"If I wasn't like this, things wouldn't have turned this way…"


Chapter 1: part 1

Nine years ago, on a peaceful afternoon in the Akashi household…

Face to face, a child and a senile old man were sitting in the traditional Japanese posture, cards laid out in front of them. And perhaps, a lot more cards were on the child's side. Both were also wearing a traditional garment: the hakama. The child was completely focused while the old man enjoyed seeing the young girl's spirit towards the game.

「世のな…」

As the beginning of a poem was recited, a card flew past the child while she was in the position of snatching it from its initial place. Bitter, the little girl exclaimed: "Ojii-san! That was my last card. It's unfair that you always win!" The old man chuckled while gathering back the cards to put them in a wooden box made of bamboo. "There's nothing wrong with losing, dear. You'll just keep improving every time you face me. And one day, you will certainly achieve that goal of yours," he smiled gently while teaching her a life lesson.

Tomonaga Iori did not understand any of the old man's wise words. Yet, she understood perfectly everything about karuta. So, she blinked at him blankly. The old man sighed.

"That's enough for today," he said. "I'm sure Seijuurou is bored watching us play. Won't you play with him?"

A red head was peering from the paper sliding door, shogi set in hands. The girl turned her head to look at him and frowned. "I'm going to lose to Sei-chan again! It's no fun," she complained. "I'm not even good at shogi…"

The young boy sat in front of Iori and laid out the shogi set, ignoring the little girl's last remark. "That's not true. I'll help you become better." He smiled much to Iori's pout. "Someone, save me…!" she thought. A game of shogi with Akashi Seijuurou was always hell. Not only does he win every time, but a match can easily take more than an hour. Being the hyper kid Iori was, she cannot stand sitting in seiza style while moving only her arm to move the shogi pieces. That's why karuta was more fitting for her personality. Swinging the cards away with the body, protecting them with a hand, karuta was much more physically demanding than shogi.

Everyday, Iori would come at 1PM to the Akashi household to play karuta with Seijuurou's grandfather, a former king of karuta, since Seijuurou was homeschooled until 2:30. Iori's dream was to be the queen of karuta, so she trained with the old man daily. She would also play shogi with Seijuurou, but it was never her thing. The story about how they both met each other seemed too distant. Too blurry to distinguish the details or it was probably forgotten. And so, karuta and shogi were the only games they played during her stay. Sometimes, they would go out horsing. Unfortunately, both were still too short to ride a horse on their own, so they would go back to play shogi or karuta until they're tired. Finally, Iori's mother would come to pick her up at 6PM.

This routine would repeat until one day…

"Iori! Grandfather bought me a basketball! Wanna play?"

As Seijuurou invited her with enthusiasm, she was lying lazily on the tatami floor. "Basketball? What's that?" the young girl asked, while reading the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu on the karuta cards.

"It's a game where giants play! I saw it on TV the other day. They throw the ball to a hoop and they gain points like that."

Not caring what Seijuurou has to say, the young girl just hummed a sound, showing her lack of interest.

"Come on, you lazy log! It's a simple game! And it's fun!" he added. "You wouldn't know if you don't try! Come on!" he insisted while pulling her black hair gently.

Suddenly, the red head had an idea. He did not want to resort to this argument, but he had no choice to get Iori play with him. "Grandfather says trying new stuff isn't a bad thing," he smirked and waited for her reaction.

Immediately, the young girl gave all her attention to the cunning boy. As soon as he mentioned anything about his grandfather, Iori would comply. To her, Seijuurou's grandfather was like a god, partly because he was once the king of karuta, but also because she didn't have a father. Her father went out one late night and never came back. The situation was reported to the police station and they tried to find him by issuing a national notice, but it was as if he disappeared without leaving a trace. So, Seijuurou's grandfather was like a dad to her despite his old age. He taught her many things and treated her like he would treat Seijuurou. She adored him and he did too since Seijuurou is an only child, but also a male. The old man had wished for a daughter for many decades. However, Seijuurou's father was his only son. And he, too, had an only child, who is now Akashi Seijuurou.

Outside in the setting sun, at the park near the mansion, Seijuurou taught Iori how to play basketball (which limited to shooting). He couldn't wait to have a partner to compete with. Because the red head was homeschooled, he didn't have many friends. Heck, Iori was probably his only friend… A precious friend with whom he cherished every moment of his childhood from 1PM to 6PM.
Mornings weren't exactly pleasurable. His father was a strict man, in contrast to the king of karuta who was more sympathetic, and the teacher was also academically demanding. Seijuurou had to be very competent and modeled after his father's ideal in order to be called an Akashi. As for the mother, the child never mentioned anything about her, so Iori didn't dare to question him. Perhaps, she was also non-existent like her own father…

"SEI-CHAN, SEICHAN-! I NEVER KNEW THIS "BASKETBALL" THING CAN BE SO FUN!" the black-haired girl exclaimed with a wide grin as large as the Cheshire cat, contradicting totally what her emotions showed earlier. "Let's keep playing basketball forever!" she added, shooting another time.

The boy, amused by her sudden change of interest, was delighted to hear that. Thanks to him, Iori had found another interest other than karuta; basketball. Though it was not as simple as what they have imagined - shooting to gain points, they continued to practice in hopes to become like the giants they saw on the TV.