A.N. Here we go! I apologize for the late update..! ;;;;;
The time has finally come. It's the weekend, and that means today's the start of Seirin Highschool Basketball Club's training camp. The team met up by the bus stop, a certain pun master awaiting a certain hook shooter's arrival.
The people present as of the moment was their coach, their captain, the Freshmen, Izuki and Tsuchida. The remaining people that are still missing are the cat-boy-and-quiet-guy duo. The brunette coach sighed in annoyance, rubbing her temples with one hand and her other hand on her hips. "Where are those two? I did say we'll meet at around this time," she mused, looking as if she woke up at the wrong side of the bed … or didn't sleep at all.
The Freshmen were chattering with each other, the bluenette nodding from time to time to agree at his fellow Freshmen and answering a few questions while his partner would constantly slip into bliss munching on a (giant) piece of bread. Riko and Hyuuga are talking about the activities they'll be doing during their trip and Izuki was left daydreaming by himself. The short AV teaser he watched the other day suddenly flashed in his mind and he began blushing furiously, earning the attention of pretty much everyone.
"Izuki-senpai, are you alright?" asked Kuroko, concern coating his voice. A rather large hand found its way on the eagle eye user's forehead, snapping the other out of his reverie to search for the hand's owner which appeared to be Kagami. "Are you sick, senpai?" the redhead asks, raising a forked eyebrow, retracting his hand away from his senior's forehead. Izuki blinked, touching his cheeks, as if realizing he might have been blushing so much from the thought that got stuck in his head earlier.
He nodded, putting his hands down to his sides. "I-I'm alright. Don't worry," he replied, smiling reassuringly, trying to shake off his blush. The Sophomores gave him weird stares, albeit a slight hint of concern is seen, and the Freshmen looking concerned but slightly relieved at the fact their senior is fine.
A few moments later, Koganei and Mitobe finally showed up with their bags for the trip, Riko reprimanding them both for being late, in which the two just reacted with sheepish smiles.
Mitobe, feeling a stare on him, looked to Izuki's direction, surprising the point guard, scrambling to get his things as the bus finally arrives at the stop. Izuki sneaks a glance at the thick-browed teen, seeing an amused (yet, silent) chuckle from him, making his face heat up. Everyone lined up, their bags draped on their shoulders and a few things needed for their training, and boarded up the bus to their destination.
Now, the seating arrangement turned out to be awkward for Izuki. Rather than sitting beside his closest friend, Mitobe decided to take a seat beside him. The seating arrangement is as follows: Riko, Kiyoshi and Hyuuga, Tsuchida and Koganei, Izuki and Mitobe, Kuroko and Kagami, and the three other Freshmen decided to sit at the back.
It was quite a bumpy ride to the mountains, some of the bags on the ground bumping onto Izuki's legs. He was about to steady the bag when he found his hand resting on top of another. Knowing whose hand it was, he immediately pulled away, squeaking softly in surprise. He looked up to see Mitobe's surprised face and he immediately looked away, muttering an apology. He could see Mitobe's small smile from the reflection of the window, making him feel flustered. Seeing as there's nothing he can do to make the situation less awkward, for him that is, Izuki decided to just sleep it off.
The bus halted to a stop. Izuki felt his head being shook, slowly pulling him out of his dreamland. He fluttered his eyes open, feeling his head laying down on something hard and curved. He looked up and saw a pair of half-lidded eyes and a shy smile. The point guard then realized he fell asleep on Mitobe and immediately sat up straight, muttering an apology and then checking if he has been drooling, earning an amused smile from the other.
Izuki felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Koganei, standing beside him with his cat-like grin. "We're already here, Izuki, Mitobe!" he announced. The others have already gotten off the bus and waiting for the four, Tsuchida being the fourth man. The brunette hopped off, followed by Tsuchida and of course Izuki and Mitobe. Once everyone has boarded off, they looked at the scene before them, most having indifferent faces whilst the few, younger ones in the group looked anxious about their upcoming training.
