The early morning mist slightly wets Clara's blonde hair as she jogged her way to school. Her panted breaths came out in puffs of steam, but even though it was a slightly chilly morning for late spring, Clara still felt beads of sweat run down the back of her neck. As Clara made her way past the opened gates to her education torture chamber she noticed the doors to the gymnasium were opened. The blond paused in her step, biting her lip as she looked around to see if there were any witnesses. Seeing that no one was around, Clara suddenly veered towards the opened facility.
Clara peeked in. The gymnasium is dark, saved for a few energy saving lights flickering here and there. Clara scanned the area and gasped with happiness when she saw the volleyball net was still up from this past weekend's game. Clara than something white and rough caught her eye and it was at that point Clara could barely contain her excitement when she spotted a volleyball laying a few feet away from the bleachers. It must been forgotten from the staff. Clara looked around outside before jogging up to the sports ball. The gym lights flickered on from Clara's movements. When Clara picked up the ball the soft feel of the white leather made Clara shuddered in memory. Clara tossed the ball in the air a few times, her body remembering the sweet sensation. As she once again tossed the ball into the air, Clara spread her legs apart to go into a stance; she cupped her hands together, revealing her wrists. Waiting patiently for the ball to fall back down.
The volleyball made a soft contact with Clara's wrists bouncing the ball back up in the air and continued to do so, only the small smack of flesh and leather could be heard in the dimly lit area. Clara couldn't help the smile on her face as she started to dribble the volleyball. She bent her knees and straighten them back out slightly, moving along with the falling ball. She kept the ball steady in motion, not once did it veer off it's course. Clara smirked when she started to skillfully hit the ball with her individual wrists. The blonde couldn't help the bright smile on her face as she walks towards the front of the net, still lightly hitting the ball with her wrist. Once in position Clara hits the ball with the tips of her fingers, setting the ball into motion to be spiked. Clara's eyes seemed to narrow as she watched the ball fly high into the air. Everything seemed to move in slow motion just as the ball reached its peak. Clara's eyes flinched just before she made a powerful jump towards the descending ball.
Clara round her arm back, her hand flat as a board, and her fingers tight together. At the right moment Clara brought down her hand with a tremendous force, flesh meets leather in a sickening smack. The sound reverberated through out the gym. The ball zipped to the ground in lightening speed. The ball appeared to be out of bounds but to the trained eye of an official the ball would have been considered in and would be a point for Clara and her team.
Clara sighed as she straightens out from her spike; she rolled her shoulder with a satisfying smile on her face. However her smile was short lived when the blonde jumped in fright when the sound of clapping could be heard behind her. Clara spun around on her heel, her face flushing as she saw Atsushi Murasakibara and Tatsuya Himuro sitting on the bleachers, Tatsuya with a smile and Murasakibara with an 'O' like expression.
"That was impressive Inari." Tatsuya said as he and Murasakibara slowly got up from the bleachers to make their way over to the shaking girl.
Clara still didn't move with her face still beat red, it wasn't because she was embarrassed but because she felt pride that someone was able to see her ability if only for a second. Her face twisted in a satisfying grin.
Clara chuckled lightly, "Thank you."
"You have a creepy looking smile on your face, Cookie..." Murasakibara said as he leaned over slightly to get a better look.
"That's rude to say so early in the morning!" Clara pouted, jumping back away from the giant but it seemed her comment was ignored when the bell for school rung loud and clear.
"Let's go Cookie… we have to get ready…" Murasakibara sounded annoyed and Clara knew exactly why.
About a week ago it was announced that their school was going to have a school festival. That entailed that each class was going to do a kind of activity to help earn money for their class, which in turn could earn them a trip or a special lunch or whatever they would vote on as a whole. Some classes decided to do restaurants or cafés while others did plays or skits. One class was going to do a talent show. Clara's class has voted on doing a play, Sleeping Beauty.
And to be fair to everyone the class president decided that it was only fair if everyone drew their part from a box. It came to this decision when every girl wanted to be the princess and every guy wanted to be the prince, well, except for those who could care less, like Murasakibara and Tatsuya. Clara on the other hand was just as excited as any other girl but she was more excited just to be apart of a play, which she hasn't done since elementary school. When it was Tatsuya's turn to draw, every girl in the class was watching with bated breath, hoping the handsome teen would get the roll of the prince. Alas it was not meant to be as he drew the part of the crony of the Evil Fairy. And so it went on as each student drew his or her part. Finally a girl with black hair with a pretty face drew the part of Beauty, which caused some girls to pout.
