"Okay... One, two, cheese!"
The lowering of a pink cell phone permitted stilled forms to move and two teenaged girls to skip forth excitedly.
"Uwa! This background really is much prettier!" As they marvelled over the pixels, the appreciation that streamed their faces soon spiralled into bashful exhilaration as a much taller figure shadowed them by peering at the screen over their heads. Taking giddy steps sideways to escape being sandwiched between the strikingly good-looking blonde and brunette, the girls bowed repetitively with grateful humility.
"Thank you so much, Kise-san and Kise-san's girlfriend!" They squeaked, their gazes torn between adoration for the male and envious admiration for his partner. "We're so sorry for interrupting your d-date! W-We'll excuse ourselves now...!"
"My pleasure," Saeri smiled at their sincerity, flapping a wrist dismissively, "and it was of no trouble at all!"
"Thank you so much! P-Please, continue and enjoy your date!"
The younger girls bowed for the final time before making a (rather reluctant) leave, their glances still lingering even as they continued down the street. The remaining couple watched until their backs turned around a corner before Kise faced the brunette beside him with a quirked brow.
"I don't think I've met a girl who would let other girls fawn over her boyfriend so readily and enthusiastically before," he commented with a smiling edge, "even to the extent of suggesting a nicer background to make the photo more memorable. When I get approached by fans during dates in the past, my previous girls would just want to get it over and done with. Some even refused."
"Hn, you're comparing a diamond to glass," self-assuredness radiated off her smirk as she lightly brushed her hair and resumed walking. "When I do something, I do it beyond right. Don't worry," her taupe eyes found his golden ones, "I'll ensure that you'll be the object of the world's admiration by playing the perfect girlfriend. And that includes treating all of your fangirls with neither prejudice nor excessive pride."
"'Playing', huh...?" The model was defenceless against a smirk of his own and he hastened his pace to match hers. "Then, you better live up to the worth of my sacrifices!"
"Please," she scoffed, "I'll exceed them."
He bent slightly to shoot a teasing grin, "with zero dating experience?"
"It's not zero anymore, I'm gaining points right now even as we walk, alright?" The girl countered with equal mirth, "very soon I'll level-up and before you know it, Akashi—"
"Kise?"
The interjection of a third voice compelled both of them to focus their attention in front, and the basketballer widened his eyes in surprise as they registered the pair of all-too-familiar figures, unwittingly allowing a finger to rise and point in their direction.
"Kasamatsu-senpai!? Moriyama-senpai?!"
Liar, Liar
11:11
Two Hours Ago
"I'll commend you for finding out what my favourite dish is," Kise dragged his golden gaze away from the steaming bowl of onion gratin soup to narrow it, unimpressed, at the feline curl on the girl's lips, "but I'm not so cheap to be bought by food."
"But won't you be swayed by effort?" Saeri leaned on the armrests of her chair to inch closer to the blonde, still maintaining her coy grin and ridiculously affectionate tone, "I spent the whole night and car-ride reading reviews to scour the best restaurant in Kanagawa that serves not only the best onion gratin soup, but also the healthiest so my great model boyfriend can watch his calorie count as well. Seeing him well-nourished is so worth the burn on my wallet!"
His flawless cheek twitched with mild irk at the emphasis on certain words. "Um, please stop acting like this..."
"I even travelled all the way here to Kanagawa to see him!"
"No, seriously, stop it. It's kinda disturbing."
He had to tolerate five additional seconds of her uncannily plastic smile before she finally dropped it to retreat to the centre of her seat with a relieving shudder, her voice grating in its normal pitch, "tch, I had to sacrifice my dignity to speak like that, you know."
"Please don't ever sacrifice it again..."
Kise was settled enough by the return of her natural self to finally dig into the waiting dish, nodding at its taste. "This is good! Worth getting me out of the house on a rare Saturday with no practise," he eyed the emptiness on her side of the table, "you're not getting anything?"
"I finished a bowl of salad while waiting for you," the brunette sighed.
"Only a salad?"
"Of course," she ran a palm up and down her abdominal area with satisfaction, "I have to keep this nice and flat for tonight, don't I?"
"I see." With a defeated sigh, the blonde then acknowledged the pointed look she threw him when she said 'tonight'. "Fine, what do you want to know about Akashicchi?"
"Yes!" Saeri squealed with a fist pumped with triumph and leaned towards him again, undiluted attention emanating off her beam. "Tell me everything you know!"
