smugly.