"It's only been half an hour and you guys are already falling asleep?" Shiori sighed and crossed her arms, staring at Bokuto and Konoha, whose heads were bobbing up and down, trying to fight off the sleep that tried to eat them alive. "If we're going to do it at this pace we might as well have dinner first."
"Dinner?!" At the mention of food, Bokuto and Konoha were instantly reenergized, along with Yukie, whose eyes sparkled.
"Akaashi, I think you're the only sane one here." Shiori turned to the younger male, but when she saw his eyes also gleam slightly with expectation, she sighed, "Never mind."
"I'll start cooking, then. You guys continue what you were doing," She eyed Konoha and Bokuto, "And if you sleep, you won't be getting food." She warned, standing up and heading to the kitchen.
Said males rested their heads on the desk, frowning.
"But I don't wanna do this!" Bokuto whined, pushing himself off the desk, facing the textbook once again. He looked at the mathematical problems, not having the patience of doing any at all.
Akaashi put a bookmark between the English textbook and closed it, going to help Bokuto. Konoha, on the other hand, was looking through Yukie's notes on English, trying to see if he could find anything useful.
In the kitchen, Shiori sighed to herself, washing the vegetables for the curry she was going to make. It was the fastest thing to make, and it was easy. If she were by herself she'd cook something that wasn't curry.
What am I, a mother taking care of her kids? Grown up kids, too. She chopped the vegetables, putting them into the boiling water on the stove.
It was at this time that Akaashi had come to help. Yukie was going to, but he suggested her to stay and watch over the two since he wanted to talk to Shiori about something.
"Is there anything I can help with?" The male asked. He knew exactly what she was making from the mess.
"Ah, yeah, sure. Can you grill the meat?" She pointed to a plate of marinated meat, which were all already cut into thick strips, then she pointed to the small grill on the side near the stove. She got some tongs for him, "Use these."
Akaashi had never used that type of grill before. It was easy to figure out, so he stood on the side waiting for the meat to cook while Shiori started making the curry itself.
"Shiori-san, how long did you play volleyball for?" Akaashi asked, turning to her.
Surprised by the sudden question, her brows rose and she turned to him, "Hm? A volleyball question right off the bat, eh…" She paused, scooping the vegetables from the boiling water and putting them into a strainer, "Up until middle school."
Akaashi turned over the meat strips, "That's pretty recent."
"Yeah, it is."
"Why did you stop playing?"
That question stopped Shiori in her tracks. She put the strained vegetables to the side and stared at the freshly replaced water in the pot, looking up back at Akaashi to answer his question. She had a small, hopeless smile on her face.
"I guess some things just don't stick."
With the raise of a thick brow, Akaashi's dark eyes slanted as his brows then furrowed ever so slightly. He still wanted answers, so he asked a different question.
"Did you find it fun?"
"Yeah." She nodded with a warm smile, "It was fun."
Was…? Akaashi took note of her past tense. Doesn't she find it fun now? His mind went back to the match just last night, and it confirmed what he was thinking, that he wasn't imagining things.
I see. So it's like that.
Akaashi poked at the meat, seeing if it was done. It wasn't.
"I'd like to see you play." The second year spoke bluntly, his eyes going to meet hers.
Shiori's brown ones widened and her mouth opened ajar slightly, before she closed it and grinned, waving her hand in dismissal. "No way, no way! I don't even have a team, how could I play?"
"You could always join the teams that we currently have. I'm sure that, with your skills you would be able to fit in well." Akaashi took the now cooked meat off the grill and onto a new plate, placing the old one into the sink.
Shiori tensed as she followed the male with her eyes. "So this is why you were insistent on talking about volleyball," she muttered. With a sigh, she let herself relax, though the slight annoyance that her voice bore was still evident.
"So, Keiji, when did you find out?" She got the two packets of curry and put the powder into the water, mixing it until it dissolved. "From when did you know it was me?"
Akaashi observed her. He didn't want to irk her anymore if she was angry, but she seemed fine, almost done, even. Like it was something that would get inevitably talked about.
"When I first met you, I was surprised that you had the same name as someone that I watched in middle school volleyball tournaments." He started, walking so that he stood near the stove, but not close enough that he would be in the way. She glanced at him but continued to listen, every so often mixing the curry.
"You were only a year older, but you were already playing on the nation's stage. You went to Nationals every year you attended Kitagawa Daiichi, the only time the girls' team ever went to Nationals." He paused, "I didn't think much of it when Bokuto-san introduced you, but it was a thought I did have. I found out for certain yesterday."