"Everything—that's too broad!"
Kise frowned at the excitable girl in puzzlement at what he could possibly convey. The sensation of holding a metal spoon suddenly occurred to his awareness, and he brought his golden eyes down to the bowl of brown liquid. "Hmm... well, Momocchi once mentioned that Akashicchi likes tofu soup, and hates seaweed? Um, he likes to play shogi and chess and all the like. And he once said that he doesn't like disobedient dogs or something."
"Well, that's...enlightening."
He looked up upon hearing her voice, mild irritation poking his insides when he saw her regarding him with a blasé expression, complete with a slackened posture of supporting her cheek with her knuckles. "You know," he gritted, "usually, when you call somebody out and ask him for help..."
"I know, I know, I'm sorry!" Caught, she sat up straighter. "But I don't want to know about trivial, superficial stuff like that. I want to know more about him, you know? What is Akashi Seijuro really like?"
"You could have said that from the start..." Blinking, the blonde pressed the spoon on his bottom lip. "Hmm, well, to be honest, I didn't really hang out with him that as much as you'd expect in middle school, so I can't really tell you as much as you thought you could get out of me."
Plus, he turned to the side to hide the dimming of the golden glow in his eyes, there's that issue of Akashicchi... Should I tell—
"By the way, just wondering," her speech pulled his attention once again, "was Akashi-kun consistent throughout middle school?"
Her question threw him off balance, the emotion of which he expressed with a frown and widened eyes. "Consistent? You mean you knew that there were two Akashicchis or something like that?"
"Kise-kun, you underestimate me," the suppressed pride and negligence of the core matter she had sported felt so out of place that Kise lost some control over his jaw muscles, "after so many months of observing him, do you really think that I wouldn't notice the shifts in his character?"
He had pinpointed many issues in her proclamation, but fell to address one first without thinking. "...Why are you so proud of being a stalker...?"
"Stalker?" She scoffed derisively, lightly flicking strands of her hair with two fingers. "Please, don't lump me with those typical, pipedream-chasing fangirls and admirers. I'm so much more different and distinguished from them."
"Oh, really now..."
"Of course, they'll always remain wishing to even kiss his feet while I will be advancing my way into the Akashi household."
...
The basketballer decided it his best interests to leave that matter and move on to the next.
"Anyway," stepping back on the more grounded momentum, "it is impressive that you could catch on even without talking to him. Even most of our teammates didn't realise it when he first started to change."
"I noticed that he gets much colder in speech and demeanour when he's dealing with situations that unfold abnormally or something, like when it falls out of his calculations, even if only minutely." Saeri brought a hand to her chin in contemplation as she went through several memories, some stinging her. "And normally, a person sticks to a particular style of speech. Not that Akashi-kun is normal, but to suddenly adopt and switch to a new speaking style without conscious effort, you've got to be a different person or something. There're also many other things that allowed me to make such a conclusion. I don't really know the extent of this splitting of his personality, though. I just know that he's...different."
"Wow," despite the atmosphere, the blonde could not help but comment, "just how intently did you stalk him...?"
"It's not stalking, okay?!" She gritted her teeth briefly in exasperation. "Anyway, what do you mean by 'when he first started to change'?"
Kise exhaled sharply through his nose as he prepared himself to explain. "Well, there was this incident during our second year..."
...
"Taking orders from someone who is only capable of this is something I can't accept."
"The me who is able to triumph over all is absolutely correct."
"W-What happened?"
"Akashi-kun?"
"Anyone who opposes me, even if they're my parents, should be eliminated."
...
Somehow, the recurrence of that memory numbed his tongue and put a stopper in his throat. Am I really supposed to tell her this...?
"Sugiyama-chan..." He started with much difficulty, discomfort strangling him and staining his gaze on her, "I... Well..."
"Ah, ah, you look like you swallowed bitter gourd or something," Saeri sighed and knitted her brows at his easing expression, which she had witnessed hardening and growing oddly pained as though he was remembering a mishap. Quite disturbed, she had decided to forsake her own curiosity with a conceding smile. "It's alright, Kise-kun. You don't have to tell me if it's too personal. I mean, I understand, we aren't exactly...close or anything."
He searched her face for signs of sarcasm or spite, and when detecting nothing but sincerity, the fifth man of the Generation of Miracles accepted her acquiescing gratefully. "Thanks, Sugiyama-chan," he lowered his eyes onto his lap, "it was quite personal."
