Imperfect Catalyst
A/N: Once again, I would like to thank the people who are reading this story, even the silent guest readers out there. As always, leave a review or PM me to share your opinions on the story! :3
Chapter 2
Akashi Seijuro was quite amused. Unlike how other people might react when seeing their fiances, she wasn't stunned or shocked. He knew that she knew who he was; the flash of recognition shown on her face when she first bumped into him proved that. Her face was completely void of expression. If he had to choose an emotion to describe how he thought she felt, it would be confusement. She actually looked baffled, and a little dazed, as if she was suffering from a lack of sleep and couldn't concentrate properly, looking like she didn't know how to react.
His gaze lingered on her deep blue orbs, before she finally blinked and broke the eye contact. Looking like she had finally snapped out of a trance, she calmly turned around and walked away from him, without even uttering a single word.
His smile widened. His fiancee was proving more of a mystery than he originally thought.
Fujiwara Michiyo didn't know how to react to his sudden appearance. She didn't feel particularly mortified. Rather, she couldn't think of anything to say or do now that she met him.
She did what she normally did when faced with situations she couldn't handle; she walked away. It might be rude, but it still felt better than standing there, unable to even give a response to him. Conveniently, she had an urgent need to go to the toilet, thus giving her a reasonable excuse if ever he questioned her unpolite behaviour.
"Ask him!"
"No way! You go ask him, since you're so curious to find out."
"I can't possibly ask him that! Can you just go and ask him already?"
The incessant loud chattering was irking him. Frowning in displeasure, Akashi Seijuro continued to try to read the Shogi-related book ,yet the noise was disrupting his concentration. Seeing the people nudging and shoving each other and causing a big ruckus irritated him. As for the clearly incompetent chairman and vice-chariman, he knew that they were trying their best to stop the chaos, but of course, to no avail.
He understood why the class was getting so chatty; it was because of his brief interaction with the girl. Knowing his classmates, he wasn't surprised at all that they would be so interested in his affairs. Afterall, they were but plain, talentless people. He was perfect.
Deciding to finally put a stop to this chaotic scene, he stood up and faced the class, gazing at them with his crimson eyes. In an instant, the intimidating glint shown in his eyes silenced all of them.
"Keep quiet."
He then sat back down and returned to reading the book. It was funny, really. The class actually obeyed that one little command of his. All the chatterings and loud discussions had ceased and all that was left was a peaceful silence. Only that it wasn't at all peaceful. There was a deep tension in the air as the one question kept lingering in everybody's mind; How is the girl related to Akashi Seijuro?
Surprisingly, he heard a soft whisper from behind him after just five minutes. He turned his head slightly and saw a frightened little boy, whose head was bent low in fear. When he finally opened his mouth to speak, his hands had started to tremble. He stuttered,
"Erm...uhhh...Akashi-san, may I ask, uhhh...who is that girl...you know, the one at the door you were speaking to?"
He had to applaud the kid for his guts to approach him. Thus, he decided to award him with the truth.
"She's my fiancee."
Gasps of shock, mouths hanging wide open in utter disbelief, the widening of eyes, all these reactions and more were displayed by his classmates. Needless to say, all of them were shocked beyond description. Then, the loud discussions started once again.
Preparing to stop them with another command, he changed his mind at the last second.
"What would she think of all of these?"
That was the one question which stopped him. How would his fiancee react to all of these? Even the most calm person would surely be overwhelmed by this.
After finishing using the toilet, she went back to class, only to be blocked at the entrance by practically the whole class.
"You're the fiancee of Akashi Seijuro? Oh my gosh, how is it like?"
"How did it happen? Did you guys have your first kiss yet?"
"Tell me everything that he did for you! Did he like buy you loads of presents and stuff?"
The multitude of questions bombarded at her stunned her and forced her to unconsciously take a few cautious steps back. Her classmates had turned from shy, timid mice to wild hyenas. They were hungry for flesh, saliva dripping everywhere as they waited for the animal to die. In this case, they had placed down all their insecurities in approaching her, being overwhelmed by curiosity.
She wondered, what is it about Akashi Seijuro that made all these people motivated with the fact that she was, in some ways, related to him, and even approach her to ask? The actions of her classmates triggered that thought, and it sparked her own curiosity to learn more about this influential redhead.