Murasakibara reached in the box but couldn't quite pull the slip of paper out, as his hand was too large for the gap in the box. Clara and Tatsuya couldn't help the laughter in their chests as Murasakibara had a box for a hand; it took the president and another student to help pry the box away. Safe to say the hole in the box was now big enough for the giant to finally take a slip. The part Murasakibara received was the Evil Fairy. Tatsuya made a joke how the two were sticking together on and off the basketball court; sadly, he received no words. Just a giant with a mouth full of pocky, Clara had to pat Tatsuya's back to comfort him. There were only a few parts left and Clara was shocked when she received the part for the prince.
After everyone had their parts, everyone practiced hard on their lines during that week, even Murasakibara was getting into his role. But that maybe because Tatsuya told Murasakibara that if he did a good job Clara would probably make something extra yummy, of course Clara has no idea this was going on but Tatsuya knew that she would make something to celebrate after the play was over.
So now back to the present, Clara has found her self getting dressed in her prince outfit, her long hair was styled in a cool and suave fashion that even made some of the girls swoon.
"I wish you really were a guy right now, Inari…" One girl said as she cupped her own cheeks with a dreamy look on her face.
Clara nearly tripped forward as she turned and watched others agree, Clara waved her hands as she tried to calm down the situation but it seemed to add fuel to the fire as her voice was still low from the dress rehearsal that morning.
The president clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention and to help stop the fan-girl squealing.
"Alright! We are going to be going on in an three hours!" The president pointed at Clara, a boy with shaggy brown hair and another girl with glasses. "Inari, Taki, Mogami; did you three get the baked goods done and ready to go?"
Clara stood in between the two other students; all three gave the thumbs up.
"Good, get the booth ready." The class president turned to the towering giant who is wearing an impressive dark cloak with a hood and a stylized headdress. "Nice idea, Murasakibara! It didn't come to mind to create treats for the audience, now we can get a little extra money!"
The president looked pleasantly surprised at the giant's proposal but unbeknownst to anyone Murasakibara was pissed. What really happened was the class president overhearing Murasakibara talking to Clara about how she should make snacks for him but somehow the president took it another way. Murasakibara ran a hand through his hair and growled. How do you get "sharing" from "just for me"?! Murasakibara sighed as he continued to lay down on the ground eating away at his pocky while Tatsuya was yelling at him to help clean up the gymnasium stage.
As the boys cleaned, Clara was out preparing the stand for the bake sales, several girls from her class came over, handing Clara some signs they have made.
"Wow, these are really good, thanks for making them!" Clara said cheerfully as she began to hang them on and by the stand, however the girls who made the signs didn't leave just yet, they looked like they had something to say.
"Uh, Inari?"
"Yeah?" Clara's voice strained when she tried to reach up to hang one of the signs on a nail.
"Have you and Makoto decided what you are going to do with the kissing scene?"
Clara laughed as she clapped her hands together after getting the sign up. "Yeah, we decided on to just for me to kiss on the cheek but to the audience it will look like I am kissing her on the lips."
It turned out there was a small kissing scene between the leading roles that the class president 'forgot' to mention but it mattered not to Clara, she was used to kissing people on the cheek and vise versa as her brothers and mother were a little more open when she was growing up, but that is because when her mother and brothers lived in the states they grew accustomed to the culture.
"That's good, you wouldn't want your first kiss to be taken during a play."
"I know I wouldn't and it's with a girl so you don't have to worry about a guy being gross about the kiss." Clara laughs nervously as she nodded in agreement, the three of them continued to talk among themselves but Clara could only drown them out when she remembered her first kiss was stolen from her brother back when she was in elementary school when she attempted to kiss another boy.
Clara would take that secret to her grave.
"Can't wait for the play! Break a leg!" The girls chimed together as they left.
However, unknown to Clara and the others, things were going to get a little… interesting...
~!~
Toya sighed as he waited in a room at a rehabilitation center. Around the time he left he underwent surgery on his leg in hopes to regain his position back to the NFL but the healing and the rehab process was taking longer than expected but Toya wasn't going to give up now that there was a chance he could go back to playing his favorite sport.
