Chapter 11
-x-
"Sometimes we only hear and see what we want to. Until reality hits us."
~ Anonymous ~
-x-
Twelve Month Six
Every sound on court reverberated. Nijimura was gliding across court towards two heavily panting players. His steps were light and his strides were large. Then, as quickly as he had reached the opposing player, he decelerated quickly and a quick slap on the ball had it switch between hands.
A crossover dribble, followed by turnaround. He nimbly aimed the ball into the basket.
"Woah! What's with that No.4?! He's insanely fast!"
"Even though he was fast last year…It's almost as if he's doubled up his speed this year!"
"Look! He's not the only one!"
The ball was set rolling. Haruka stole it off the other team's point guard, nimbly grabbing it to launch it. The ball met the fingers of the opponent, but that was not his intention in the first place.
"Sushi-chan!" He beamed.
"I got it, I got it~" Atsushi sighed as he leapt up and smacked the ball into the net.
"It's an alleyoop!"
"Are they seriously middle schoolers?!"
"Teiko has some ridiculous first-years this year!"
Haruka smiled.
Sekiguchi, the small forward of the team, was racing forward with unorthodoxed dribbles. Met with defenders up ahead, the smaller forward did not waste time contemplating and immediately flung the ball backwards. In the mean time, the squeaks of his shoes continued as he raced forward, joining Atsushi at the bottom of the basket.
The ball fell towards his direction, but he wasn't stupid enough to think that his opponents wouldn't try to steal it.
From a steal…to another steal!
Haruka jabbed the ball out of the opponent's hands in the midst of the moment of triumph the boy was having.
The angle of his fingers felt just right despite the slippery surface of this ball. Why were they given such poor equipment this match anyways?!
The ball still flew in the direction of their shooting guard, Kubota, the senior vice-captain of Teiko.
He felt a liiiittle bit disappointed, to be honest.
Well, even if the ball didn't land within his hands in the way he wanted it to, Kubota was still a Teiko player in the end and still managed to launch a three pointer shoot from their position.
"As if I'd let you!" One foe shouted, jumping as high as possible to stop the low-angle shot. There was a sound as his finger tapped the ball and made it rebound off the basket.
"Hamster boy, ready yourself for it!" Haruka stifled a chuckle at the nickname Sekiguchi gave Atsushi.
"I'm not a hamster~"
Despite the center's complaint, the duo leapt up.
Sekiguchi got the ball, but the opposing centre's hand met the ball and they simultaneously battled, pushing the ball. The opponent's voice was strained. Something about it somehow just whispered to him that he was already beyond his limit. Sekiguchi, thinking he would lose in a battle of strength, tried to navigate the ball in the other direction, but the action caused the ball to slip out of his hands instead.
"Aaaargh-!" The opponent yelled as he smacked the ball down.
"How stupid." Atsushi scoffed, catching the ball in mid-air. Still mid-fall from the peak of his jump, he flippantly rolled it upwards into the basket. It was another goal for them.
"Amazing! Teiko Middle's awesome this year!" The applause came from above.
"Or rather, with that large centre of theirs, isn't their team completed already?!"
"The seniors are amazing too! No. 7 and 8 have both improved from their games last year! How did they do that so quickly?!"
"From that position too! No. 8's shooting abilities sure improved!"
"Not to mention, that steal at the last second! It's –"
How clamorous.
He focused his hearing on a different direction, furrowing his brows when he heard a hitch in Sekiguchi's breath. The senior was taking far longer than he normally would to recover. No doubt, the game just now had gotten to him a little. It was, if one were to put it harshly, his wimping out that almost caused them a ball. And he had to be saved by Atsushi.
Sekiguchi reached up, wiped his face with his shirt, and pushed himself back up.
"Sorry." He gave a curt nod.
Haruka opened his eyes, leaping forward to slap the senior gently on the back.
"Don't mind, Sekiguchi-sempai!" He cheered.
"Let's just get this over with." Atsushi sighed, puckering his lips in a pout.
The ball was set rolling once more, falling into the opponents' hands.
He had been closing his eyes all this time. He knows how the opponents play now, how No.4 have a tendency to put more of his weight on his left leg, how No. 10 was pushing himself beyond his limits, how No.7 tends to falter for a short moment almost unnoticeable to the naked eye, bouncing the ball with more force than necessary when making fakes-
Haruka reached out to make a steal, and in that second, as his focus zoomed in on what angle to change the ball to, how much spin to place within it, he heard No. 10 coming at them unnaturally.
Why wasn't he stopping? He's going to bump into his friend-
He inhaled sharply, changing both the direction of his body and his fingers before No.10 could ram into the both of them. The ball was sent flying towards Kubota, who made a shoot. But the concentration of the crowd was on No.10, who had crashed face first into the ground.
The whistle blew.
"Referee time out!"
"Oi! Yamamoto, you okay-?!"
A sharp pain throbbed up his fingers as No.7, who he had been stealing from, ran off to help his friend. He parted his eyes without thinking, wincing as the throb left the rest of his arm quivering.
Aaaah…Jeez! And even though they were two-thirds of the way to the most high tension part of the Interhigh too…
A beeping sound came. A flag was raised, and Seijuro was the one holding it.
"Teiko! Member Change, No. 14."
He sighed, pouting as he walked up to switch with the other point guard.
With this, this match had seen all three point guards of theirs out in the game. The senior point guard was still okay having been reserved mid-point for the next match, but with him out of the running next few days, it's definitely going to be difficult for just these two to hold up the team.
The coaches seemed to realize this too and he felt a sharp pang of panic when he saw Shirogane Kozo – not his Shirogane Eiji – lean in towards Sanada, murmuring in low volumes.
He was here to help prevent a second repeat of the past, and yet he just had to be taken out by a finger sprain! How useless was he?!
"Cool your head." Seijuro stated calmly.
"But~!" He whined, unabashed blinking away tears in his eyes. It hurts, okay?! He had a reason to cry.
"Trust the team." Seijuro patted his back. "Even if we exhaust the point guards, we are not lacking in terms of reserve players." Scarlet and amber eyes flickered to the other first years on the bench. Seijuro smiled confidently. "We will not lose."