"Besides, I suppose that Akashi-kun will tell me everything once we start dating," the brunette expressed with her airy certainty and the heavy atmosphere started to ebb. "Husbands aren't allowed to keep things from their wives, after all."
"Hey now, is a girl really allowed to talk about dating and marrying another guy right in front of her boyfriend?" Kise felt a smile gracing his lips again and he recovered enough appetite to continue drinking his soup (which had went cold, but he didn't mind). However, he had one more query to confirm. "But even so, you mean to say that you don't mind the fact that Akashicchi may or may not have some sort of personality disorder?"
"I was quite unnerved when I first realised it," she confessed, laying her chin on her fingers, "but after awhile I sort of accepted it. I kinda thought that even if he was a little psycho, I'll still support him. I mean, even Akashi Seijuro can't be entirely perfect, I guess."
Kise blinked as a pensive glaze covered her eyes, which she directed to the reflective glass surface of the table, reminding him of their talk in the karaoke box.
"But although I knew that there were two of him, I didn't know how terrifying the colder one was until that day when he talked me down in the basketball clubroom." It became apparent that she was conversing with herself more than she did with her companion. "That was really quite a wake-up call..."
Like the previous time, the model kept silent.
Then, blinking as though she remembered that she was in the company of another, the girl decided to conclude the discussion of the current topic, wanting to postpone the weighted emotions that often came with it. With the ardency of her whole heart expressed in a grin, "well, no matter what, in the end, I still like and love both sides of Akashi-kun. Probably even other sides if they existed."
The basketballer took several moments to study her before breaking a sigh.
"You know, the level of your devotion to Akashicchi is unbelievable and scary," nonetheless, he was thankful that they were back on the lighter track again. "And I thought that a girl couldn't like him as much as one of our managers in middle school."
Saeri quirked a smirk and pointed a finger. "That's the difference between true love and ephemeral infatuation."
"Yeah, sure."
No words were exchanged the next few minutes as Kise cleaned the final spoons of his soup.
"Anyway," he dabbed at his mouth, "even if I do tell you more about Akashicchi, I think that you won't be able to know much from it. You have to spend time with him if you really want to get to know him, you know."
"I kinda figured that out just now," the brunette exhaled sharply through her nose, then turned to regard him with an expression that resembled a cross between guilt and embarrassment, complete with a rub on the back of her head. "I should have realised that before making this arrangement with you, I guess. Sorry for calling you out for nothing."
Her unexpectedly compliant response caused the blonde to blink several times in surprise, and upon getting over it, he flashed a small grin.
"Hey, now you're making me feel bad for not being of much help." As an afterthought, he added on a slightly more bitter tone, "even though I've already compromised so much..."
"Come on, it's working out great for you now," she pointed. "If anything, it seems that life feels even freer for you, right?"
"Well, aside from replying to the updates on your love life, which I have never asked for," he widened his smile, "but I have to say that our deal is much better than I would have expected."
The girl simply beamed, which was resplendent enough to further lighten his mood.
"So what are you going to wear tonight? Although Akashicchi isn't the type to fall for looks, you'll still have to look pretty hot if you want any guy to notice you." The model briefly checked the time on his phone. "What time do you have to leave?"
"My family will be leaving at around five-thirty, so I'll have to be in Tokyo by then." Her eyes lit up as though a thought had occurred, "ah, by the way, do you know of any good salons or stylists in Tokyo? I mean, you're a model and all."
"But even so, I'm still a guy, alright..." He averted his eyes in contemplation. "Well, my stylist at the agency does everything for me, so I don't really know any other. Sorry!"
She slumped her shoulders in disappointment. "Aw, man..."
"Even if you get your make-up and hair done at a salon, you'll still have to travel back to your brother's apartment to change right? Will you have the time?"
"That's why I brought my dress and shoes along," she patted the bag occupying the seat beside her, "so I can just change and my father will pick me up from there."
"Oh."
"Ah, I'll have to search the web again," Saeri pulled out her phone and began to tap around, sighing as she did so. "If only I had a fairy godmother like Cinderella or something..."
"Fairy godmother..." It was then an idea struck Kise in his blonde head, and he too picked up his phone to tap on it.
His companion looked up briefly to rest her eyes from their study of pixels, and raised an eyebrow in puzzlement at his lighted eyes and pose. "Who are you calling?"
