Shizune laid down patiently on her bed after changing into her night attire, waiting for Akashi who said he will come to her room to give a proper apology which she is, not to sound rude or anything, very suspicious of. What caused him to suddenly do this? She has no idea and she plans to interrogate him about it.
"if you value your life, you will learn to obey me."
Then again, no interrogating. She doesn't want to experience another incident like that since she loves her life thank you very much. 8 o'clock…two hours since I got his mail...oh well. She picked up her favourite Sherlock Holmes novel that she had brought with her and started to re-read it since the male was taking his own sweet time on coming.
Knock, knock.
nn…who is it…
Knock, knock.
Let me sleep, dammit…
Knock, knock.
"alright, alright, I'm coming!"
The girl put her book aside and stomped to the door to answer it, scowling after looking at the time. midnight…who the hell is it?
"what do you want at this— oh. Akashi…"
"who else do you think it was?"
He asked dryly and let himself in the room. The female shut the door and crossed her arms facing the redhead who was making himself comfortable on the bed, a small container he brought was set beside him.
"so? Whaddya want at this time of night?"
"first, fix your shirt. I can see your assets rather clearly from here."
She blinked and looked at where his gaze was directed and hurriedly fix the buttons that were quite revealing her chest before. She then returned her arms to the position they were before and repeated question.
"I already mentioned why in the mail."
"ah. Oh yea…so..you're gonna get on your knees or something?"
"of course not." He scoffed in a rather cold way and stood up. "I just came to give you this. It will be sufficient as a form of apology, I presume."
So you're not gonna get on your knees…and here I was expecting it…"what's this?" She asked, accepting the container he handed over to her.
"find out yourself. My business here is done so if you'll excuse me."
The boy didn't let her say anything else and returned to his & the senior's room. Filled with confusion, the brunette climbed on her bed and opened the container. Her lips formed a small 'o' accompanied by blinking when she saw the contents was a slice of her favourite lemon pie. Then her expression turned into an indescribable face of happiness which she never shows. Ever. Deciding that it wont taste nice if she keeps it for the night and that a midnight snack wont hurt, she washed her hands and took a bite out of the pie.
Holy- this is better than Ren's lemon pie! Why haven't I found the place that sells this thing with such heavenly taste before?
…wait…
The girl gave a good long stare at the item in her and started examining it. Not the kind they use in shops. Rules out the fact he bought it. He got it from someone? No. The container is too…casual for a gift. So that only leaves one possible conclusion:
He made it!? Wait, wait, wait. He couldn't have made it. I mean, why? Yea, it's just in my head. Just in my head.
A moment of silence passed and the brunette started to get nervous.
What if this was really his handmade lemon pie? What if he spent a long time on making the pie? What if he put poison with a delayed effect in it!?
She knew she was just being paranoid but knowing Akashi, it's possible. Very possible. No, she wasn't afraid of him. Yes, she was afraid of his ability to make something with such succulent taste that can defeat Ren's cooking which she has always found to be the best in the world.
The urge to just crash into the room he's in and start questioning him about the pie was there but since her senpai is also in the room, she ceased doing it. After eating it, she decided to go for a short walk outside to let it digest before returning to her slumber.
The day for Rakuzan's match has finally arrived. They were against Shuutoku High. Both teams raced through the first three rounds and the quarter-finals quite easily and now face their first real challenge. According to the info Shizune got, Midorima and Akashi share history as vice-captain and captain and played a lot of shogi, but Akashi always won.
This is the first time they have to play each other in basketball and she noticed that Midorima is eager to teach Akashi the true meaning of defeat. As both teams enter the gym, Shūtoku is announced as the Legendary King, while Rakuzan is honored as the Emperor of Creation.
"burrrrrrrrrp. U~m. I ate too much.."
"that's gross! And what were you thinking eating that much right before the match?"
"you see, I get my strength from meat"
"anyway, look, look! Look at them! We're screwed! They look super strong! For real!"
"so annoying…"
Shizune watched the three then turned her gaze to Akashi who was going to be a starter since the coach approved of it.
"Shizu-chan, cheer for us okay?~"
Hayama grinned when she gave a nod though it was a very emotionless one. Mibuchi raised an eyebrow at the lack of feeling from the girl. Since morning, there was something off about her. She didn't utter a single word unless a question was directed to her and when she answered, her voice was rather lifeless. Not like the usual proud tone she always used. Before he managed to ask, they were asked to line up to start the match.
"I'm gonna win, Akashi."
"that's impossible, Shintarou. Was there even a single match where you managed to make me surrender?"
"Shogi and Basketball are different."
"It's the same. There was never a single time I said anything wrong. I, who wins everything, is always right."
"then, we will now start the first match of the Winter Cup semi-finals! We will commence the match between Rakuzan High School and Shuutoku High School!"
The tipoff is given and the ball goes to Takao. He faked a drive and leaves the ball in Midorima's hands.