"Hmph!" He huffed, puffing his cheeks out. He already knew that. "Gimme that! And your mark is No. 7!"
Settling down at the bench, he allowed Sanada to fuss over his fingers and begin the treatment at once.
Throughout this game, there were no deceitful plans laid out.
-x-
"I'm useless, Tsuki-chan. I'm useless…."
Satsuki didn't know what she was expecting that day when she walked into the gym, but it most certainly wasn't Haruka lying face down on the ground. First day of the training camp, and it already seemed to start off badly for somebody. The aura around him was so gloomy she could see the mushrooms sprouting around him, and the amber eyes were glistening with tears as he turned to face her.
"Uwah!" She jumped, almost dropping her documents.
Haruka stared at her for one moment before he turned back to the floorboards.
"I'm useless. I can't do anything. And even though it's the training camp too." He sobbed.
"Y-You're exaggerating, Haru-kun. Come on, it's only for a while, right?" She smiled.
"Four weeks. It's four weeks, Tsuki-chan. Interhigh's almost over by then, isn't it?" Haruka sniffled, and she almost wanted to pity him. Four weeks without his right hand, huh…Two weeks of inactivity plus two weeks of exercises to get him back into shape. Come to think of it, his Karuta would be influenced too, wouldn't it?
"Don't sympathize too much with him, Satsuki. It's his ploy to let himself play." Daiki made a dunk and dropped to his feet.
Haruka twitched.
"P-Ploy?" She asked, looking up.
"Coach Sanada banned him from all physical activities for two weeks for fear that he'd use his right hand." Akashi explained, handing over a list with the day's itinerary. "As a result, Haru's currently attempting to garner sympathies so he could rally against the Coach."
"W-Who said I am?!" Haruka huffed.
"Even for you, that lie is a bit too low-level." Akashi stated, blank-faced, and Satsuki giggled at Haruka's betrayed face.
"Sei-chan, you stingy! Can't you just let me play a bit?!"
"No."
Satsuki felt a laugh bubbling up at Haruka's face. Honestly, with the way he was acting, it was almost as if she was seeing Dai-chan during the rainy season again! All moopy and grouchy without any games…
"Tsuki-chan, you side with me, right?"
"Stop begging for sympathies already, Sorenji." Midorima sighed, tossing another ball. "It's disgraceful nanodayo."
"Forgetting the meanies over there, you do side with me, right?!" He looked on the verge of tears without anyone on his side.
"Pfft-haha!" Satsuki allowed a laugh to escape her before she shook her head, rising to her feet. "Unfortunately for you, I agree with the Coaches too. It's for your own good, so stop thinking about playing already, Haru-kun."
He sulked.
"Why don't you join me on the bench? We might as well analyze the games together since you're free." She offered.
Five minutes later found her focusing on the match between two teams. On one side, there was Daiki and Murasakibara, while on the other, there was Akashi and Midorima. The captain was on Daiki's side, whereas the other two starter players, Sekiguchi and Kutoba, were opposing him. Along with the captain was also the senior point guard, Kumi.
"One point!" Nijimura dribbled the ball. "For now, let's start with one point!"
"That's easy for him to say." Daiki sighed. "And when we're facing Akashi too…"
A dark aura seems to radiate from the redhead as his attention shifted to them.
"Aka-chin is scary…"
Satsuki hid a smile.
Every play and every move were quickly analyzed and recorded. Just by looking at them, she could already pinpoint what might happen in the future, who Dai-chan might end up beating with his streetball and how quickly various players learn. At the front, naturally, was Dai-chan and the other first-years. The second-years followed at a slightly slower pace, but were still faster than the average player they encountered on the street.
"Tch! To think I'd be facing you…" Midorima glared daggers at Daiki as he retracted the ball.
"Just shoot if you can." Daiki grinned. "I'd be stopping your balls from now on."
Midorima took a back step and leapt up, fingers rolling as he flung the ball at the basket.
Daiki tried to stop it, but it's obvious from the look on his face that he's shocked.
It's subtle, but while Midorima-kun was still tossing from the mid-court line as his maximum, his speed has been growing rapidly.
The basket flomped as the ball entered it.
"Murasakibara! Don't just stand there! Stop the ball!" Nijimura scowled. "What are you? A decoration?! Move more or I'll beat the shit out of you!"
Of course, there're times when their antics come to play as well. Satsuki smiled exasperately at the sight.
"Mm~ You should include their habits as well."
"Ah! E-Eh?" She jumped. She had been so focused she forgot that Haruka was by her side…
Round ambers were peering down at the leaflets she had been holding onto, scanning the page.
"Dai-chan likes to dunk, and when he does, he always tends to twist his ankle a little bit more. The resulting effect is a squeak of higher pitch. Sushi-chan hates moving, and subconsciously, that translates to a little less jumping power. He only jumps higher when the match is critical…"
"Eh~ But it's so troublesome." Mukkun yawned.
"I assure you, your injuries would be more troublesome when I get to you!" Nijimura snapped.
"…Or when the Captain threatens him." Haruka ended.
"Hah…"
Amber shards shifted as the match continued.
"Like most people, the Captain places a little more weight on one feet whenever he's about to make a fake. The result is a sound that's slightly deeper than normal."
As if to prove his words, Nijimura switched directions. Satsuki couldn't detect any difference in sounds despite that.
"Sekiguchi-sempai is easily influenced by emotions, and when he's about to make a three pointer, he always breathes in deeply. Otherwise, his breathing is always light." Sekiguchi stole the ball and immediately made a three pointer, since Kubota was screened.
"And Shin-Shin takes longer to shoot after every ball; though I'm surprised you didn't note that."
"Eh…" Satsuki watched with wide eyes, writing down the things he mentioned. "But…How did you know?"
"I hear them." Haruka smiled softly. Hear…? "When I close my eyes and listen, I can hear every pant and the squeak of their shoes. The sound also rebounds whenever we press our feet down on the floorboards. Patterns become clear when you've listened to them for a while."