"Just give me a minute... Hello? Sa-chan? Are you free today?" The boy spoke brightly, and the reply from the other end of the line seemed to fuel the spark. "So you'll be home for the entire day? That's great! Um, can I ask a favour from you...?"
And the description that followed shocked Saeri into staring dumbfounded at the yapping blonde, her eyes growing bigger by the second. "H-Hey, what are you...?"
Hanging up with a huge grin, Kise returned his attention to his gaping friend, effervescent as ever.
"I'm being your fairy godmother! Um, or godfather...?"
To his pleasant surprise and elevating opinion of her, Saeri had resisted greatly to his idea of letting his stylist doll her up, repeatedly insisting that she did not want to trouble him or his acquaintances any further and that it would be quite embarrassing for her. Accustomed to the excited and ready agreements to such an arrangement from his previous female associates (most of whom had actually made the request), the novelty of such adamant refusals simply concretised his desire to help her, and thus the blonde model started to usher the protesting girl towards the subway, where they would take a train to his stylist's apartment which resided between Kanagawa and Tokyo, and so did not impose that much of a hassle on him anyway. His stylist was more than happy to help as well, as she loved beautifying people and saw it more of a hobby than a job, which nullified the brunette's claims of being a burden. Furthermore, his stylist made her excitement to see the model's girlfriend clear to him, which he conveyed to the girl in his persuasion.
Kise himself was eager to see the outcome as well, expecting Saeri to look, -to say the least-, stunning considering her already pretty natural appearance. What he did not expect, however, was to run into his seniors on their way to the train station.
"Kasamatsu-senpai!? Moriyama-senpai?!"
"What a coincidence, Kise," the shooting guard pulled a charming smile onto his lips, but despite his words, it was blatantly clear that he was addressing and interestedly studying the familiar brunette girl accompanying his junior.
"Please look at the person you're talking to, Moriyama-senpai..." The first year ace felt a tick hammering his left temple at the disregard shown to him, but nonetheless recovered quickly enough with a slight pout. "What are you two doing here?"
"Kasamatsu and I were just checking out a university in the east," finally, he redirected his attention to the appropriate receiver, jerking a thumb to the shorter male next to him. "Kobori would have come too, but he's held up by a family event."
"Ah," the junior nodded, correctly deducing that it must be the responsible captain's idea to start searching for reputable colleges so early, "I see."
"Anyway, aren't you going to properly introduce us?"
"Oh, yeah! I nearly forgot," Kise flashed an apologetic grin and focused his attention to the girl on his left, extending a hand towards the opposite pair. "They are my third-year seniors in my club." He repeated the gesture conversely, albeit with uncertainty the second time round. "And this is my... girlfriend."
Saeri, who hitherto had been quietly observing, realised that the two older males were not completely foreign to her mind's registry; she had seen them—very briefly—at the stadium in Tokyo when she went over to collect her pride and dignity (which had unfortunately rotted in the sewage). A light nudge on her shoulder blades from the blonde gently jolted her from her reverie, and she hastily wore a friendly smile and nodded courteously. "My name is Sugiyama Saeri. I believe this is the second time we've seen each other, but the first we've properly met?"
"Ah. You've been quite the frequent topic in our club and school," Moriyama nodded, and Kise swore that his smile was partially identical to the one he had during the joint parties in summer vacation. "Moriyama Yoshitaka, pleasure to finally meet you, little lady."
The brunette felt her smile grow tauter and her insides inexplicably squeamish, even though the male who had just introduced himself was noticeably handsome, possessing a charismatic air even. Perhaps a little too charismatic. It was then the group realised that they had forgotten something, which reminded them of its presence by radiating gamma waves of unadulterated anxiety from the right side of the shooting guard.
The alarms in Kise's head resounded, prompting him to send aid immediately to his poor, quivering captain who looked as though a pike was shoved down his throat when he tried to speak.
"Um, this is Kasamatsu Yukio-senpai," he gestured politely, forcing a chuckle to at least chip the granite tension, "he's not too good with girls. And he kicks me a lot."
It succeeded in its purpose; temper was speared back into Kasamatsu by the pointless introduction, which he justified by unleashing a well-aimed kick to the guileless blonde. "W-Why are you telling her that, you idiot?!"
"Ouch!"
