It's been almost a full year since I posted anything I think. I'm...really disappointed in myself. Anyway, I hope this chapter is satisfactory and that the characters are mostly in character. It's been a while since I've written anything as a character or even touched the Kurobasu series...
Cheers,
~aoi
When Yuu woke up the next morning, her whole body felt sore. It was a nice feeling, though she didn't really think so when she finally rolled out of bed. She sighed as she shuffled across the hall to the bathroom and got ready for another day of school.
After barely playing basketball in a year, to think she'd get so sore from one match…she was fairly disappointed in how out of shape she had let herself get. She made a mental note to start waking up earlier to go jogging in the mornings. Even if she hated to admit it, she was still a female and had a disadvantage when playing with males, especially in a sport like basketball. That is to say, yes, she could hold her own rather well, but only if she was at the top of her form, she would have to get back into exercising and stretching regularly in order to get there.
She was running a brush through her hair when she heard her mom calling her name. She put a hair-tie into her mouth as she tossed her sweater over her shoulder and grabbed her bags with her hands, quickly descending the stairs. The bags were set in the hallway, off to the side, and she gathered her hair into her usual side ponytail as she entered the kitchen, tying it off before she noticed the extra people sitting at the table.
"…Good morning?"
For some odd reason there was an unsettlingly chipper blond and awkwardly fidgeting black-haired male in the kitchen with her mother. Yuu blinked a few times before raising an eyebrow at her mother who had just turned from the stove to place some plates on the table. Kaori smiled in response and Yuu silently took a seat next to Kise, looking down at the breakfast foods. Soup, a bowl of rice, and fish. She glanced up again as her mother sat down and then moved her gaze to their guests. After a chorus of "Itadakimasu" the four of them began eating.
Finally Yuu cracked. "Alright. What's going on here?"
Kaori laughed at her daughter's words, her kind smile unwavering as she spoke. "I didn't know you and Ryouta-kun were in the same school Yuu-chan."
There was a brief moment in which Yuu considered telling her mother that she hadn't known either, but she was able to refrain from doing so by stuffing a bite of rice into her mouth and chewing vehemently, narrowed gaze on the blond now.
"Ryouta-kun and…uh…"
"K-Kasamatsu Yukio." The dark haired sempai provided, shifting in his seat and giving a strained smile to Kaori. This only seemed to amuse the woman more as she nodded.
"Yes, Kasamatsu-kun here, both showed up early this morning to pick you up for school. Wasn't that nice of them?"
Her mother was enjoying this, Yuu could just tell. And Kise was probably also enjoying it, judging by the way he was grinning like an idiot the whole time. He had no idea the amount of pain that would be inflicted upon him once they were clear of the Shirosaki household.
"It's been a while since I've been here. I didn't think you'd be living in the same house Shirosakicchi~ Lucky-ssu!"
"I was just outside getting the mail when I saw Ryouta-kun and Kasamatsu-kun walking by. He thought that it would be a good idea to wait for you, so I invited them in. You have such thoughtful friends Yuu-chan."
"Yes 'kaa-san." Yuu responded as she finished the rest of her food quickly. She didn't know how much more of this awkward atmosphere she could take. She stood up and quickly cleared her dishes, depositing them in the sink, offering to clean up the ones Kasamatsu had used as well before thanking her mother for the food. When Kise opened his mouth to ask why she hadn't offered to help him, he wisely decided against voicing his thoughts when he caught sight of her expression. Kaori decided to give her daughter a break and instead turned her attention to the clock on the wall, commenting on the time.
In no time at all, the three high schoolers had their shoes and bags on and were quickly out the door.
"Sorry for the trouble sempai." Yuu immediately apologized when they were a decent distance away from her home. The third year student scratched the back of his neck as he avoided eye contact.
"N-no. I should apologize f-for the intrusion."
The both of them were laden down with extra weight when Kise decided to throw his arms around their shoulders and proclaim, quite loudly, "Why is everyone apologizing? Isn't it normal for friends to visit each other?"
He was bent double clutching his stomach and his head, crying, a moment later as the orange-haired female and black-haired male continued walking, both stating that he was the most trouble of all.
It was nice to have people to walk with to school, Yuu had to admit. She had gotten used to the solitary walk for the first month or so of the school year, but walking with Kise and Kasamatsu was definitely different. While Kasamatsu was still fairly awkward around her (she had to remember to ask about that) with Kise there, the three of them were never at a loss for things to speak of. Conversation moved easily from school work to Kise's modeling job to, of course, basketball. Mostly it was Kasamatsu explaining the training menu of the Kaijou basketball team to Yuu as Kise was ignored by the two as he attempted to get their attention.