"But…" Normal people don't just hear minute things like that. Does Haruka perhaps have hypersensitive hearing? No, but even then…It takes quite an amount of experience for one to be able to pick up and recognize the various sounds on court.
Satsuki smiled and looked down at her clipboard.
"Come to think of it, Haru-kun has been playing since young, right?" She asked.
"Younger than I can remember." He beamed. "The same with Karuta too."
"Then…You're the same as Dai-chan then." She smiled, blinking before correcting herself. "Aomine-kun, I mean."
"Hm? Did Dai-chan ask you to change his nickname or something?" Large ambers blinked at her rapidly, cocking his head in question. He narrowed his eyes, lowering his voice. "Like: 'Satsuki, I'm growing up and it's not proper for us to be this close, so call me Aomine from now on'…Or something like that?"
"What's up with that?" She giggled, covering her lips. "That's not like Dai-chan at all."
"Then, is it… 'Stop it with the 'Dai-chan' already…We're like, how old already?'" He pretended to scowl in annoyance, ruffling his hair.
"Haha! That sounds like him! Although it kinda stinks of old man too…" She bowed over in laughter. "But that's exactly like him!"
"The two of you sure seem like you're having fun. Let me join you too." The sudden voice behind them made her jump. As for Haruka-kun…He seemed to already have noticed the head coach coming over to them. Or rather, the head coach!
She jumped, suddenly remembering one item on the list of thing Akashi had handed her. Satsuki looked down at her watch, panicking when she realized it was past the accorded time already. The second-string practice should have started by now!
"Ah! I'm so sorry. I almost forgot to pick up the newcomer from the second-string! Please excuse me, Coach Shirogane!" She gave an urgent bow before running in the direction of the other gym. Hopefully, they hadn't already started any games with him on the team.
"Be careful, Tsuki-chan~!" Haruka laughed as he waved after her, and she smiled despite herself as she waved back.
-x-
Haruka carefully maintained his smile as he turned to the other man, who came down from his platform for the first time since he entered the team.
"Good morning, Coach Shirogane~!" He beamed.
"Good morning to you too, Sorenji-kun." The man looked amused despite the weariness tinting the corners of his eyes. "You can drop the act already. In the first place, it's not like I don't know what motive Ren has for scouting players for this team. You…He scouted you in order to make this team stronger and to protect it from me, isn't it?"
Haruka did not let his smile falter in the least.
("I know it's selfish. But…it's the only solution we could think of!" He peered down at the white head that was lowered, parting his lips in shock.
"You are strong. I acknowledge that. You beat me at such a young age, and I can only imagine how much stronger you are now." Ren breathed and lifted his head, purple orbs meeting him in the eyes. "Maybe you hate basketball now because it bores you. Maybe, you only play for the sake of playing now, rather than for fun. But…please…join Teiko in the next batch of students!"
Haruka curled a lock of orange around a finger, looking down at the young adult with a frown.
"Hey…Ren-nii…" 'Ren-Nii?' The man seemed to think, brows twitching in annoyance. "Teiko's already aplenty strong even without me. They've been winning championships and nationals, all under the lead of that head coach of yours, Shirogane Kozo."
The man's fist tightened ever so slightly by his side. Hm…Curious.
"Why do you still think you need me?"
It's not like he didn't want to join, but he just wanted to know.
"The reason…is…" Ren breathed again, shaking his head. Slowly, his fists unclenched and the man looked down. "The reason is because we're weak."
"Oh?"
"You've seen it for yourself, how we ended up crushing other teams into the ground with psychological attacks." It was unintended, but now they realized, he guessed. "Even before our batch, that's been Teiko's style for years and years…All under the hands of Coach Shirogane. Of course, that's not to say that all the blame should rest with him, but…The only reason why he had to resort to that was because we were too weak."
Haruka felt his eyes soften. Clearly, Ren had done a lot of reflection about that. Then, he'd gone on to become the captain to help the team grow stronger, to protect them from being hurt and hurting-
- and then, he lost to Haruka.
"I know you probably would want to join other schools." Ren admitted. "With how freakishly strong you are, joining an already strong school would only defeat the purpose of playing. You wouldn't be able to find other teams that can stand on equal grounds with you. But please-!"
Ren looked up to him with gritted teeth.
"Teiko needs you there to make sure that they're strong – so that Coach Shirogane won't ever end up crushing them with his actions again!"
His lips parted and closed.
"No way in hell!" He laughed, sticking out his tongue childishly.
"Gah!" Ren looked pissed.
"Now, shoo, shoo! Go away, you stalker!"
"You little brat…! How could you say that even after I spilled my guts to you-?!")
Haruka wondered if Ren ever realized.
The fact that he's addressing Shirogane by 'Coach' even when he was trying to convince him.
It can only point to an act of brainwashing…or the Coach had really come off as that good of a person in Ren's eyes.
Haruka closed his eyes in the smile, ignoring Kozo's puzzled look, and beamed.
"Please don't get the wrong idea, Shirogane-san." The name tasted bitter in his lips. He hated associating his Eiji with his man. "I'm not smiling or acting for your sake. Instead, this is all for Sei. You see, Sei-chan is very sneaky, so he'd figure out if something's wrong. When that happens, it's your head that's off."
"…Is that so?" Kozo put on a bright smile too, plopping himself down by his side amiably. "Well, I'm sure the little redhead isn't that vicious."
"Sei can be very vicious when he wants to be." He replied with a smile full of teeth. "And so can I."
"Ahahaha." Haruka beamed as Shirogane laughed. "Big words for a boy who's a limb down."
Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see scarlet eyes flickering to them as if noticing the dissonance that was in their conversation. He made sure to return a reassuring look and a cheery wave that helped Seijuro return to the game. Sighing as the balls continued flying, he folded his arms. He swivelled around on the bench so his face would be facing away from Sei and his children.
"So~ For what reason might you be here?" Fierce ambers took in the slitted eyes, shadowed by orange curls. The older man's lips parted but he interrupted. "And I highly doubt you've come down from your high perch just to listen in on Satsuki and my conversation, so please tell me the truth."