But no matter how you looked at it, it's ridiculous to be THAT nervous around a girl at his age...! Saeri fancied her silhouette greying with disbelief at the memory of the shortest guy's stricken form (which honestly suggested that he had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke), but sympathetic, she sought to relieve the teenaged boy of his nerves as much as possible. Hoping that it will convey acceptance from her, she gave a laugh, which was more genuine than she thought it would be. "Do kick him harder next time. And more."
A cry of betrayal from somewhere on the ground, "excuse me?!"
As though reminded of a female's company, Kasamatsu withdrew robotically, but his body was considerably less frigid, oiled and warmed by her words. Blue eyes repelled dark brown as though they were of the same poles, but he was able to accomplish the feat of replying, even if it did manage a fortepiano in three syllables. "Y-Yeah... I-I will."
"You're a special one, Saeri-chan," Moriyama spoke up, his thin brows hovering and expression light. "Usually the ladies would scream or mumble curses at Kasamatsu the first time they see him hit Kise. I think that also worsened his fear of girls."
"O-Oi! That's enough, alright!"
The brunette simply sweetened her smile to saccharine levels. "Maybe that's why Ryouta picked me."
This girl's good at this... Kise, finally able to stitch the scraps of his dignity and stand, dusted his clothes while returning to his previous position beside the girl, who he eyed with both caution and acknowledgement. However, his action appeared to confuse Moriyama, who in turn was studying the couple, mildly perplexed.
"That's quite a wide distance you two have," he commented, visualizing two feet of dotted lines between the couple, "even though you're usually so affectionate with people. And even just now before we called you, you two were walking as though there's an invisible third person separating you two. That's cold, Kise, do you even treat her as your girlfriend?"
And upon being meted, his observation seared rods of lightning through the couple, overwhelming them with the sense of fear that a deer would have when suddenly confronted with an incoming truck in the middle of the night. Truth to be told, it never occurred to them that they had to galvanise a veneer of romance over their platonic relationship unless head-on confronted with queries, and even when they were, the most they would perform was to latch an arm around the other, a gesture that was increasingly common and friendly in modern Japan. Even the pair of girls from before had to whisper and ask if Saeri was Kise's friend, sister, or girlfriend.
...
This is getting sticky; even though Moriyama-senpai can be pretty silly at times, he's actually quite perceptive, a twitching fit attacked a cheek of the blonde, who was suddenly obliged to shuffle a few steps sideways and engulf the girl with an arm by her shoulders, which he felt were as tense as his own in a basketball match. "Saecchi's quite shy about public displays of affection," he explained, collecting her into his chest and driving golden eyes into hers, which poured reluctance that only she could see. "Aren't you? ...Babe...?"
His arm and left pectoral practically trapped her head and neck in a vice-like clamp of hardened muscles, which when combined with the physical contact and atmosphere, proved insufferably uncomfortable for the brunette. "Yeah, I'm not used to it," she nodded and smiled at the watching seniors before returning her gaze to the model, only allowing the despair to show when it was completely locked to his. "But I promise that I'll learn to be for you..." she prayed that nobody would notice her hesitation, "...Darling..."
"That's not good," the cause of their torture determined, frowning with dissatisfaction all over his sharp face. He was a staunch believer of the glorious and absolute teachings of the Internet, and thus spared no time in imparting the knowledge to his juniors. "Do you know what's the most important factor in any relationship? It's physical intimacy. Skinship, you get it? Skinship." As though for demonstration, he wiped a palm onto Kasamatsu's arm, which effectively transmitted an electrical shock around his body. "Without skinship, a couple won't be able to feel the passion they have for each other, and their relationship will get dull very soon. It provides zest to their love! Not only that, it shows the world that the couple is proud of and comfortable with each other. It's like saying, 'this is my lover', kind of like marking your territory, you know? And..."
JUST WHAT KIND OF NONSENSE ARE YOU SPOUTIIING...?! The exact same thought reverberated through the minds of the first-years, officially cementing the pained smiles and compromising position they have adopted.
"...and that is the ultimate beauty of love, the true joy of having a partner!" Finally concluding his lesson with an airy flourishing of his hand and closed eyes concentrated with emotion, Moriyama regarded the two listeners with parental affection and mentor determination. "No, as a senior, I must ensure that my junior is happy in his relationship. I'll take it upon myself to teach you two the benefits of having skinship."