Toya picked up a magazine that caught his eyes. It was about basketball, a sport he didn't really care for, liked to watch but not to play. He flipped through the pages with hardly any interest until he stopped and noticed a figure that looked familiar. Toya turned back to the beginning of the article and saw it was about the 'Generation of Miracles'. Toya didn't have time to scoff at the stupid name when he saw the group shot. Three of the guys that were in the photo where the ones who were with Clara the evening they made up.
'How the hell did Clara get to know these three? She plays volleyball for Christ's sake.' Toya thought to himself as he started to read. It appeared to be a time skip kind of article. It first talked about the five and their time at Teikō, than it went on about where each individual player went to for high school and that school's statistics for sport and than it transitioned into the Spring Tournament than to the Winter Cup game.
'Among the five there stands a sixth man…' Toya read to himself and saw a picture of a boy with light blue hair and matching eyes. 'Why does he look familiar…?' Toya has seemed to forget that Tetsuya Kuroko was actually at Clara's apartment as well. Toya shrugged when the face didn't register. "Oh well…"
~!~
Kuroko sneezed as he and Kagami were riding the train along with everyone else that was apart of the weekend tournament.
"You getting a cold?" Kagami moved his headphones to the side to hear Kuroko shake his head.
"No, someone must be talking about me…"
~!~
"Mr. Inari?" A nurse's announcement snapped Toya out of his frustration as he continued to wonder how Clara was mixed up with those people. Toya got up from his spot while snatching up his duffle bag. He weaved in and round the hallways of the center before entering in a room with several machines and even a small tub filled with water.
"Thank you." Toya said gently to the nurse who bowed before leaving.
In the middle of the room stood a man in his mid to late thirties, he was looking over a packet of documents on a clipboard. The man turned towards the younger and smiled slightly.
"Toya Inari?"
Toya nodded. "Yes sir."
"Nice to meet you, I am Kagetora Aida, but please call me Tora…" Toya bowed towards the older man.
"Thank you for helping me in my recovery."
"You say that now but I am warning you, I will not go easy." Kagetora's kind words before now seemed to have a bite to them as he dropped the clipboard to the table with a loud smack. "I didn't travel by plane to see you half assed this."
Toya's eyes hardened as he straightens his posture. "I wouldn't have hired you if I was going to half ass anything."
Kagetora smirked. "Than let's get to work Rapunzel."
Toya gaped, sure he had long hair but did this guy really had to call him that? Toya snapped out of his shock when another voice filled the room.
"Dad, I brought the equipment you needed." A girl around the age of 17 or 18 stepped through the door with several pieces of large equipment on a push dolly.
Toya watched as the girl made her way over to her father, she picked up the clipboard with Toya's information on it and began to skim through it. Toya flinched.
"Hey should you really go through that?" Toya said as he made his way over.
"Don't worry, she is helping me today, this is my daughter Riko Aida." Kagetora said as he examined the equipment. "Ahh! Riko-tan!" Suddenly Kagetora whipped and hugged his daughter tightly. "You brought everything papa has asked for!"
Riko blushed heavily and punched her father in the nose to get him to back off. "PLEASE stop doing that! And stop calling me Riko-tan!" Riko panted out hot breaths but composed herself when Toya watched the small fight. "Sorry about that… now from what I see here. You suffered from a torn ACL in your right knee, you already went through your surgery and are now in the recovery stage... wow the surgery went that well huh?" Riko covered her mouth as she continued to read the file documents, "Are you walking without any kind of discomfort?"
Toya nodded as he watched Kagetora starting to recover from the hit he received from his daughter.
"I am close friends with someone who recently joined the NFL and he pointed me towards the best doctors…" Toya said gently as he looked down at Riko.
"Alright, now than… strip down to your underwear." Riko demanded as she continued to look over the notes and documents.
Most people would be shocked to hear a demand like this but so many people have seen Toya bare buck naked to the point that he didn't care about being shy anymore. The long hair man strips his clothes off until he was in his boxers.
Riko and Kagetora both stared hard at Toya, examining him. Kagetora even went up and lifted Toya's arms and spread his legs apart more. Toya flinched slightly from Riko's hands on his sides.
"Ah, sorry." Riko said gently.
"It's okay, just a little ticklish there…" Toya said with a chuckle.
"Have you been doing some training before now?" Riko asked as she and her father were both writing notes down but it looked more like Riko was in charge of his appointment than her father was but some reason Toya didn't question this.