"I was thinking about it last night. It seems a bit unreasonable for me to have demanded to be allowed to practice with you guys…" Well, it was more like Kise demanded it, but still. "So I thought maybe I could be a manager for the team. I helped out some in middle school and I think I still remember what a manager does."
"You can ask the coach about it during practice today."
"Aww, but if Shirosakicchi is the manager she won't get to play with me," Kise whined from behind the couple.
Yuu rolled her eyes, turning to look at Kise over her shoulder. "If you hadn't been so unreasonable I wouldn't have to clean up your messes all the time. You should be focused on training with your team and not on playing with me." She hefted her bags higher up on her shoulder.
"I apologize once again for this idiot Kasamatsu-sempai."
Morning practice went by smoothly, Yuu was introduced to the rest of the team by the coach, she asked about helping out as manager and spent the rest of that practice observing the players. While the coach spent much of his time focused on the regulars, Yuu divided up her time and walked through the entire gym, scrutinizing each player as they trained.
It was honestly exhilarating being in this kind of atmosphere again. These players were all so dedicated to their sport, on getting better, it brought a bittersweet smile to Yuu's face. Eventually she made her way back to the side of the gym that the regulars' were on. It was mostly practice matches this morning since the coach had wanted Yuu to acquaint herself with everybody's playing styles.
It was different. Watching these boys running around, passing, shooting...it was all different. And watching Kise out there...it wasn't perfect yet, but team play never looked so beautiful to the girl. It was nice to see that the blond's attitude wasn't as bad as she had read about in emails she'd gotten.
When morning practice ended, Yuu scuttled around, helping to clean up. She hadn't really gotten to do much herself that morning, and so she had a lot of pent up energy from watching the guys. There seemed to be an extra bounce in her step as she headed to her first class of the day.
She actually didn't make it that far before Kise caught up to her and threw an arm around her shoulders, asking what she thought of the team.
"I don't know what you expect me to say. They're a nationally ranked team, and it shows. But..." Yuu tilted her head back, a slight smile pulling at her lips as she looked up at Kise, "I think this year will be interesting."
Where she got the idea that she would be able to continue having her quiet lunch periods from, Yuu would never know. She had only just reached into her bag to pull out the book she had been reading yesterday when Kise appeared in the doorway, eagerly calling her name. Yuu closed her eyes and took a deep breath, counted to five, and then released the breath, straightening in her seat to give Kise an unamused look.
True to his nature, the blond was unaffected and bounded over to Yuu's desk, already spouting off about eating with the team or something. "Don't you guys have friends outside of the team to eat with?" was Yuu's immediate response when Kise was within hearing range. The girl would never not be amused at how fast the blond deflated at her words.
He didn't stay down for long though, and (not wanting to risk a headache from the deluge of reasons that Kise was sure to give her about eating with them) Yuu got up from her seat. It wouldn't hurt to indulge the puppy every so often. And she wasn't one to talk either, even though she got along well with her classmates...they weren't really anything more than that.
"We don't normally eat as a team unless we have practice during lunch," Kise explained as they left Yuu's classroom and headed down the halls, "but it's a good chance to get to meet everyone, right Shirosakicchi?"
Yuu nodded in response. Well, that was fine with her. If it wasn't an everyday thing, then she could certainly deal with getting dragged about to eat with Kise every so often.
It wasn't that she disliked the guy. She honestly didn't. But her attitude was probably influenced a bit by the fact that she hadn't gotten to know him as well as the others before she'd gone abroad. That is to say, she wasn't as close to him as she was with some others from the past.
"This way, this way-ssu~"
Kise led them to the gym, where the regulars were gathered, sitting in a loose circle, conversing in light tones. While the blond bounded over to join his teammates, Yuu approached at a slower pace, hovering at the edge of their circle. It felt awkward to be standing while everyone else was sitting but...she didn't want to be presumptuous and just sit somewhere.
Kise's laugh attracted her attention and he motioned for her to take the seat between him and Kasamatsu who was giving her a curious look. Well, he wasn't the only one. As Yuu settled herself down between the two, Kise took it upon himself to introduce the guys in the circle.
"Hayakawa-senpai is our power forward," He seemed like an excitable guy, waving energetically from where he sat, unable to speak since he'd chosen that moment to take a rather large bite out of his lunch.
"Moriyama-senpai is our shooting guard," Moriyama actually got up and moved closer to them, going so far as to take Yuu's hand and lifting it to press a kiss to her knuckles. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
Yuu's lips twitched into an amused smile, "You too Moriyama-senpai."