Even though you have less dating experience than meee! Kise could not fathom just where the shooting guard's mind was at right now. Was it possible that all those unorthodox shots he threw had made his sense and logic unorthodox as well?!
"Alright, I exercise my right as a senior to command you to give Saeri-chan a kiss right now," Moriyama pointed a finger directly in between fiery ember eyes, enunciating the weight of his words with a stern frown. "You know the iron-clad hierarchy of Kaijo, you can't disobey a senior's orders. Kasamatsu's here as police."
"O-O-Oi! Don't drag me into this!" The captain exclaimed angrily at his involvement. But even so, the stare he had imposed on the younger pair was forcefully discerning... as well as curious.
Meanwhile, the Storm God had just waged war on the couple, flooring their senses and rationality with a devastating blast of cannonade in the form of the senior's absurd request. After several minutes of processing, their heads creaked towards each other like dolls which have not been wound up in a century. Being the girlfriend of their junior automatically places Saeri at the lowest tier of the present hierarchy, and considering how she had promised to go along with the fancies of the blonde in their faux relationship, protesting and refusing was an option she could only take if her life was literally in danger. Thus, she settled for controlling the model's mind to protest in her stead through the barrage of telepathic waves she tried to send with wide, warning eyes.
Unfortunately, the unquestionable decrees of rank-respect was imbued so deeply within Kise that he was practically a dog with an electric collar. As much as he dreaded the act—not because he found her undesirable, mind you—and the awkwardness that it would impose on their (unconventional) friendship, obeying one's seniors was a principle of life to a Kaijo regular as bushido was to a samurai. Hence, the blonde was impelled to suppose that they will get over one small peck anyway and replied her psychic spam with an immensely apologetic look.
"What are you waiting for?" And with the gall to even mention it, "we're taking up the side of the street, you know."
I'll make you suffer one day, Saeri promised the unsuspecting senior, sealing the deal with an eerily serene smile. Realising that there was no way out and that this should have been calculated for the moment she decided to enter a pretend relationship, she surrendered and tilted her head to the side to offer her right cheek, the only place she would permit him to touch.
Akashi-kun, the brunette, so conscious of the closing distance between their faces that it fried her neurons, darkly mused on how she could relate to the captain of the Titanic when he watched and went down with his sinking ship, I am sorry.
The approaching warmth of his skin was fire on hers.
...
Her heart was palpitating in her ears.
...
Her mind was a whirlwind of chalk.
...
It was Armageddon inside her entire being.
And then, she felt it.
Initially, it was as though an intangible force had dipped her cheek; there was nothing but a brief dent on her flesh, but whatever it was, it ceased all internal chaos within her. It stopped it. It extinguished the fire, only to light another one itself. Her skin then began tingling, even when she was aware that he had returned her breathing space. Impossibly, it was simultaneously hot and cold, but it neither burned nor froze. It did not even sting. It was almost... pleasant. Nothing on her emotional radar, but it was insane physically and to an extent, psychologically.
And then, a tidal wave of squeamishness came crashing down onto her.
"Oh my God, Ryouta, that was so embarrassing!" To an outsider, Saeri simply appeared to be a love-struck girl showing affection by rubbing her cheek on his sleeved bicep like what a cat would do, smiling away giddily. However, dive deeper and Kise knew, -with another annoyed tick-, that she was wiping the spot he just kissed on him. Am I that repulsive?!
"Anyway, look at the time!" The brunette wrenched herself free from the model's grasp with the ferocity of a jaguar tearing poacher nets apart. All three males noted that she barely glanced at her watch. Audibly crushing Kise's fingers in her hand, she bowed and smiled apologetically at his seniors and lamented in an excessively emphasised tone, "I'm so, so, so sorry, but Ryouta and I have to make our leave right now. It was nice meeting you, Moriyama-senpai, Kasamatsu-senpai."
When she straightened her back, the wintery glare she had crucified the taller senior with was so fleeting that he was quite sure he had imagined it, along with the premonition of death that flashed alongside. What she offered now was a sweet, amiable smile. "I hope to see you again."
Before Kise could even perform his farewell nods, his arm abruptly served as a makeshift leash as the girl dragged him effortlessly by it, and he was forced to shout and wave out his goodbyes which decreased in volume and willpower as they travelled the distance. "S-See you guys on Monday!"
Their sudden departure clocked in a total of three minutes each for the two third-year basketball players to realise. And Moriyama, still flummoxed and dazed, said subconsciously in the most feathery of tones, "you know, maybe the internet is wrong about skinship after all."