"Yeah, I have been doing stretches every morning, noon and night to keep the blood flowing. I at least walk an hour or two with some light jogging…." Toya listed off several ways he has kept his knee active at a reasonable pace.
"Good… it seems another two weeks and you will probably can start really training again for the NFL, which by the way congratulations." Riko smiles warmly. Toya suddenly felt a blush creeping up.
"Thank you…"
Kagetora arched his eyebrow in annoyance. "Okay Riko-tan… I can take it from here… you have someplace to be now right?"
At her father's voice Riko took a look at her wristwatch and nodded. "Yeah, I am meeting the guys at Yōsen soon…"
Toya blinked. "Eh? You go to Yōsen High?" Toya asked curiously.
Riko shook her head. "Oh no, I go to a school near Tokyo, my team did a small tournament yesterday and we have today and tomorrow off from school and a friend of ours has a school festival going on."
Toya nodded as Riko explained and chuckled.. "Well, you are in luck. My sister goes to Yōsen High and if you don't mind Mr. Aido, I can take Miss Aido."
Toya noticed a blood vessel popping in the man's neck. "No… she can get a ride from me…" Kagetora said as he walked menacingly towards the two. Riko sighed.
"Dad you have more patients after Inari here, it won't hurt if we are going to the same place and I am sure he isn't going to risk anymore bodily harm." Riko motioned for Toya to get back into his clothes after Kagetora finally agreed.
"Fine… Inari we start up the day after tomorrow, make sure you warm up and stretch before you arrive." Kagetora said with crossed arms.
Toya nodded as he and Riko both said their goodbyes.
The two left the rehab building a slight hurry, either to get away from Riko's father or just the excitement of going to a school festival only those two would know. As they made their way through the parking lot, Toya looked towards Riko as she adjusted her shoulder bag.
"I have heard your father is amazing but I didn't know his daughter was equally amazing, how long have you been studying as a trainer?" Riko laughed as she waved her hand about, blushing like a little school girl.
"My father would bring me along with him after school but after time I decided to come over with him because I found it really fun to see people grow into amazing players." Riko's eyes seemed to sparkle as she described her experiences, which captivated Toya. Riko sighed as she placed her hand on her cheek with a dreamy look on her face. "Nothing gets the blood pumping than bringing out someone's true potential."
Toya's eyes widen as he looked away, 'Whoa! Calm down… she is nearly a decade younger than me… she is Lottie's age!" But Toya couldn't stop his heart from beating so fast or stop the blush on his cheeks as the two continued to talk about small things.
Once in the car and on their way, Toya's stomach started to growl, making the early 20's man blush heavily. Riko chuckled lightly at the grumbling noise.
Toya laughed lightly along with her. "Sorry, I had breakfast but I guess it wasn't enough." Toya stopped at a red light and began quickly looking around in his car but the box that usually held some kind of fitness snack was empty much to his disappointment.
Seeing that he didn't have anything to eat, Riko turned and reached in her bag and pulled out a container. Toya noticed that she seemed hesitant when she did so and with a low voice she held it out. "Here, I have made some snacks for my friends that I am planning on meeting up at Yōsen, you can have some if you want." She began to mumble something. Something about idiot team and a guy named Hyūga?
Toya shook his head with a smile, "Thank you, what is it?" Toya looked into the container and saw some misshapen rice balls and rice crackers, at least he thought they were rice crackers. But the growling in his stomach was too much for him to care about presentation.
Toya reached over and picked up a few crackers and a rice ball.
"Thank you for the meal!" He began to munch on the crackers as the light turned green. Riko was staring at him intently, like she was waiting for something to happen. Toya turned his head and they made eye contact.
"Not gonna lie, making me a little nervous when you are staring at me like that." Toya chuckled lightly as he stuffed another rice cracker in his mouth.
"How… are they?" Riko seemed to ignore Toya as she quickly asked her question.
Toya swallowed his bite. "They're pretty good." He said just as he took another bite.
"You don't feel… sick or… queasy?" She asked slowly making Toya a little nervous.
"Did you poison them, or something?" Toya said with a teasing yet nervous voice.
Riko blushed. "No of course not… I am just not the greatest chief in the world, so I am told." Riko pouted slightly as she looked out the window; suddenly she saw in the window's reflection that Toya looked almost pale. "Ah! What is it?" She whipped her head back to him, ready to take the wheel if he passes out but instead Toya reached for his water bottle and chugged some water down.