Closed eyes parted to reveal onyx. Kozo gave a serene yet unreadable smile.
"Come on now. Must you fault an old man for being interested in the conversation of a young couple?" He asked.
"When said old man is just another sly fox, yes, I most definitely feel like I must." He snapped, narrowing amber eyes warily at the other. "To begin with, I was never under the impression that you were innocent, ever. You took Ren and his friends in, made them attached to you somehow, and used them to defeat others. The only reason you did that was because they're weak? Heh. More like to save your own career."
A man who was respectable enough to gain some loyalty would never crush his opponents with such dirty tricks, muchless use kids of Sei's age. Ren could try to defend him all he likes, but the truth was, Shirogane Kozo was another deceptive adult abusing his charges to get by.
"You best pay attention to how you phrase your words, young Sorenji-kun." His proof of that? The constant smile on the old fox's face tightened ever so slightly. "For all the influence you hold, you are treading on a very thin line right now."
Haruka pursued his lips and scowled.
So he didn't even have freedom of speech now?
"I know that even though you are one of the esteemed grandsons of Akashi Kizaki, you're as disposable to him as about anyone else. In fact, all he cares about is that young Akashi. The rest is useless."
He bit his lip, narrowing his eyes.
"…Is that what you came to tell me? That my position in the basketball team is not secure?"
"The contrary." Kozo's smile turned kinder as he backed off. "In fact, if anything, your spot as our regular is very much guaranteed. With your abilities and skills, I see no reason to deal a bad hand to our team by putting you off the bench."
"Wha-" He was getting unravelled. But that on the other hand meant he was losing.
Haruka inhaled deeply.
"What does that mean, Coach?" He smiled brightly.
"It means just that, Sorenji-kun." Kozo beamed back. "Thank you for your work all this time. Please continue to work hard and help pull this team forward."
Wha-…Haruka felt a childish urge to bite off the man's hand when he went as far as to ruffle his hair before walking away. What the hell…
The tacit words that Kozo had carefully implied irked him.
He came down just to tell him to work hard and make this team stronger…so he won't have to intervene, is it? Haruka could feel his brows twitching rapidly, almost dancing with all the aggression the man had instilled in him. Aaaah! He wished he could move! He wished he could run and jump and play basketball so he'd at least be able to take his anger out on something!
That irritating old man!
Kozo chuckled from his high platform, and the laughter pissed him off slightly.
Just you wait…He'd protect the miracles from both themselves and this sneaky old man if it's the last thing he does!
-x-
And then…Besides that one, there was another slippery guy here too.
"Ho~ So this is the first-string." Beady dark eyes scanned them, a slow grin coming to his face. "I'm Haizaki Shogo. It's nice to meet you, sempai (seniors). Now, whose uniform do you think I should take?"
Annoyances.
Annoyances were everywhere.
Haruka huffed, leaning back against Atsushi, flat out resting his weight against the much larger boy.
"You're light, Haru-chin." A large hand came down patting his head carelessly. Even then, it was gentle, as if Atsushi was cautious of his own strength. Haruka grinned up at him. "You should eat more, so you can become big like me~"
"Like it or not, that is an impossible notion for Haru." Haruka huffed and pouted at Seijuro. Should he take offense to that? He should, shouldn't he? Scarlet eyes flickered to him, amused. "Genetics simply do not enable him to."
"Or rather, stand on your own feet. It's your hand's that injured, not your feet, right?" Daiki drawled.
Beside them, the other seniors were also entering discussions of their own, blatantly tossing looks of irritation and mumbles at the newcomer. If he was going disrespect them so obviously, it goes without saying that they had no reason to pay much care to him either. …Not to mention…He was still slightly annoyed from earlier.
"I'm not leaning against you, Dai-chan, so who cares~?" He pouted.
"Lazy-" Before Daiki could retort, Sanada clapped his hands for their attention.
"I know this one seems less than pleasant," To emphasize his point, Sanada smacked the back of his head. Haizaki cursed at once, only to be smacked again. Haruka decided he would revise his opinion of Sanada afterall. "But the fact is that his skills are up to par. If he steps out of bounds, he will be disciplined like everyone else, of course, but otherwise, remember our motto. 'Winning is everything'. If it requires him, then so be it."
Haruka pursued his lips, narrowing his eyes.
He had never thought of it like that, but was Haizaki the first cornerstone in setting the miracles down this mindset?
A chorus of reluctant agreement was returned.
"In the time being…" Haruka ducked when the captain looked at him. Eeek! "Sorenji, look after him and guide him as his mentor."
Wha…
"Sorenji, you say?"
Their gang of mismatched teens looked down at him in surprise
He could feel his eye twitching rapidly as he looked at the delinquent. The captain wanted him to look after this slippery guy? When he strangled ladies and hit people without a care for basketball? When he's down a few fingers?
"…Captain, yadda (I don't want to)~!" He whined, grinding his head against the captain's shoulder. "Come on! I'm injured, aren't I? Lemme rest for just a little while longer~!"
"That that gives a whole new meaning to bullheaded." Shintaro sighed.
Haruka ignored him.
Nijimura sighed.
"Sorenji-"
"Heeeh~ You hate me that much?" Haizaki gave him a grin full of teeth and even tongue. "Or rather, a midget like you's on the team?! How weak is this team?!"
The other players were tensing, taking offense to his words. Frankly speaking, Haruka didn't really care. Let the guy go dig his own grave. The insult to this team though? Well, he knew Seijuro would take care of that, so for now, he just wanted to salvage what he could of himself while it's still possible.
Nijimura smacked Haizaki in the face, adding to the long list of abuses the boy already suffered. Haruka felt no sympathy for him.
"Just deal with it, Sorenji." Nijimura ignored the cries from the guy. "I know he's irritating, but you're the only one who's free around here while you still have that injury of yours."
"But-" He bit his own tongue before he could continue.
Looking at Satsuki, he pouted. Knowing what Haizaki was like, he'd rather die than let a girl be submitted to him.