And replying with equal lightness, "perhaps."
...
"LIKE HELL, YOU IDIOT!"
A/N: Omg this chapter has so much dialogue it should be a script LOL
Okay, my thoughts on this: I personally feel that this chapter's a little draggy and longwinded, especially with the Kise and Saeri part when they're talking about Akashi. But no matter how I try to, Idk how to cut parts out without disrupting the flow of the story. I guess you can liken it to the deliberately dragged parts of the KnB anime to fill the time quota *shot and stabbed horribly*. Yet on the other hand, I'm very pleased with myself for coming up with the Kise-Saeri Moriyama-Kasamatsu scene =w= So she meets his team... After re-reading the Kaijo parts of the first KnB Replace novel, I'm SUPER pumped up with writing more Saeri-Kaijo scenes omg I already have an entire chapter planned out for it but I can't get it out without starting on the earlier parts of this story first ARGH DX
AND OH MY GOD. I must apologise to all of this story's readers. I have failed you all and made a huge anachronism mistake. I didn't realise it until re-reading Kaijo in Replace too. You know how in the prologue the story starts somewhere during/nearing the end of Interhigh? Well I just realised that the Interhigh ends in late July, and JUST BEFORE THE START OF JAPANESE SUMMER VACATION OMG HOW COULD I HAVE MADE EVERYBODY GO TO SCHOOL LIKE THAT. I am so sorry OTL I'm going to edit the prologue once again. I'm changing it so that Rakuzan's invited to play as a guest player for some basketball event at Tokyo which is on the first week after the holidays. Omg. *cries*
And I must now address the characters. ARE KISE, KASAMATSU AND MORIYAMA IN CHARACTER?! Moriyama's the one hogging the screen time in this chapter, so he's particularly crucial. ARE THEY FINE? TT0TT Did I make Moriyama too much of a cuckoolander? I think I got Kasamatsu quite alright though, I mean, he can't even look at his class photos cos there are girls in it LOL OMG THAT BABY :'D And I have no idea what Kise's stylist's name is but she looks like a Sa-chan to me Idk why LOL
And a huge, huge, huge thank you KHRLover1997, Marquise de Nile, princess thieves of heart, ReneexKirkland, Xsier, Ninja99, Devilish-S, Pischaw, Skyla15699, Sakuno, Tollpatsch, Raika-chan, DaphneAnimeGirl, AmaranthineImbalance, Guest, Guest, Hie, NeutralEvilz, SnowstormX, animelover1990 and x10TIMEx for the wonderful reviews on the last chapter you guys have left omg. Of course, an equally huge thank you to those who have read, followed and favourited! Omg, I.. This story... WE'VE SHOT PAST THE 100 REVIEW MARK OMG AND THIS STORY'S AVERAGING AT 11 REVIEWS PER CHAPTER OMG I KNOW IT'S NOTHING COMPARED TO THE MUCH MORE LEGENDARY FICS OUT THERE BUT OMG I FEEL SO HAPPY THAT'S LIKE 100+ REVIEWS OF YOU GUYS APPRECIATING MY STORY AND GUIDING ME THROUGH OMG IMMA CRY AHHHHH THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I REREREREREAD THEM LOL OMG AHHHHH *faints*
maeuntang: Oh! Then it's okay! :) And (just guessing you're Filipino based on what you said) I really hope that your country pulls through that typhoon, and you and your family and and friends aren't affected! Ganbatte (Idk what's the Tagalog equivalent sorry...)!
As usual, feel free to point out anything unsatisfactory with this chapter (I feel that this one's a deviation from the descriptive prose I usually use...). :) So don't hesitate and let me hear your...
Thoughts? ;*
P/S: I can't say no to that Erwin/OC fic now can I? ;)
P/P/S: Akashi Manor will finally be appearing in the next chapter... I promise...
P/P/P/S: The new Q240 had me LOL at Akashi's face he's totally feelin' the judge omg X'D Omg poor Furi and Izuki's looking better by the chapter and omg Mayuzumi you're a shooting star in my fave chara list and what's that novel you were reading LOL okay I should stop.
P/P/P/P/S: Just wondering, are you guys Team Akashi or Team Kise as of now? (sorry if I've already asked you this before)
P/P/P/P/P/S: HAPPY THANKSGIVING OMG!