Toya gasped out after the gulp. "Sorry, a bit of rice went down the wrong tube." He laughed as he continued to eat the food without fail until everything in Riko's container was completely gone, "Sorry, I seemed to have eaten everything... and they were for your friends too..." Toya looked regretful but Riko shook her head to say that it was fine.
When another five minutes went by and nothing happened Riko looked surprised, amazed and overall happy. "Wow… you… didn't get sick or pass out or anything!"
Toya blinked. "Why would I?"
"The guys on my team don't like some of the ingredients I put into my cooking." Riko said blushing with a laugh.
"Oh? What did you put in? Some kind of fish oil or something?" Toya asked as he licked his fingers to clean them from any left over food that lingered.
"No… I usually put in protein powder or other edible supplements…" She mumbled but she turned to him in confusion when Toya began to laugh. Riko became more confused as she watched Toya coughing from laughing so hard.
"Sorry…" Toya finally calmed down, coughing out one more laugh. "I didn't mean to laugh, your food is pretty good, not as good as my sister's of course." Toya gushed as he thought of his little baby sister. "But it's good, I am surprised that your team doesn't like them and I don't see the big deal, I put supplements and protein powder in my food and drink all the time."
Riko smiled brightly as she finally found someone who actually enjoyed her bizarre looking.
~!~
Kagami and Kuroko stood in front of the gates of Yōsen High. The school is massive, aged and classy. Some of the students themselves looked like they were a part of the high elite, dressed up in their perm pressed uniforms. But today was different because the students were smiling brightly while shouting out what their festival stands could offer their guests. A number of classes were selling different kinds of dishes that could be found around the globe, Middle Eastern, European, African and American. For those who wanted to stick with traditional Japanese dishes they had to creatively figure out ways to reinvent the food; one stand sold fruit sushi, which became very popular among the masses. However, it wasn't just food but also arts and crafts. Art students made stands for face painting and for temporary tattoos.
Either way, everyone was having an amazing time!
"Hmmm... So this is Yōsen…" Imayoshi stated as his eyes widen ever so slightly from their squint position. The voice made both Kagami and Kuroko turn around to watch the rest of the group join the duo. Imayoshi, Midorima, Takao, Aomine, Hyūga, Wakamatsu and Izuki all lined up staring up at the school. Wakamatsu had a look of wonderment on his face along with Hyūga and Izuki and the three actually went off on their own to explore the new world they stumbled upon, leaving the others behind in the dust. The two ex-Teikō students, Aomine and Midorima, looked like they could care less.
"Hey! Everyone!" The remaining group looked over to see Tatsuya running over with his hand in the air, waving. However, unlike the other student garb, Tatsuya wore a dark cloak with a hood.
"Tatsuya!" Kagami called back with a laugh as he went to meet his childhood friend. "What are you dressed up as? You doing a haunted house?"
Tatsuya laughed back as he shook his head when he slowed to a stop. "No, our class is doing a play this time, we were just finishing up with preparations and dress rehearsals." Tatsuya looked at everyone and noticed that they were missing a few. "Huh? Where are the others?"
Kuroko piped up behind Kagami, causing both red and dark head to jump in surprise. "Akashi and his team went off to do some research for school, while Kise had a photo shoot, Kasamatsu and Hayakawa went with him, they said they would join up with us later in the evening."
Tatsuya composed himself as he listened to Kuroko's explaination, after the light blue hair boy was finished, Tatsuya gestured to the stalls. "Well, the play doesn't start for another hour so take your time and wonder about, we have plenty of stalls with food and drinks!" Tatsuya suddenly remembered something. "Oh and also Inara has ma…Mmffgphh…"
Everyone was shocked to see the towering purple giant, Murasakibara, cover his teammates mouth with his giant hand, he even had fake nails on to give them a sharper and deadly look. Not only that but Murasakibara was also in a dark clock but this was more detailed from the stitching to the jagged horns that lay a top his head. The giant got stares from those around either from wonderment to just mild giggling but it didn't seem to bother the giant one bit as he stared down at a angered pretty boy.
"Muro-chin, it's time to go back." Usually, Murasakibara's voice had a ring of boredom but this time he sounded... desperate, like he stopped Tatsuya from saying an embaressing secret. He even ignored Tatsuya's protests as he dragged him away without so much as a 'how you do' to the others.