"I want a whistle in case things ever get dangerous." He informed the captain curtly. Not that he couldn't handle himself, but around Haizaki and with only one arm? He got the feeling that it's best to stay around Atsushi whenever possible. "And decrease my ban to one week."
Nijimura looked amused.
"I'll decrease it by a day."
"One week."
"Two."
"One week, captain~!" He whimpered, tears budding in the corners of his eyes.
Wasn't it enough that they took away his basketball and were going to make him suffer Haizaki?
"Sushi-chan, Hai-chan and Shuu-chan are working together to bully me!" He mock-cried, jumping towards the giant. ("Hai-chan?!" He loved how the teen spluttered.) If there was one thing he liked about Atsushi, it was how innocent and genuine he was in everything. Maybe a bit cunning too. A large hand touched his shoulder and he sneakily placed a sweet into Atsushi's pocket.
The giant made a fierce look at the captain.
"…I get it." Nijimura had a tic mark on his head as he sighed. "I'll decrease your ban to a week. Is that enough for you?"
"Yay! I love you, Captain~!"
"Manipulative little brat." The captain grumbled.
-x-
Daiki decided he didn't like Haizaki Shogo.
They went through the harsh morning routine – or rather, the Head Coach sure is strict. He didn't think it was possible for their already tiring training menu to be made ten times more difficult, yet Head Coach Shirogane just somehow still managed to do it.
Throughout the actions, Haizaki managed to keep up with them. He's tough, Daiki will give him that, but what truly irked him was how he played.
"It's mine~!" The slur in his voice held a smug quality the freak's always carried, yet it somehow grated more on Daiki's nerves, making him feel constantly up on his guard.
Daiki panted as he sidled up to Murasakibara, sweat pouring down both their faces.
"Haizaki…*hah*…is seriously annoying." That's the first time he saw eye to eye with the centre.
"He's stealing move after move from us." Daiki responded, gritting his teeth. "And to make it worse, our amno's only shrinking because of him."
To add another straw to the camel's back, Midorima, the Captain, and the Head Coach were there on the other side too.
"Purple Team, time out!" The referee cried.
It was a full game with all four quarters. A mock game, to put it simply.
"Here, your waterbottle~" Daiki blinked when a cool bottle was shoved before him.
The freak -…Haruka, he supposed he should start using his name already, beamed up at him.
Hmph. Of all possible times for him to injure himself, it just has to be that game. Without the freak here, this game was only made all the more impossible.
"Thanks." He took the bottle. Haruka's smile widened.
"Were you allowed to be here?" Akashi asked wryly, accepting another bottle from the orange haired teen. "Even though Haizaki is our foe?"
"Hmmm~" Haruka placed a finger on his lips contemplatively. "To be honest, I don't really like Hai-chan, so I guess I'm on whichever side that's opposing him?"
Daiki choked on a mouth of water.
"You? Not liking someone?" He drawled, incredulous. That's almost the same level as the world ending!
"Did he do something?" Akashi narrowed his eyes, and Daiki inched back at the gleam that came into them.
Haruka plopped himself down and snuggled up closer to the redhead, but everyone else only flinched away. Daiki had heard from Satsuki in passing, how certain people who attempted to touch Haru had transferred away or had their parents bankrupted back in Teiko Elementary. Ever since then, no one dared to incur the wrath of the red haired teen, though Daiki's pretty sure the redhead's personality and intimidating eyes also have to do with half of that.
"Honestly speaking, I don't like the way he looks at Tsuki-chan~!" Haruka confessed in a light hearted tone, but the smile on his face dropped. He leaned back onto the bench. "Not to mention, the way he treated us and you guys…Some discipline needs to be in place."
Daiki gulped at the shadows lurking in those eyes. Honestly, he kinda pity Midorima for being placed on Haizaki's team now. Or rather…
"He did something to Satsuki?" Daiki narrowed his eyes as well.
"Eh? No…he didn't…" Satsuki looked away, and that was the telltale sign of discomfort already.
Daiki gritted his teeth, glaring at the opposite bench furiously. Satsuki was thick-skinned ever since they were young, probably from looking after him. It took a lot to unnerve his childhood friend.
"It's just a few careless comments, I'm sure." Haruka laughed, but it's clear he doesn't believe in his own words. "And a few vulgar gestures too…"
"And…what of his basketball?" Akashi's eyes slid over to the other, carefully navigating around the topic.
They seemed used to such discussions.
"Oh?" Haruka blinked. And laughed airily, popping flowers all over the place. "It's good. In fact, if anything, I envy him for it!"
"What?" Daiki blurted out, wide-eyed.
"You envy him for it?" Sekiguchi looked shocked too. Even Akashi seemed perplexed.
Haruka laughed at their faces, tilting his head towards Coach Sanada.
"Heeheeheee~! They looked pleased~!" It was a throaty snicker that made agitated him. Why were they made fools of?
The Coach cleared his throat and looked down at them sharply.
"You didn't think we'd let him play without weighing the pros and cons, did you?" Sanada crossed his arms. "Think for yourselves! This is meant to be a hands-free game without coaches!"
Daiki felt a protest well in him and die away. With a soft tut, he looked away. He'd been playing without a coach all this time, it surprised him that he got so used to relying on them. But the Coach is right. Even if there's help in a formal game, they need to start thinking for themselves.
"…Stealing…" Akashi suddenly murmured, a look of intense concentration on his face.
"Hm? Sei seems to have gotten something?" Haruka hummed.
"Momoi-san," The redhead turned to Satsuki. "Do you have a list of moves he had stolen so far?"
"Ah? Yes, I do, but…" Satsuki handed it over and the redhead skimmed the page. Curious, Daiki peered over his shoulder and squinted at the words too. He wasn't all that good with data-based basketball, but…
Oh.
Dark blue eyes widened. A slow grin came to his face.
So that's it. Their solution to defeating that slippery snake.
"What? What? What is it, Aka-chin~?" Murasakibara drawled behind them.
"…I see." Akashi seemed to get it too.
But…what to do…
"This is bad." Daiki sighed, scratching the back of his head. "I've only got a couple of moves like that too."