" 'I'm always right?' Don't make me laugh, Akashi. Don't talk as if you know everything, when all you've had was victory!" The green-haired male immediately shoots from the half-court and makes it. He once again declared that he is the one who is going to win and that he will teach Akashi defeat. The captain gave not much reaction to it but instead took a glance at the brunette who was watching the match with a blank expression which was quite similar to Mayuzumi's.
…I'll ask her later…
The 1st quarter continued with Midorima shooting threes as usual, though he refrained from shooting mid-court or full-court shots. During Rakuzan's attack, Akashi brings the ball up-court and faces Takao. Takao was trusted with guarding Akashi, though he was expecting to be helpless, he can contain Akashi enough to shut down a drive. Instead, Akashi sends a pass inside to Nebuya, who scored, leaving the first quarter to end with a 16 – 16 tie.
"There'll be no changes to our original game plan. I'll entrust you with small details of each game play. If there need to be changes, follow Akashi's orders."
"yes sir!"
"here you go, senpai…"
"ah, thanks Shizu-chan~"
"..Shizu-chan, is there something wrong? You look tired.."
"nothing is wrong, senpai…really…" she said, forcing a smile and resumed passing the drinks to the other members which were in the match just now.
"..Kudo—"
"The Break Has Ended. We'll Start The Second Quarter"
"…never mind."
The 2nd quarter started and the Uncrowned Kings started to show their fangs. Shūtoku chose to take the offense and Midorima was suddenly guarded by two players. Takao seemed like he anticipated this and passed to Miyaji instead, who goes up for a one-on-one against Hayama. Miyaji does a crossover between Hayama's legs and passed him quite easily. When Nebuya comes up to guard him, Miyaji passes the ball through to Ōtsubo, who dunks it.
"hey, you better not be sleeping..get your act together" Mibuchi scolded.
"My bad! My bad! My bad!" the blonde said grinning.
"…Kotarou…"
"woah! I'll make up for it! So don't get angry Akashi!"
"then it's fine, but…if you don't get your head in the game, I'm going to…"
Even though his words were heard clearly by those on the court and on the bench, they were muffled in Shizune's ears. Her eyes started to get blurry at the same time and it took all her will power to keep them open. Tsk. During this important match…
A loud noise made her turn her concentration back to the game, barely witnessing Hayama dribbling the ball so fast and hard that it seemed to disappear and while Miyaji was still in awe, Hayama speeds up and passed him. Passing Miyaji, Hayama goes for the basket and encountered Kimura underway, though he simply double clutches and lays it in.
During the next Rakuzan attack, Hayama dribbled past Miyaji once more, lured Ōtsubo out and dished it inside for Nebuya, who finishes. Meanwhile, Takao is panicking and the ball gets stolen by Akashi. Both teams kept on attacking and scoring. After a while, the second quarter and the first half ended with another tie of at 39-39 thanks to Midorima.
When they were returning to the locker room, Rakuzan and Seirin passed each other. Akashi said his greetings to "Tetsuya" and the other returned it. It was obvious Seirin was feeling awed by Rakuzan's aura and kept their distance but the player named Kagami Taiga approached Akashi and looked down on him, literally.
"yo. You better not have forgotten about me. You sure pulled some crazy shit on me back then." His glare intensified as he continued. "Kise and…you too. I'll crush all of you."
"of course I remember you, Kagami Taiga. I do acknowledge your ability but…let me give you a warning"
Noticing he wasn't walking with them, the girl turned to see where Akashi had disappeared to when she saw the confrontation. "Akashi?"
"the only ones that are allowed to look at me in the eye as I speak are those that serve me" the redhead started and put his hand on the taller one's shoulder. "no one that opposes me is allowed to look down on me.."
The eyes of Kuroko and Shizune widened when he easily made Kagami drop onto the ground.
"know your place."
"Kagami!/Kagami-kun!"
"you too, Tetsuya. You'd better be prepared if you're planning to fight me. I'm the first one who discovered you power. You'll come to understand what that means."
"Sei-chan, I know you dislike those who go against you but do refrain yourself from going too far…"
"I know the limit. You don't have to remind me, Reo."
The coach had left to do some business so the team was alone in the locker room with the unusual addition of Shizune. (some of the boys wont let her stay outside alone so they dragged her in) When Mibuchi turned to get his drink from her, he noticed she was spacing out and her head was hung low as she leaned on one of the lockers.
"Shizu-chan? Are you alright? Do you feel sick somewhere?"
"…no..I'm fine, senpai..just a little head…—"
Before she managed to finish her sentence, the brunette's body lost all the energy it had and collapsed on the floor. The members, except Akashi & Mayuzumi who were perfectly calm, rushed to her side and started to panic.
can't move… It's hard to breath…
"She's burning up! Someone get the coach!"
How pitiful…
"Shizu-chan! Hang in there. Shizu-chan!"
Don't you agree…
"Shizu-chan!"
…Akashi?...
ooooookay...this chapter is a bit- idk.
I took the lines during the Shuutoku VS Rakuzan match from the manga and some from the wiki- xD
thanks for reading and hope you liked it!