Despite this the others began to follow the Yōsen students, especially Midorima and Aomine, probably because Tatsuya announced something involving Clara Inari which seemed to peak their interests even though they would never admit it. However, the group didn't get three feet when Murasakibara craned his head back to glare at the group, a violet aura seeping out of his body.
"Didn't you hear… the play doesn't start for another hour..." The giant's voice was low and intimidating that even gave his old teammates pause but only for a second.
Aomine recovered first as he pointed at Murasakibara with an annoyed look as he came to the realization on why Murasakibara was acting all possessive. "The only reason why you're this jumpy is because that girl made snacks!" Aomine got confirmation when Murasakibara stopped dead in his tracks. "I was right! You can't..."
"Tetsu! Dai-chan!"
Aomine's rant was cut short when he and Kuroko both heard their names being called from the sound of a sweet, bubbly and down right feminine voice. Momoi Satsuki came running towards the group while carrying a side shoulder bag, her pink hair swung back and forth from the messy pony tail that she wore and as she got closer her smile seemed to brighten up more. When she got close enough to Kuroko, she leapt off the ground to jump in his arms.
"Momoi…" Kuroko said gently just as the pink hair teenager landed in his arms for a tight hug. "...that hurts."
Momoi giggled as she nuzzled her cheek against Kuroko's cheek but when she looked up at her childhood friend, Aomine, she made a stern pout, making her look pretty damn adorable to the point that the boys surrounding her blushed, well all except for the Aomine, Midorima and Kuroko.
"Dai-chan! You promised that I could come along with you and Tetsu! But you guys left me behind! For that you are paying for lunch!" Even though Momoi was all smiles she held a tone that shouldn't be trifled with but Aomine growled as he stared down at the pink hair girl.
"I made no such promise! Besides you took forever… OI!" Aomine gapped when Momoi ignored his ranting and walked off with Kuroko, in annoyance Aomine followed after his childhood friend and ex-teammate before they got lost in the crowds, even Kagami turned to follow after the three.
"I will see you later Tatsuya! Break a leg!" Kagami shouted with a huge toothy grin as he ran to catch up with Kuroko and the others.
The remaining group watched in amusement at how much Momoi had Aomine wrapped around her finger... well half of her finger but Murasakibara could only feel relief when he watched the four leave the group behind yet he turned his attention back to the others trying to figure out a way to get rid of them but all he could come up with was them to follow the others that just left.
Murasakibara snapped out of his brain storming when he heard Kazunari Takao snickering away, the giggling act made the amethyst giant turn his glare on both Shūtoku students, like his glare would somehow make the duo leave, however the glare wasn't as effective as before. Murasakibara felt his eyebrow twitch when Midorima readjusted his glasses, his emerald eyes narrowed in his very own glare. The staring contest made Takao bite back his laughter even thought it was proving to be difficult.
"Mido-chin… why don't you go as well…" Murasakibara broke the silence as he continued to stare down at the green hair teen.
"You don't tell me what to do Murasakibara… " Takao didn't bother to hide his laughing anymore as he and Midorima went past the agitated giant to head straight for the gym. The two were greeted by students who gestured them to a haunted house that was built off to the side, Takao somehow dragged his friend towards it much to Midorima's protests.
Murasakibara sighed as she finally let's Tatsuya go.
"Man Atsushi… you do realize that Inari wasn't the only one who made treats right?" Tatsuya said rubbing the sore spot around his mouth were the giant smacked his hand over.
"Whatever…" Murasakibara mumbled as he dragged his feet towards the backstage. Murasakibara didn't feel like explaining why he wanted to keep Clara's treats to himself.
Murasakibara sat down on the stage nibbling on the remaining sticks of pocky. Everything was set and ready to go in a half hour. People even started to trickle in to take a spot in the audience. Murasakibara growled when he noticed that a few people had Clara's treats in hand, treats that rightfully belonged to him. The giant sighed as he got up from his spot to head to the back of the stage.
As Murasakibara made his way to the back he saw that Clara was getting into her prince outfit, while another classmate doing her hair. Even Murasakibara had to admit that Clara looked good in her outfit. The violet teen felt his heart pumping a lot faster than usual; he clutched his clothing that covered his heart like doing that would stop the beating.
"Atsushi! Time to get into position!"
Murasakibara could barely make out Tatsuya's voice as the lights over head started to dim to single the show was about to begin.