"…What kind of moves is it?" Kubota, the other vice-captain, asked softly.
"They're moves that would defeat Haizaki once and for all." For all the polite words that made up Akashi, the scion sure didn't hold his bloodlust back at all. Daiki smirked at the sharp gleam in scarlet eyes that were slowly hardening into piercing rubies. They seemed just like the amber flames he saw that day. Pulling the others in, Akashi lowered his voice to a whisper. "The key to this is to understand Haizaki's style…"
The first ball of the second half went to them.
Daiki got the ball which Murasakibara smacked down, smirking wryly as he dribbled it past the captain with a crossover and turnaround, like how the captain always was so fond of using. The captain smirked and caught up to him easily. As usual, his speed was incredible.
"You think I wouldn't know the weakness of my own move?" Nijimura scoffed.
"Not at all!" Daiki laughed. "I knew you would come at me, Capt'n!"
He slammed the ball behind himself, smacking it with his elbow straight at Akashi's direction.
As anticipated, Haizaki came up to steal the ball, smirking widely as he raced up to Sekiguchi and did a crossover and turnaround combi.
"That disrespectful brat-!" Nijimura gasped, eye twitching with indignation.
"Sorry, Capt'n!" Daiki apologized, because he felt it was warranted.
Knowing the Captain, Nijimura had most likely demanded Haizaki to not copy any of their team's moves in the first timeout they had, yet Haizaki still went ahead and did it anyways, if only cause Daiki executed it. (The idiot was decreasing the team's overall firepower and he didn't have a single idea about that.) Daiki didn't have any bad intentions, but it was necessary for their plan to work.
As predicted, a pale finger jolted out and stabbed the ball away from Haizaki just as he begun turning.
Sekiguchi caught the ball with a smirk, immediately throwing a three pointer.
"…What…?" Haizaki dropped his smug look for the first time. "You…!"
Dark eyes turned to see smothering rubies.
The basket flomped as they scored.
Akashi, bless him, gave a look to the grey haired teen as if he was far beneath him and turned, jogging back into position.
In the next game, just as they thought, Haizaki attempted to repeat Akashi's move when Daiki carried out the crossover-and-turnaround combi on him. (He scowled at how rusty the motions now came to him, slower and more ragged than ever after seeing Haizaki's copy.)
A flimsy hand shot out.
Instead of meeting the ball, it bumped into Daiki's arm.
"Foul!" The referee blew the whistle. "Illegal use of hands, Haizaki-kun!"
"What the hell?!" Haizaki spat, eyes seething as they narrowed at him.
"…Well, it's not what we intended, but it's working so I guess it's fine." Daiki scratched the back of his head, smirking wryly at the look of annoyance the other player shot him.
("Haizaki's plays are focused mainly on stealing the low and middle levelled moves, where he'd then adjust its rhythm to match his own, transforming it into a high level play with his naturally athletic body." Akashi explained, leaning on his knees. "Put simply, what this means is that he takes our moves, levels it up into a more sophisticated move, and executes in such a manner that we subconsciously try to accommodate and copy it."
"In other words…It's just psychological play?" Sekiguchi questioned warily.
"Not really." Haruka intervened cheerfully. "In order to do this, what one needs to begin with is the required build, total understanding of the move, and total control of the limbs, right down to every tendon and nerve. Hai-chan has that, that's why he's able to tune himself to a rhythm that overwhelms and crashes our system."
"I see… – Or rather, I thought you weren't helping us?!" Sekiguchi flipped.
"Sei and Dai already figured it out, so I thought I might as well~!" Haruka whistled flippantly.
"Don't change your mind as you like!" Sekiguchi screeched.
"…And that's why you were fond of his play. Because it has much potential." Akashi looked over his shoulder to the standing Haruka.
"That's right~!" Haruka sang, leaning against the other boy so they were back to back. "Although…I do think it's a pity. Afterall, of all the options Hai-chan could have chosen, he opted for the most destructive path." He sighed dramatically. "What a pity, what a pity!"
What other styles did the freak see? …He shouldn't think about that now, he guessed.
"I still don't understand." Murasakibara said.
"What don't you understand? I'll help you out." Kubota offered.
"Everything~~~"
"Are you kidding me?!" Sekiguchi exclaimed.
Daiki pulled the towel away from his face, dazed eyes smiling at the challenge before him.
"In other words," Daiki summarized. "What we need to do right now to is to bring out all the big guns." He looked at Akashi. "That would mean moves requiring much intellect." He glanced at Murasakibara and Haruka. "Moves that do not fit Haizaki's build." He looked at Sekiguchi and Kubota and smirked at the opposite bench, where Nijimura was shooting orders. "And moves that are highly levelled.")
Now that they know Haizaki's weakness, he's basically doomed.
Daiki smirked up at the increasingly agitated player, dribbling the ball low on the ground.
"This is for touching Satsuki!" He said, referring to that foul they gave him.
He lowered his centre of gravity before hunching back down and doing a formless shoot into the basket. Sekiguchi was there to do an alleyoop with him.
"And this…is for underestimating Teiko's first-string players, Haizaki!"
*Flomp!*
The ball went in.
-x-
The ring of his phone caught his attention.
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[Today 5.05PM
I've secured you a job, Kise-kun!
It's an advertisement by one of the biggest sports brand in Japan, which will be taken at Tokyo Dome tomorrow at 10AM. Apparently, the company's boss saw the picture which I sent and decided that they want you! It's a special release since it's their anniversary, featuring the next generation, so you'll be modelling with the boss' relative!
I'll come pick you up at your house tomorrow at 9AM, so make sure to be there! – Manager-san]
.
…
"How dull."
He slumped back on his desk, face planted over his homework.
If he had known the summer vacation would be this boring, he would have joined one of those clubs in school. It would at least have curbed his boredom a little.
-x-
"Earth to Hai-chan, Earth to Hai-chan~! Are you still conscious?" He beamed, squatting over the newcomer.
"Haizaki to Earth…I think I'm gonna hurl…" The boy is pretty pale now that he took notice.