He stared at her in anticpation, awaiting her response to all the questions being thrown at her. He noticed the minor steps she took backwards; she was a little nervous and definitely overwhelmed. Yet, what was it that he was seeing? She still had on her usual aloof expression on her face, with absolutely no sign of the nervousness she felt shown in her facial expressions. Exuding the aura of a noble, she stepped forward and started to speak,
"Yes, he is my fiance. But please, do not get this wrong. This is nothing but an arranged marriage; I have only met him once before this and that was when we were young. I have gone on no dates and Akashi-san never did propose to me himself. I am so sorry if I had destroyed the hopes of many of you but what I am saying is simply the truth. "
The usual bluntness and cold politeness; it amused him very much once again. How intriguing! A girl of such high-class upbringing with such a personality, so unlike the other young ladies who came from influential backgrounds. In fact, she reminded him so much of himself, in terms of their behaviour.
The students of class 1A looked quite taken aback by her answer as well. They too must have felt rather uncomfortable with the way she took the questions so calmly, as if it was just a walk in the park. In fact, it was exactly how he would have done it, tell them the facts with absolutely no additional drama inputed.
Deciding that it was time when he took action, he placed his book down and strided over to her. For the sake of getting her more used to his presence, she had to change where she sat. After all, she was his fiancee; they should interact more with each other. Seeing him approach, all the students shifted out of the way quickly so as to create a clear pathway for him to walk through.
Finally seeing her clearly, he found himself taking note of her physical appearence. She was indeed beautiful, her features very delicate yet striking. Still looking as aloof as ever, she stood there with her arms folded. Yet, he could see from her eyes that she was feeling uneasy about his approach, wondering what he would say or do to her. Perharps this might be the reason why she felt afraid of him, he knew his uncanny ability to read the thoughts of people by studying their expression and behaviour was quite intimidating. He smirked; he wanted to see how she would react to this.
Reaching out his hand, he grabbed hold of hers and gently pulled her to the seat next to his. The look of confusement was evident on her face, her eyes practically showing just a glimpse of bewilderment. That was pretty unexpected. Then, he took her bag and book and laid it down onto the table next to his.
"Your seating arrangement shall be changed. From now on, sit next to me."
Somehow, she probably understood the intentions of his actions. Or maybe she didn't and was just going on with it. No matter, he would explain it to her later. With a nod of her head, she sat down and started reading the book on her table. Picking up his own book, he continued reading his book.
To Ishimaru Kazuma, the event that had happened this morning shocked him. Of course, he knew arranged marriages weren't unheard of, especially for someone like Akashi Seijuro who came from a wealthy background. When the other students in class pushed one another to ask Akashi-san about his relationship with the girl, who he now knew was named Fujiwara Michiyo due to the introduction at the start of the lesson, he was the only one who went to ask in the end. Of course, he was trembling in terror at the sheer presence of Akashi Seijuro, yet he perservered with his courage and everything seemed fine.
This was until he realised that not only was she from a background similar to Akashi-san, she also had the same perfection. Now, Akashi Seijuro was the only person he knew that was that amazing. The class chairman and vice-chairman were nerds, yet they never beat Akashi Seijuro in any test. He was the one topping the class, and also the entire school! Now that itself wasn't what was so amazing; it was the fact that he also excelled greatly in sports.
No doubt he had to be a pure genius. Although he seemed to be a professonal in Shogi, beating even the president of the Shogi Club, he chose to try out for the basketball club. Of course, he was one of the four freshmen who made it into the first string. Teiko Middle School, known for its excellence in basketball, it was the first time that had freshmen in the first string. Then, he was made vice-captain. I knew then, that Akashi Seijuro wasn't human;he was a monster.
Then came Fujiwara Michiyo. After the extraordinary feats done by Akashi Seijuro, he would nver have thought that there would be another genius. She had gotten full marks on the Mathematics test Tsuraga-sensei had set, which was never done before...except for Akashi Seijuro of course. Then she also turned out to be a Science genius, a Languages genius and so on... They were practically replicas of each other, even having a similar personality. Sometimes, Kazuma wondered what went on in the brains of such geniuses. They looked so perfect together, as if they were some fairytale couple in a children storybook, in which a character there had absolutely no flaws.
Ahhh, it hit him! There was still physical education, and there was no way a delicate girl like Fujiwara Michiyo would ever be able to do survive there. He wouldn't be surprised if she dropped out after the first 400 metres round. Maybe there was a difference between those two geniuses after all...
Of course, that didn't happen. While everyone was perspiring heavily and resting on the grass field, they were still going. It was the tenth round, the final round of the perserverence test their sensei had set for them, yet both of them seemingly looked fine. Really, it was beyond frustrating as he and the rest of his classmates watched them passing the line after the tenth round, looking as though they could have done another ten and not break a sweat. They watched as the couple got released for lunch time early after they were paised by the sensei for their incredible stamina. He should have known. Now, sensei was going to start berating them once again. He could already see it; their sensei rubbing the fact into their faces that even a girl could run more rounds than them. His dignity, the physical pain he was about to go through, ahhh, how he wished perfectionists such as those two didn't exist!