"For certain? What do you mean?" Shiori questioned. It was an inquisitive question, one that asked him to speak his mind. Akaashi was someone with lots of thoughts, and it just so happens that he was someone Shiori was always curious about.
"I watched the game you played last night."
Shiori froze in her spot and she turned to look at Akaashi robotically, eyes wide, "You saw that?" Her voice came out more stable than she thought it would.
"Yes. I was watching from the middle of the first set." He explained easily.
Shiori pressed a hand to her forehead, sighing deeply. "Is that so?" It was like she was trying to reaffirm the obvious answer to herself. "I didn't see you."
Is it because she was too focused on the game? Akaashi thought. He realised that during that game, she didn't look up even once.
"If 'things just don't stick', then why do you keep playing volleyball?" The setter got the vegetables on the side after Shiori seasoned the curry.
Having her own words used against her was quite cunning.
As expected of Akaashi. You can't say anything without it possibly being used against you. Shiori knew that he wasn't using it in a mean way, he just wasn't that type of person. But he seemed to be pushing the questioning a bit much for something that was from a while ago.
"Why do I keep playing volleyball?" She murmured that question to herself several times, as if it was a foreign sentence to her. In the end, she sighed, speaking in English to herself, "I want to feel that exhilaration again."
Akaashi only understood a little bit of what she was saying, making a mental note to find the meaning of the English word 'exhilaration' when he went back to the table.
So she wants something out of volleyball, Akaashi summarised.
"Ne, Akaashi, why do you want me to play? I've already been out of the Nationals scene for a while." She spoke softly, as if reminiscing an old memory. She mixed the ladle in the curry. "And the title that I held back in middle school doesn't apply anymore."
"It may not apply now, but knowing you, you probably did whatever you could to stay on top of that title." The setter spoke freely. When he glanced down at the shorter female, he was greeted with a warm smile, one that was a lot more heartfelt that others that she had shown. He unconsciously froze for a moment.
"I'm surprised you know that, Keiji-kun. I hate to lose." Shiori chuckled lightly, testing out the curry's flavour. She turned off the stove when it was done. She pointed to the bottom cupboard, "The plates are in there."
Akaashi got the plates, going to fill them with rice first.
"You probably analysed how I served yesterday, and compared it to back then, didn't you?" Even though she was asking, it sounded like she already knew.
He nodded once, handing her the first plate with rice. She took it with a smile and poured some curry on the other side where there wasn't any rice, placing it back on the counter.
"Well, no matter. Just…don't spread it around, okay? I don't want people coming up to me and getting on my back 24/7." Shiori sighed, "I don't want them to force me to play volleyball."
Akaashi handed her the second plate, "…is this why you moved to Tokyo?" He questioned.
Shiori took the second plate, "Part of it. The other reason was that I haven't stayed with my dad in a long while."
Akaashi didn't detect any lying, but he did detect that she wasn't telling the whole truth. However, he didn't pry.
"Miyagi has lots of people that know my face, especially those in the middle schools and high schools there. Even my childhood friend is famous. He's always featured in monthly volleyball magazines." She sighed to herself, placing the plate onto the counter, "I guess I didn't want to attract too much attention."
Akaashi understood where she was getting at, but he had a feeling that she wasn't the type to be severely affected by her nerves or the crowds and public. It was probably something that was more personal for her.
Well, I won't know until she says something in relation to it. Akaashi's thought was momentarily paused when he handed her the third plate.
But yet, she still keeps playing volleyball. Even after she 'stopped' at the end of middle school, she continued, but with different teams each time, with different people.
The setter finished up the rice and just settled with handing her the plates, placing the strips of meat on top of the curry afterwards while she got the sauces.
As she was putting on the sauces, Akaashi thought up of a plan.
"Shiori-san, why don't you help the volleyball club with their receive training?" He suggested out of the blue.
She was shocked, astonished even, at the suggestion. "Doesn't that mean this information will spread to the others of the volleyball club?!" She hissed at him. "Bokuto will spread it like a house on fire!"
Akaashi kept his expressionless face, grabbing five spoons and putting them on the plates, "Then so be it. It's not like you're on a team now, so it should be fine, right? You're not in Miyagi so it should be fine. They've probably forgotten about what you did in middle school."
Shiori's eye twitched in irritation. Was he going to do what she thought he was going to do?
"I honestly thought that you were like those angels that appeared from the heavens. I think I'm wrong." She muttered under her breath in English. "So much for me thinking so highly of you."