"Earth to Hai-chan~ You better not puke here, cause you'd only be making more work for yourself! There's a rule in this team to clean up your own sweat and puke if they belong to you." Haruka laughed, poking the grey locks with his finger. Hm…They're not natural, are they?
"Sorenji, we're about to go now nanodayo." Shintaro stated as he placed the last of the mops back in place.
"Mn. Go ahead of me! I still needa wait for Hai-chan." He smiled.
"Ya sure about that? The cafeteria's gonna close soon." Daiki stretched, yawning sleepily and slumping thereafter. "Not to mention we still need to take baths and everything. Thank god we don't have to walk home today."
"Hmm~…."
He looked down at the mostly gasping boy.
First day of first-string training camp had evidently taken its toll on all of them (except him, of course), although Haizaki was by far the worst. He may not like Haizaki, but even then, he was still the boy's assigned mentor. And Haruka was anything but unresponsible. …With that said, something else made him waver too.
"What should I do….? I heard dinner today is fried chicken bento too."
"You're seriously deciding based on the dinner menu?" Daiki sweatdropped.
"Fried chicken is important afterall." He replied flippantly.
"Murasakibara." Sei called out smoothly, gaining the purple haired teen's attention. "I'll give you my fried chicken if you'd carry Haizaki to the cafeteria."
"Eh? Really, Aka-chin? Yay~" The gigantic first-year easily slung the downed Haizaki over his shoulder.
"No fair, Sei~!" Haruka pouted, whining at once. "If you were going to give your fried chicken away to anyone who carried Hai-chan there, I would have done it too! Here, Sushi-chan, let me carry Hai-chan, will you?"
"Don't wanna." Atsushi turned his head to the side. "The fried chicken's mine."
"No fair~! I want fried chicken too!" He exclaimed.
"Are you seriously fighting with Murasakibara over fried chicken?" Daiki drawled.
"Fried chicken is important afterall!" He said seriously.
"Don't repeat yourself!"
Haruka laughed at the ridiculous look that was on Daiki's face, alongside the exasperation painted over both Shintaro and Seijuro's faces. It entertained him, how easily riled up these kids were. They entered the cafeteria without event…or not so eventless afterall. Haruka blinked down at the numerous bodies that were strewn around the cafeteria, laughing cheerily.
"Even if you're tired from practice, you'd get a cold sleeping here, you know?" He beamed.
"Who's…sleeping here…" Sekiguchi mumbled.
"…terrible…" Even soft-spoken Kubota was saying something, scrawling something into the ground with the curry he had. 'Help', it said. "…He…lp." He fainted.
"…Don't tell me." Daiki said with growing dread.
Haruka beamed and cocked his head to the side.
"Sa-chin is the one doing the cooking…?" Atsushi paled rapidly, backing away and knocking the glass frog out of Shintaro's hand.
It shattered into a million pieces on the ground.
"GAAH! Kerosuke!"
"You seem to be out of luck and help, Midorima." Seijuro commented bluntly.
"T-This is bad…!" Shintaro gulped. "Oha-Asa horoscope said that Cancers would meet a life-threatening situation should they not have their lucky item on hand. And my extra Kerosuke was already broken by that bastard Haizaki's stray ball today!"
Haruka giggled and picked up a sempai from the ground.
"Well…You know…" He started off, putting the senior onto a seat. "If Hai-chan was the one who caused this entire situation in the first place…Why don't you sacrifice Hai-chan in your own stead~?"
"…That is a good idea, Sorenji." Shintaro shakily adjusted his glasses.
"Do it, Murasakibara, Aomine." Seijuro played along.
It's almost entirely too amusing how the indigo and purple haired players dumped Haizaki's head into the pot of curry with dark waves radiating from it, letting the entire cooling stove topple along with Haizaki's drowning form. The large pot made a metallic clang as it fell to the ground with Haizaki.
"Just what was happening here?!" Sanada appeared from the teacher's lounge. Harasawa and Momoi followed shortly after.
"What were you doing, Haizaki?" Daiki drawled. "I knew you wanted to eat the curry, but you should have known to leave some for us too…Now, look at what you've done."
Said player in question was now turning an ugly purple in addition to the pale pallor he had before.
"Hai-chin…You're such a glutton." Atsushi added lazily.
"It's stupid from the beginning to think you could finish that entire pot nanodayo." Shintaro shifted his glasses.
Haruka wanted to laugh.
Ooooh…He wanted to laugh so badly at what's happening before him. Who knew these three could act so well?!
"We apologize, Coach." Seijuro gave his thousand watt smile and stepped forward. "Haizaki was just so fond of Momoi's recipe, he decided to monopolize it all. He will clean up, and we will set to cook our own dinner. Please don't worry."
Sanada sent the unconscious player a dubious look. Behind his back, Haruka caught Harasawa's eye and winked in a flattered Momoi's direction. His old friend adopted a carefully pensive expression at once.
"So long as you clean up this mess, I suppose." Sanada sighed, exasperated. "Wake the others to go sleep in their own mattresses too. We don't want them getting in the way of the janitors in the morning."
"We will!" Haruka beamed obediently and watched as the trio left, Momoi still looking awfully flustered. No sooner had they disappeared, he burst out into uncontrollable snickers, dropping to the ground. "It's too much! You guys are such terrible bullies to Hai-chan! I approve!" He laughed.
"We had no choice, so what could we do?" Daiki sighed, scratching his head. "Satsuki's cooking is a nuclear weapon."
"In a way, Momoi got her revenge indirectly on Haizaki for his apparent sexual harrassment." Shintaro excused himself. "It serves him right for his vulgar behaviour."
"Or rather…Who will be making our dinner?" Atsushi asked.
Four pairs of eyes avoided him and he pouted.
"I can make a normal meal if I want to, you know?!" Haruka huffed, folding his arms.
"Like?" Daiki asked as if he didn't have any expectations of him.
"Sushi. Omelette rice. Udon." He counted off his fingers. "Pizza. Cake. And…well, many, many more. Despite my invention that other time, I know how to cook."