"Whoa! We almost have a full house." One girl said excitedly.
Clara looked out besides the girl. The girl was right; the gym was filling up by the second. Clara gasped to herself. The blonde was able to see the green tuff of hair that belonged to Midorima and right next to him was a bored looking Takao as he read through the pamphlet. Something must have caught his eye because his eyes snapped open as he shoved the paper leaflet into Midorima's face. Takao was saying something excitedly while Midorima had to shove the paper out of his face.
Soon Clara noticed Kagami and Kuroko sitting down by Takao and sure enough came Aomine and a girl that Clara hasn't seen before, she sat between Kuroko and Aomine with a bright smile on her face. Clara couldn't help the small blush that tinged her cheeks.
'Whoa she is pretty… her hair looks shiny and smooth, I wonder who she is…?' Clara thought to herself as she continued to watch.
However, her attention went to the President as he began to clap his hands. "Alright you brats! We practiced hard for this, let's do such an amazing job that they will be throwing money at us!"
Clara mumbled. "You are a greedy person, huh President?"
"What!?" The President blushed at Clara's comment he coughed as he turned. "I just want to make sure we can get enough money to go somewhere fun on our vacation time… Or am I the only want who wants to go to the beach… or to a theme park?"
That got everyone motivated. Clara began to imagine going to the beach, she hadn't gone to the ocean in several years and she loved to swim and besides that…
"Ahhh! I wanna play beach volleyball!" Clara hugged herself to contain her excitement. "The sand between your toes… the beating sun down your neck…" She squealed as she unsheathed her sword and pointed it towards the crowd in a princely like manner. "Time to go take action and charge my darlings!"
Some of the girls squealed and pumped their fists in the air; even some of the guys got excited.
Tatsuya chuckled at how Clara was able to help the President get everyone pumped up even if it was a selfish wish to herself.
The gymnasium lights finally went out, while a single stage light remained on. One of the female classmates walked inside the overhead light and began her monologue.
Just like the story, a King and Queen in a far off kingdom longed for a child. The mother said a little prayer to which it came true. A daughter was born at the break of dawn, to which the King and Queen decided to name her, Aurora.
While the girl said her monologue other classmates came out and acted out the scene. Surprisingly everyone was doing a fairly good job. Tatsuya noticed that some children in the first few rows were engaging in a story that they probably have heard several times by now. But it seemed a few of them went to the edge of their seats when Murasakibara arrived on set during the Christening of the baby Aurora.
Murasakibara had his usual bored expression plastered on his face. "Ahhh… I see you have invited the whole kingdom even the… riffraff…" Murasakibara's gaze went to his fellow classmate, who played the good fairy in the story; the student flinched under Murasakibara's gaze.
"You…. You weren't wanted…" The student stumbled his wording but it was a good reaction.
"Haaaa?" Murasakibara's glare became more intense.
Clara stood off to the side watching in admiration as the scene played out. The blond could hardly believe how well Murasakibara was doing. Some of the lines were missing but the point was coming across very nicely. Clara looked out to the audience and saw just how everyone was enjoying the show so far.
Clara had to cover her mouth to stop her laughter from bubbling out of her mouth when she saw how wide Midorima's mouth hung open. From what she has heard those two have known each other for several years so this must be quite the shock to see.
The scene shifted to the king wanting to destroy ever spinning wheel that the kingdom had to keep their daughter safe after the Evil Fairy placed his curse on Princess Aurora. Clara gulped, as it was almost her turn to come on.
The girl who played Aurora came onto the stage with grace. Apparently the girl studied ballet and hoped to be an actor one day, she and Clara would actually stay behind after school to practice lines and Clara couldn't help but be serious in her role when the her classmate was fighting towards her dream. Clara took a deep breath.
Clara watched the movements of her co-star. Clara waited for the cue and there it was the turn to which Clara was supposed to catch her but… it wasn't meant to be.
Just as Clara stepped up behind, Clara tripped over her cape and face planted on the ground. The audience gasped, some chuckled, especially Takao who tried desperately to contain his laughter and if it weren't for the smack from Midorima he would have laughed out loud. However that didn't stop Aomine from making a short chortle.
Clara went to her knees to hold her red face.
"W…who are you?"
Clara looked up at Suzana, the girl who was playing Aurora.
"Are you alright?" Suzana stayed in character and it actually encouraged Clara to do the same.