Fujiwara Michiyo munched on a sandwich which she bought at the school canteen. It tasted...different. There weren't any meat besides the thin slice of ham in between the tomato and cheese, which was pretty unusual to her, who was used to eating sandwiches that contained expensive beef or pork. As she stared at the sandwich with a bit of astonishment, she heard the deep husky voice of Akashi Seijuro,
"Hmm, you probably never tasted one of these before, have you?"
Glancing at the redhead beside her, she noticed that he was smiling at her. Actually, she corrected herself, it was a smirk. Then again, it wasn't really a smirk either. She concluded that it was just a special facial expression that only he possesed, a cross between a smile and a smirk.
"I haven't. The taste is quite...unique."
With that, the awkwardness between them began again. She herself didn't mind the silence but...she still wanted to ask him that question stuck in her head. Would now be the right time to ask? She wondered as she took another glance at him as he munched on his sandwich.
Finally mustering enough courage, she swallowed hard and then opened her mouth and asked him,
"Hey, erm why did you decide to join Teiko?"
He looked completely unfazed by her question. As he ate the lastbite of his sandwich,crumple the plastic bag into a ball and threw it to the rubbish bin about twenty metres away from where they were sitting, he faced her again and answered her question with a simple line,
"I wanted to join the basketball team here."
A flash of the articles she stumbled across while researching on Teiko Middle School hit her mind. They won consecutive national titles in basketball and had the largest number of members in the basketball club, ranging from third-stringers who rarely get to play to the regular members, the frst-stringers. Ah, it all made sense to her now. Of course Akashi Seijuro would come to Teiko, he needed a place where his talents could grow. She didn't even need to question him if he was good in basketball, of course he would be.
"That reminds me; you are required to attend all of my basketball training days from today onwards."
His voice once again snapped her out of her train of thoughts. Nodding her head once again, she agreed without a second thought. She didn't need to be told twice. To "strengthen" their bond, she was already told by her father to follow Akashi Seijuro everywhere. She had to admit, she was perfectly fine with the arrangement. She was completely new in the school, and although she didn't know Akashi well, he was better than all the other strangers in school. Sure, being solitary would be fine as well but she didn't want to come across as too much of an introvert. Maybe it was her pride, well, she just didn't know. Just that she was quite relieved she had someone she could just follow everywhere without feeling out of place.
Word spread fast though. As students poured into the canteen, they stared at her except it was different from when she first arrived at the school. Now, they actually knew who she was, her name and her relationship with the redhead sitting beside her. It was the first time she felt self-conscious of herself in the school, how she wished she was back in her old school with the rest of the rich young ladies.
Akashi Seijuro seemed to sense her increasing discomfort and he started to whisper to her in hushed tones,
"Don't be afraid. Anyways, they would all learn about our relationship sooner or later. This is just a first step to all of this."
Something in his intimidating tone carried a soft, caring touch, as if he was sincere in trying to help calm her down. Regardless of his intentions, it did help. She immediately felt less uncomfortable wth all the stares and continued munching on the strange sandwich.
She really wondered how she would survive in this public school with all of these problems.
Her first impresion of Akashi Seijuro training was intense. The ranking system was of no joke and there was three gyms just to accomodate the number of members in the club. She was even more surprised by the fact that he was actually the vice-captain of the basketball club. How could she have missed that out while researching on Teiko? Ah, probably because he didn't expect her to be that good of a sportsman as well. She always envisioned him as the studious type who only studied but it turns out her predictions were all wrong when it came to Akashi Seijuro.
He was amazing in basketball. Though she was only an amatuer when it comes to basketball, that was a fact. The way he dribbles and shoot was flawless. So were the rest of the first-stringers, but what caught her eye were five other exceptional players. A yellow-haired boy whose looks were of a supermodel was copying the playing style and moves of the other players. Then, there was the green-haired boy with glasses who was actually shooting three-pointers from the half-line. Another one was the dark-skinned, dark blue haired boy who had with the agility of a wild cat. There was also the tall, purple-haired man with incredible strength. Lastly, she took note of that one light blue haired boy, whose presence was exceptionally weak, yet his passes were so...unique.
Those were the ones she knew were true geniuses.
"Hi! You must be Akashi-san's fiancee, Fujiwara Michiyo. Nice to meet you! I'm Momoi Satsuki, the manager of the basketball club.
Staring down at her with a smile was a pretty girl with long pink hair and eyes. Holding a clipboard in her hand, she sat down next to her.
"Hey."
"You don't talk much, do you? Its alright, I'm very friendly."
The girl - Momoi, smiled cheerfully at her. Returning a hesitant smile, they sat watching the boys train in silence.