"Kobori-senpai is our center," This guy looked dependable. While Moriyama and Hayakawa looked like they would be a handful to deal with, Kobori looked like he wouldn't give her much trouble. He gave her a nod of acknowledgment, which Yuu was quick to return.
"Kasamatsu-senpai is our point guard," The captain of the team nodded in acknowledgement of Kise's words and Yuu couldn't help but grin at him. He was awkward around her, but he had to be amazing in order to put up with Kise on a daily basis and the rest of the bunch.
"and I'm the ace!" Taking a look at the proud smile on Kise's face, Yuu smirked.
"I hope you aren't dragging the senpais down Kise."
"E-eh?! I'm not! You're mean Shirosakicchi!"
Yuu laughed at Kise's words before turning her smile to the rest of the group. "We met this morning, but I'm Shirosaki Yuu. Please take care of me." She bowed her head, keeping it low for a moment longer before lifting her head back up, being greeted by smiles from the guys.
"It seems we've gotten a cute kouhai now, huh captain?"
While the senpais conversed, Kise noticed for the first time that Yuu didn't have any food with her.
"Hey...where's your lunch Shirosakicchi?"
Of course Kise's question attracted attention and all attention was back on her once again. Frowning at the blond, Yuu waved her hands about in a 'don't-worry-about-it' kind of gesture though her eyes were clearly blaming him.
"I left it at home by accident. I wasn't expecting guests so early and didn't remember to grab it before leaving the house."
"Then you can have some of mine!"
Yuu glanced at the offered food before politely declining, "You need all the energy you can get Kise. You have practice after classes and it won't be good if you're hungry during those. I can just grab something from a vending machine when we head in."
"That's no good Shirosaki-san."
Yuu turned her head to Kobori, an eyebrow raised in confusion.
"You'll be joining us for practice too, won't you?"
"I...suppose so. Yes."
"Then you'll need energy as well."
"A-ah. B-but-"
"If you don't like the food Kise has...maybe you'd like some of my lunch?"
Yuu's expression was a mix of bewilderment and embarrassment as she shook her head. "I-I'll be alright senpai."
Grinning, Kise jumped at the opportunity to tease his friend when he saw how flustered she was getting. "Shirosakicchi~ I didn't know you talked back to senpais~"
"H-huh? That's not true! I-I can just go buy some bread from the store or...something," Yuu trailed off at the end, coming to a sudden realization.
To her misfortune, this did not go unnoticed.
"Shirosakicchi..."
"Don't say it Kise."
"...did you forget your wallet too?"
Yuu dropped her red face into her hands. Of all days, why did she have to be so unlucky the day Kise decided to make her eat with the senpais?
"So..."
The orange-headed girl reluctantly brought her head back up, almost scared to hear what the senpai she had thought would be the nicest was going to way.
"What do you suggest we do with this insubordinate kouhai, captain?"
Yuu's jaw dropped open before she clamped her mouth shut and averted her gaze, turning to Kasamatsu instead to see what his reaction would be. His expression seemed conflicted before he came to a decision and held out his own bento to the dumbfounded girl.
"B-but..."
"You can share mine as well!" Hayakawa shouted enthusiastically, having swallowed the mouthful he'd been working on.
"E-eh..."
Walking back to her classroom after lunch, Yuu had to resist the temptation to shake the blond beside her silly. She was absolutely mortified about what had happened. Not wanting to be left out Moriyama had quickly offered his own lunch to her shortly after Hayakawa. Somehow they had produced a plate from who knows where and a pair of chopsticks before each regular dumped some of his lunch onto the plate for her.
It wasn't that Yuu had a problem with sharing food with others...but having people she had just met, and senpais nonetheless, giving her food like that made her feel extremely self-conscious for some reason.
"Neh, don't worry about it so much Shirosakicchi. The senpais probably had a lot of fun today."
"I just...I probably made a fool of myself." Yuu sighed, her fingers plucking at the hairband in her hair, pulling it out and letting her bright hair cascade back down her back. She slid the hairband onto her wrist and ran her fingers through her hair a few times to get the knots out and to work out some of her frustration.
"They won't think that! And it helped to make it easier to talk to them, right?"
Yuu paused midstep, blinking at the back of Kise's head since he had continued walking when she'd stopped. Only when he noticed the girl was no longer next to him did Kise stop and turn to question why she'd stopped.
Kise was much more observant than she had realized. He must have noticed that she had a hard time talking to people for the first time in social situations back in Teiko...it was amazing that he'd still remembered that about her.
"...You're an idiot Kise." Yuu said before hurrying past him, a genuine smile on her lips as she listened to his protests echoing along with his steps as he caught up to her.