"Yes… Sorry… I was memorized by your singing voice… and your dance moments were so regal and graceful." Clara said in her low voice, her eyes sparkling. Suzana actually started blushing as she stepped away to hide her face.
Murasakibara felt his eyebrow twitch. Some reason his chest began to tighten as an uneasy feeling came over him. A feeling he never experienced before and a feeling he couldn't quite place. It was the same kind of feeling he got when he saw how close Midorima and Clara were at the basketball tournament. Murasakibara shoved those feelings down, he would figure it out later, right now he was close to getting Clara's snacks he could almost taste them. The giant's hear began to beat fast for a different reason now as he walked on stage just as the scene between the Prince and Princess was over.
Murasakibara was more intimidating than he was in his first scene and Tatsuya wasn't backing down as the lackey and Tatsuya's acting only got Murasakibara riled up even more.
~!~
The play went on splendidly, everyone was getting his or her lines on the dot with a few little improv here and there. Now the scene shifted to inside the castle. Aurora is seen distraught, being told she would never see the prince that she fell in love with in the forest ever again, and just like in the story she pricked her finger on the spinning wheel, causing the curse to be fulfilled.
The children actually clung to each other when Murasakibara made a terrifying laugh. Even Kuroko and the other felt a chill run down their spine.
"Mukkun sure is getting into his role, huh?" Momoi said as she clung to Kuroko's arm, she actually felt scared seeing Murasakibara laugh and act like the way he did.
"I am more surprised that some of the roles that were meant to be played by women are played by men." Kagami muttered as he saw the Queen, who was played by a guy come on stage just as the father of the prince came by to try to tell them that his son fell in love with a girl from common birth but they never had the chance when the Good Fairy put everyone to sleep just like Aurora.
As the play carried on, several guys began to snicker and chitchat behind the group. It was getting annoying because the three wouldn't shut up; even in hush tones they were causing a scene.
Midorima, Aomine and Takao were all about to turn around to tell them to shut up or leave but were stopped when the next few words came out of their mouths.
"Jeez Sugawara is harsh man, getting Sachi to sneak on stage to steal a kiss just to get on the baseball team."
"Hey, not my fault he agreed." This Sugawara said with a snicker. "I think he is even going to try to cup a feel!"
That statement was the last straw, Takao was the first to react he spun in his chair and clutched one of the three's collar. "You ass-wipes…" Takao in a harsh yet whispered tone started laying down choice words to the three but that wasn't going to stop the impending harassment; the ending scene continued on.
Clara, in prince form, was 'climbing' the tower steps and there lying on a fake bed was the Princess Aurora, if the guys didn't just hear about this upcoming prank they wouldn't have noticed that it was a guy lying down, even the wig was the right color tone!
Midorima and Aomine staggered as they both watched Clara saying her lines and getting closer and closer to the bed before kneeling beside it.
"Princess… I have fallen in love with since I laid my eyes on you… please… wake up…" Clara whimpered out her lines as she started to lean down to kiss the 'princess's' cheek no realizing the horrible smirk that laid on the lips of the imposter.
"Her... first... kiss?" Both Aomine and Midorima thought to out loud with the color from their face draining. The thought of Clara's pure lips going to someone else for a stupid prank was unbearable!
"That's what you guys are more concerned about!?" Takao said in a sharp voice.
The two didn't seem to hear as Aomine started to run towards the stage at his top speed while Midorima snatched his red bean soup can and lets it fly as if it was a basketball. It seemed like time was going in slow motion. The drinking can flew high into the air than slowly started to descend at remarkable precision. At that moment Aomine is getting close enough to make a leap to get on the stage. All the while, Clara's lips were ever getting closer and closer.
Were they going to make it?
~!~
Oh my god! This was fun to write! YAY! We got to see Clara in Volleyball mode for a moment! Hurrah!
I am so happy that I decided to re-write these past two chapters! In my opinion they're so much better than what I was writing before! Anyways! I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter! I was so excited to have you guys read this that there might be several grammar mistakes but I will be going back to fix them later on.
Anyways! Are you surprised that Toya is developing a crush on Riko? Wait until he sees what Momoi can do hah! And you may have noticed that I have switched to Sleeping Beauty instead of Beauty and the Beast, I think I was able to write a little more differently because of it!
Anyways, again… tell me what you think in your reviews! Like and follow! I love you guys! See you in chapter 13!