"So, what do you think of Akashi-san?"
Momoi asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"He's very intimidating. If I were to describe him with one word, it would be perfect."
"But what do you like about him? There must be a reason why you guys are dating."
She probed on.
Michiyo raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"Haven't you heard that this was an arranged marriage?"
The smile faded from Momoi's face. In an instant, it was replaced by sheer disbelief.
"What-"
Before she could finih her sentence, the yellow haired one she saw just now struck his hand out in front of her and cut into the conversation.
"Hi! I'm Kise Ryota! You must be Akashicchi's fiancee, Michiyocchi! Nice to meet you!"
He was very hyper. Not the type she would ever mix with. Yet, she was curious to know what was the meaning of the -cchi behind her name.
Tentatively, she reached out her hand to shake Kise's hand before asking him,
"Eh, what's with the -cchi at the back of my name?"
"That's because your someone I respect! Afterall, your Akashicci's fiancee!"
This person respected her for being Akashi Seijuro's fiancee? Wow. She had absolutely no words to say.
"You're his fiancee? I'm Aomine Daiki. That's a nice set of boobs there, how large?"
Ah, the occasional pervert. She should have known he belonged to that group of people. It was the dark-skinned man this time and he was staring straight at her chest, as if he was analysing it to find out its size.
"Daiki, stop looking at her chest."
Akashi Seijuro's command resonated loud and clear before she could even say anything.
That caused the boy to jump back in surprise and he slowly backed away from her.
"Fine, fine. I wouldn't touch your girl."
Fujiwara Michiyo was quite surprised. Akashi Seijuro had enough power to even intimidate and control this ruddy person?
"Your behaviour is indeed very rude. You should apologise to her. Pervertic people such as you shouldn't be going around looking at girls' chest!"
She turned around and saw another one of those geniuses. The green-haired boy with spectacles and - wait is that a fluffy teddy bear?
"What is that for?"
She couldn't help but ask as she pointed towards the teddy bear he held in his hand.
"This is my lucky item for today. I am a Cancer, and my name is Midorima Shintaro. What's your horoscope?"
"Aquarius. What's the relevance of this question though?"
"Ah, the same as Kuro-chin then."
The purple-haired man loomed over her with his height as he munched on some chips.
He was so tall! She blinked and asked,
"Who are you then?"
"Me? I'm Murasakibara Atsushi. And you are Mi-chin."
He stated it like a fact more than a question in such a childlike manner. As she focused her attention back to the bespectacled boy, she heard him continue ramble on and on about horoscopes and compathibility. How strange!
As she was pondering on the behaviour of this bunch of basketball geniuses, she felt a slight tap on her shoulder. A light blue haired boy seemed to suddenly pop out of the blue, startling her.
"Hello. My name is Kuroko Tetsuya. Please to meet you."
"Please to meet you as well."
The boy's presence was so small and unnoticeable that she didn't realise he was there. How extraordinary. Then, it struck her. He was that boy who was making all those amazing passes in the match just now! It was quite hard to believe that they were the same person.
"Guys! Go away! I have to talk to Michiyo-chan!"
It was the pink-haired manager again. This time, she looked quite pissed though. Ah, she probably wanted to continue talking to her about her arranged marriage to Akashi Seijuro.
"No, I want to talk to her as well!"
It was the hyperactive, handsome boy, Kise Ryota.
"No, me first!"
"Why? I want to."
"Me!"
"Me!"
The bickering went on forever until finally, a loud voice once again commanded,
"Stop, the both of you."
They immediately stopped as Akashi Seijuro glared at them.
"The gym is an inappropriate place to chit-chat. You can talk to her tomorrow."
"Why? But it has to be now!"
Both Kise and Momoi protested together.
However, the glare which Akashi gave them caused them to immediately shut their mouths.
"Let's go to the convenience store to get popsicles together then. You guys can take turns talking to her over there."
The phantom-like boy, Kuroko Tetsuya, suggested.
"Great idea! Let's go!"
Exclaimed both Kise and Momoi.
"You don't have to come if you don't want to."
Kuroko said to the rest.
"Yea, I'm going home with Satsuki after that."
said the pervertic Aomine.
"I have to buy my new lucky item for tomorrow, I'm coming."
Midorima Shintaro said as he tucked the fluffy bear under his arm.
"Mm, me too. My snacks are running out."
Murasakibara said as he pointed at his bag of almost-finished chips.
As everyone stared expectantly at Akashi, he said calmly
"I have to make sure Michiyo gets home safely. I can't entrust her to you idiots."
"Oh, getting protective I see."
Aomine teased.
Another glare from Akashi shut him up.
That was her first outing with the bizzare members of the Generation of Miracles.