"And yet, everytime you touch a pan, you end up in your experimental mood." Sei deadpanned. The traitor.
"Just send Sushi-chan or someone to look after me if you really don't trust me!" He huffed. "I'll show you I can make a good dinner for you guys!" Haruka pushed his sleeves up.
"…Midorima, I'll leave it to you." Seijuro looked at the others and sighed. "Murasakibara, Aomine, you're in charge of moving the downed seniors to their allocated sleeping area. I will clean up this mess, as I had promised."
"Akashi…You know how to clean?" Daiki seemed really stunned, much Haruka's exasperation.
"We may be scions, but we know how to be independent too!" He puffed his cheeks out. "Don't you think you're underestimating our commoner skills too much? I'll have you know, I had to be sent to live with my granny in the country for a year and she-"
Two fingers grabbed his cheeks, clamming out the air.
"You're speaking too much." Seijuro warned him.
Haruka blinked and pouted, rubbing his cheeks. That's right. This is another family matter.
"In any case," The vice-captain straightened, clapping his hands not unlike how their head butler often does. "Get to work, all of you. We should get to rest as soon as possible."
"Right~" He skipped into the kitchen, chased after by a disgruntled Shintaro.
"Let me check all your ingredients before you begin nanodayo." The shooting guard said. "Oha-Asa's predictions are always accurate. I must do my absolute best to avoid any risk of threat."
Jeez. Haruka pouted. How bad do they think his cooking skills were?
-x-
Day 2 of Training Camp
Gentle fingers were smoothing down his hair.
He knew that touch.
"…Sheei…what are ya doing…?" He whimpered, flinching as the curtains fluttered to allow a beam of light in.
Somebody, please remind him. Why had he chosen the futon right by the window again? …Ah, that's right. He just wanted to open the curtains and disturb the kids. It'd be fun to see their reactions to that, especially when physical activities were still banned for him and he was still in a 'fragile' state, as deemed by the coach.
"We need to go." Sei said.
The solemnity in his voice made Haruka blink and flop up at once.
Seijuro had his scarlet phone in his hand, scarlet locks tousled ridiculously like his own orange curls were.
"Grandmother sent a message." Sei stated, earning a groan from him.
Their grandmother…or to be more specific, his grandmother from the Sorenji side of the family line was always highly demanding, shooting orders left and right without consideration for their circumstances. He didn't have any grandmother on his father's side of the family, so that's the only person Sei could be referring too.
"What did she say?" Haruka yawned, pulling two entangled curls apart.
"She insists that we locate to Tokyo Dome at once."
Haruka's jaw dropped.
"…I don't know how to play baseball." He didn't think she'd be nice enough to call them there to test out the tourist facilities. Hell would burn a million times before she does that.
Seijuro seemed as entertained as he is confused.
"I mentioned that to her, and here is her answer."
He extended his phone.
.
[Learn. – Grandmother Hiyoko]
.
Haruka dropped his head.
"I should have seen that coming."
"Get ready to move. The chauffeur is coming in ten minutes. I will inform the coach of our absence today." Sei was already on his way out, a small travelling bag over his shoulder and whatnot. Sei is as diligent as always… Seijuro turned his head as he walked out, an amused smile curling his lips. "This should be entertaining."
Haruka stared blankly into space before he flopped back onto his futon.
"Sushi-chan, Sushi-chan…" He whimpered, crawling into the giant's futon beside him.
"Urgh…Haru-chin…?" The giant grumbled.
"I'm gonna die today, Sushi-chan. Who knows what that old witch has planned out for us?" It's just the second day of the training camp too. It's pathetic how the cause of death etched onto his gravestone would be 'Grandmother' instead of manlier deaths like 'training' or 'KIA'. "Hey, Sushi-chan…Comfort me before I die…?"
"….Zzzz…"
…He's already asleep-!
Haruka dropped his head in resignation and sighed, gloomy clouds hovering above his head.
"Just what is gonna happen today…?"
In the opposite side of town, a blonde hummed as he was greeted by his manager at his gate.
The day hasn't even started, and it already seemed to be less boring than the last couple of days.
-x-
A/N:
Update: Not again. (Sobs) Come on. 50 visitors and not a single review within the first hour. The same goes for 'Of Scars and memorials'. Am I really that horrible an author? Is it my fault? Even a :) would suffice, really. I just want to know I'm not facing a wall and writing my story into a diary or something.
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Current Rev/Fav/Fol count is 317/615/656. Thanks for those who did the above actions! Remember to REVIEW for more motivation to write!
Also, this is just shameless self-advertisement, but I would appreciate it if you'd help me out by checking out my new KnB story, Of Scars and Memorials. It's a story told from Kuroko's pov, in a world where people's life experiences are marked onto their skin quite literally, and he explains every mark he gains at each stage of his life. The actual summary is below:
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("I never really got it, those marks of yours." Kagami said, squinting at his back. In a world where people's life experiences are etched onto their skin, rarely do people understand the marks till they're explained. "Unlike mine and the rest, yours seem kinda complex, filled with many things. How did you get it that way?")
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Thanks ahead if you decided to try the story out!
Explanations: I didn't portray Haizaki in a good light and partly, I supposed, is because not many of my readers seem to indicate a preference for him anyways. I actually had an outline in my head of how Haruka would grow closer to Haizaki, but upon closer inspection, it was kinda like meh :P I've had enough of Katchan deviating from canon, and would get tired of Hai-chan doing the same. Haru wouldn't grow close to a womanizer anyways, more so since Haizaki doesn't like basketball to begin with. There's a deeper reason of course, but you'll have to read on to know.
As for Kise…Well, you just know what's gonna happen next chapter. Regardless, I hope you're looking forward to how I portray their meeting. Also, please tell me what you think so far of Haru's elusive Grandmother. (^^)
No time for answering reviews today, but I appreciate all your support! You lent me inspiration for this chapter, and those who suggested ideas should be able to see some part of their headcanons here. Also to IceAurora…Don't think too much about my speed. I'm kinda having my JC-Uni-in-between hols now, so…yeah.