Unfortunately, Akaashi heard all that and understood. He raised a slight brow at her, amusement dancing in his eyes as his lips curled into a small smirk. He reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone, putting on the copy of the video that he had taken during last night's match. He showed it to her, and after a while of watching, her eyes went wide, almost in realisation of what he was going to do.
"You should help us out with receive practice, Shiori-san." He pulled the phone away from her and held it in his hand, "Or else I might accidently press the upload button and upload it onto the internet." His tone was like normal, but there was a sense of tease in it. "Maybe I should title it: The former middle school best server Maebara Shiori, from past to present."
Shiori stared at him incredulously in shock. Was Akaashi threatening her? Was he blackmailing her?
"Keiji. Are. You. Serious." She hissed at him.
"I am." He met her dark eyes with his own, almost accepting her staring challenge. He was going to hold his ground, because he had confidence that he would win this.
"Why would you do that? What benefit does that give you?" She asked him. "If this is a bluff, I'm not going to fall for it, Keiji."
"I'll upload one now, then." Akaashi opened his phone, unlocking it and going onto the internet. She reached forward to snatch the phone from him, but he took a step away, placing it back into his pocket. "It's up to you, Shiori-san."
He pulled away again when she tried to grab his arm. In the end she stopped and brooded as she stared almost angrily at the plates of curry.
Shiori thought of all the pros and cons, balancing them. There were enough cons to throw the balance off scale, especially when it concerned her personal life.
If it goes up, it goes up. But then my normal life will come to an end and those annoying magazines will come and find me again?! And wouldn't there be these invitations to all these training camps and whatnot, or to join a school or something? Oh wait, maybe not join a school but maybe a university club or something. Urgh! That will just be a pain in the ass so maybe not.
But on a side note, if I agree to Akaashi's conditions so that he won't upload the video, then that would mean that Fukurodani would know that a former nation's best was there. Wouldn't that attract a lot of attention? Especially if it's from someone like Bokuto, especially if he spreads it like no tomorrow. But on a side note, if Bokuto doesn't spread it then that would be good, since I know the other people of the team are good at keeping stuff under control. But I'm not sure about the other volleyball club members, such as the benched and the ones that are just in the club without regular spots. Or maybe they won't even be there to see me play? That one's basically up to luck. They probably won't know who I am upon first glance—I'm all the way in Tokyo, not Miyagi. But there might be that 1 in 100 that might figure it out. But that's a higher uncertainty rate compared to if the video is uploaded online with my name attached to it. Akaashi is right in the context that they probably might not remember me because it's been 3 years, but I don't want to take any chances.
Hm…the coach will probably know. That much is certain, because he's the one supervising everything. There won't be too many people, but only people involved in the volleyball world—not deeply, though. Plus, Fukurodani has gone to Nationals the whole time Bokuto's been on the team. Doesn't that mean that I'll blend right in? But wait, what about my personal preferences? I'm only going to be helping with receives practice so it shouldn't be too much of a deal; I won't be standing on any stage or anything. Which means I'll be out of the spot light. That's good, right?
Ah, I need to remember that I'm not going to be playing at a National level, but rather with Fukurodani's National levelled team. That's it. Nothing about going into competitions, or going in with a team or anything of that sort!
But wait a moment, Akaashi, you little shit! I can't believe you actually blackmailed me! I thought you were a nicer person than this! I'm surprised he didn't just come up and ask, though. Oh wait, I think it makes sense that he did it this way—I probably would have said no if he asked otherwise. Those videos and him miraculously finding out that I played volleyball at a high level really makes good leverage.
Damn…for the sake of not having those videos uploaded then fine. They can't be uploaded…not yet, anyway.
Urgh. Fine. Keiji, you win. You probably already thought of all this before asking me. As expected of the one who can put Bokuto out of his emo modes.
Shiori sighed, having thought so quickly in 1 minute that she was getting exhausted thinking some more. She got 3 plates, stacking one on her forearm. With an exhale, she glanced at Akaashi, "Fine. I'll help with receives training."
She headed out to the dining room, where everyone sat. She placed the plates down on one side, helping to pack up the books and pushing them to the side so they wouldn't get dirty.
Akaashi chuckled lightly, exiting the app that he had pressed. He dropped the small smirk when he went out with the remaining two plates, finding the first part of the plan a success.
I'm not actually going to upload the videos, but it was a good bargaining chip. He thought to himself, sitting down. Even if she hates me for it, I'll do what I can.
It was just one honest, selfish reason.
The one that Akaashi Keiji had been waiting a long time coming.