CHAPTER ELEVEN
Lying on her bed staring at the ceiling, Cassandra wished she'd known where Seijuro had stormed off to.
"I know. For the last three years, I did nothing but satisfy myself. To win everything, I used every people that can be used until they're spent. I am completely aware of that."
"Seijuro, I–" said Cassandra, somberly.
"I'll be back later," replied Seijuro in a low voice before heading away from the house and disappearing into the shadows.
She should've followed him. He was angry, she knew, and whenever Taiga walked away angry he always tended to do something stupid.
"But Seijuro's not Taiga," said Cassandra. It didn't ease the worry.
Clutching the pillow to her stomach, Cassandra's temper flared as she chucked the damn thing at the wall.
"Jerk!" she said in a harsh whisper, talking to herself. "How the hell was I supposed to know you actually had a heart?" Rolling onto her side, she mumbled sadly, "It's not like you ever showed it to me."
Rolling her eyes, Cassandra let out an annoyed sigh.
"Now I'm just being pathetic."
That was when she heard the front door slam shut.
Cassandra was off her bed the moment she heard the stairs creak and about to go into the hallway just as she saw the bathroom light flood in under her door.
Frowning, she eased her door open and peered around to see Seijuro's reflection in the bathroom mirror. His eyes went to hers—both looking at each other through the reflective glass—when she saw the blood.
Throwing her door open, Cassandra chastised, "What the hell happened?"
"Nothing," said Seijuro, as he turned the sink on and grabbed a rag. "Go back to bed."
Cassandra didn't listen as she came into the bathroom and took the rag from his hand. Opening the medicine cabinet, she grabbed the rubbing alcohol and dumped a generous amount on the rag before pressing it to Seijuro's bloody forehead.
When his face tensed slightly and he sucked in a hiss of air, Cassandra mumbled, "Sorry."
"I'm fine," said Seijuro as he tried to take the rag from Cassandra's hand. She slapped the limb away.
"No. You're bleeding," she said, lightly dabbing up the rest of the blood.
Seijuro let out an annoyed sigh.
"Would you stop whining," said Cassandra. "I'm just trying to help."
"Be careful, I might try and kill you," mumbled Seijuro.
Cassandra took in a sharp breath through her nose as she tensed. Lowering the rag, she replied, "I guess I sort of deserved that, but you have to look at from where I stand. I never see you. I don't know what you do all day. And you threaten to kill me the last time we saw each other."
"That was a year and a half ago," said Seijuro.
Cassandra frowned before putting alcohol on a cotton ball and tries to clean the wound on Seijuro's forehead.
"Yeah, well, how am I supposed to know you didn't change for the worst?"
"Do you really believe that?" asked Seijuro.
"I think…" started Cassandra before letting out a long sigh, "I think you really are trying to do something good for the company."
There was a long pause before Seijuro said bluntly, "But?"
Cassandra looked him straight in the eye. "I heard what happened last winter cup."
Cassandra remembered Riko mentioned Akashi Seijuro when she told her Rakuzan will be the last team Seirin High will be facing. She was asking for some strategy how they can win against this team. She mentioned about the captain – Akashi, the way he beat the opposing team mercilessly. And she said one of players was his friend in Teiko.
However, Seijuro didn't win the winter cup.
"That couldn't have been easy to handle. Not after everything that you went through to be the one to…" Cassandra trailed off, the unspoken words lingering in the air: You threw everything to win – you abandon your friends and even your teammates during the game.
Cassandra was surprised when Seijuro just let out a tired sigh.
"It was – Father was disappointed at me," he said, barely a whisper.
Cassandra's eyes snapped up to find his, but they were hidden beneath his bangs.
She didn't dare move, didn't dare take a breath. She'd never imagine Seijuro admitting something like that—to actually talk about it.
He shook his head. Cassandra noticed the distant look in his eyes disappeared. He just seemed tired now. The kind of tired that didn't just involve one's body, but their entire being.
She knew he wasn't going to say any more on the matter.
Deciding to let it go, she attempted to break the tense mood by asking, "So, what exactly happened to your forehead?"
Seijuro looked at her, a frown on his lips, and was that a blush creeping up on his neck?
"I slapped a tree branch and it backfired," he replied.
Cassandra couldn't help it. She tried, of course, really she did, but the laughter won out.
Seijuro glared at her.
Forcing back the fit of giggles, she said, "So you're telling me you got beat by a tree?"
The laughter erupted from her lips again.
"Shut up, Cassandra," said Seijuro as he walked past her towards his room.
"Wait, Seijuro," said Cassandra, smiling like an idiot, "you don't have to be embarrassed! I mean, just because a stationary object kicked your ass–"
"Goodnight, Cassandra," said Seijuro, sounding rather ticked before he shut his door with a loud bang.
Cassandra leaned across the bathroom doorway, her mood sobering when she realized what he just said.
For the first time she actually felt like she was living with Seijuro and not just living in his house.
"Goodnight, Seijuro."
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Another Akashi X OC moment! Akashi is somewhat OOC but I still hope you enjoy this chapter XD
SilverSapphire34523 – If you mean my storyline, this is after winter cup. The break before they turn Second year high school (I think I mentioned this on the prologue). But if it's the first time they met, it is first year middle school but Cassandra's studying in another school. That's the reason she did not know the GOMs personally.