They all headed inside the inn they will be staying for the weekend, everyone giving their contribution for the payment to their coach as Riko paid for their rooms. They've accommodated three rooms, the Freshmen in one room, the Sophomore males on the other, and of course their lovely coach has a room for herself.
After dropping their things in their rooms, they immediately got ready for practice, some whining about the Spartan training they're going through while some just thought it's a better idea to keep their complaints to themselves.
The sun soon came down and their hellish training came to a pause. A pause because they know there will be more awaiting them the next day. The team, with the exception of their coach, went to relax at the hot springs located near the inn. Sighs of satisfaction were heard from everyone as they relaxed in the springs, helping each other out by scrubbing each other's backs and whatnot.
Izuki was staring off into space, washing himself. His best friend, of course, noticed this.
"I wonder what's going on with Izuki…" Hyuuga trailed off, hearing a soft chuckle from behind him that's none other than Kiyoshi's, as the Uncrowned General scrubbed the Clutch user's back. "It's probably from the training we just had! Riko was extra hard on us this time, no?" Kiyoshi answered with a smile. The glasses-clad captain sighed, shrugging his shoulders as if to say he won't pry on the matter any further.
Whilst cleaning himself, Izuki found his eyes set on the toned body of the topic in his mind begging for a certain hyper cat-boy to calm down. As if feeling the eagle eye user's eyes on him, Mitobe glanced back at him curiously, surprising Izuki. He gave him a smile, in which Izuki returned with a small one before going back to taking care of his body.
Dinner was uneventful, aside from Riko's cooking and soon after that, everyone decided to call it a night. Except for Mitobe and Izuki.
Izuki couldn't sleep as the want to ask Mitobe about his… part-time job, was bothering him, while the other went outside for some fresh air. Falling into the temptation, Izuki went to look for Mitobe and found him sitting right outside the inn, looking at the clear night sky.
He sat next to him, letting his presence known. The two just sat in silence for a while, until Izuki decided to speak up.
"I know this might not be the right time for this and I know it is not my business but… M-Mitobe-kun…" he stammered slightly, his head turned towards the other but his eyes were cast away to the opposite direction. Mitobe looked at him, waiting for whatever the other was gonna tell him, but he has a feeling in his gut that he might know already what the other was itching to say.
"Are you… engaging in a business in the sex industry…?" the point guard asked cautiously, slowly leading his eyes to the other's direction, almost wincing at the hurtful look on Mitobe's face. "I-I'm sorry for asking!" he hastily added, turning away.
Another silent, but awkward, moment passed before he felt the other's finger tapping his shoulder. Izuki whipped his head to face the silent teen, but instead faced Mitobe's cell phone. He blinked his eyes in confusion and took the phone, reading the message the other typed in.
His eyes widen at the information he had just learned, looking at Mitobe with sympathetic eyes. Mitobe smiled sadly at him, taking his phone back, looking down at the ground. Izuki rested his hand on the other's shoulder. "If I could be of help…" he trailed off. Mitobe just shook his head and placed his palm on the other's hand, smiling reassuringly at him.
And for the first time, Izuki heard the other utter a phrase.
"It's okay,"
A.N. Sorry for the delay! I haven't been getting inspired lately…orz That and now I'm more into MoriZuki now, so I've been having a hard time imagining these tw But do not fret! I will finish this story! And yes, I made Mitobe talk at the last part. That's already counted as OOC – So I apologize Q A Q
Thanks for the reviews I've gotten! Oh, and to answer LicaToRiku's question as to why I made Mitobe… eh… Like this, you'll find out next chapter! …Which I'll hopefully be updating soon so you guys won't have to wait!
Oh and before anyone asks, I intentionally didn't write down what Mitobe's reason for accepting such a job because that'll be what I'll be writing next chapter~~ I also apologize for any grammatical errors or if no one could comprehend my horrible writing skills ;;;;;;;;;;;;; and it seems I might have rushed the flow of the story… OTL