A/N: Hey guys, I'm back! I'm officially done my third year in high school, which means I will be graduating in a year! I can't wait to get out of the hell hole called school. I never understand people who are scared to move on to university because I seriously can't wait.
Anyways, with that said, I am going to have some more time to work on this story. I am going to be taking a few lessons over the summer and I'm not exactly going to be free. Which means my updating schedule might get moved.
Now that it's summer, I plan on updating twice a week. For now, I have Mondays and Thursdays down for Divine Will, but again, it may change. I am aware today is Tuesday, I went out with my friends yesterday in celebration of the completion of exams and eleventh grade.
I would just like to take this time to thank each and every one of you who have continued to show your love and support, I felt so bad for not being able to post on time and completely miss last week. But I hope this chapter was worth the wait!
Disclaimer: Do I really need to do this? You guys should all know the drill by now.
Chapter 12: "I would like to show you something."
"Well, aren't you a cute one!" a voice squealed as Miki made her way to the counter of her new workplace.
She jumped in surprise and saw an older girl who looked a lot like Hitoru leaning against the counter with a wide grin.
"E-Eh?" Miki stuttered in shock, almost dropping her school bag in the process.
"You're Miki-chan, right?" the older girl asked.
"Y-Yes…"
"I'm Inoue Hitomi! I'm the owner's daughter and Hitoru's twin sister!" Hitomi pranced out of the counter to meet Miki in front of it.
"Nice to meet you Hitomi-san." She bowed to the older girl.
"No need to be so formal, you can just call me Hitomi."
"T-That would be rude…" Miki shook her head.
"Eh, call me whatever you want. But you don't need to be so formal around me, okay?" Hitomi peered into the younger girl's hazel eyes.
"Of course…"
The bell rang signaling the entrance of new customers.
Miki plastered a smile on her face and called out. "Welcome to Inoue's Convenience and Ice Cream!"
She was too damn short to see her customers but she noticed Hitomi watch their customers with interest.
"Hey, Miki-chan." The older girl poked at Miki's side.
She let out a small squeak as she jumped from the unexpected jab. "Y-Yes, Hitomi-san?"
"Do those guys go to your school? They are wearing the same uniform as you."
Miki perked up in interest and tried to take a peek from the counter. But to no avail, she couldn't seem to look past the wall that was blocking her from the store's entrance.
"Who – "
"Amuro-chan!" she heard a familiar voice call out to her.
"Kazunari-kun? Midorima-kun?" she questioned in surprise as her eyes swept across the store before landing on Shutoku's basketball team who were all idly standing nearby the chips.
"Wow, so you work here, huh." Kazunari nodded in interest as he walked towards the girl.
"What are you all doing here?" she asked in shock. "D-Don't you all have basketball practice?"
"We did." Midorima spoke up from behind his energetic friend. "Practice just ended early."
"The coach had a meeting, so Otsubo-senpai led this practice. Luckily for us, he let us off the hook!" Kazunari smiled cheerfully. "We all wanted to see you, so Shin-chan took us to this comfy little store!"
"T-That's nice…" Miki nodded slightly before she glanced at the three third years that all still lingered near the chips. "H-Hello, Otsubo-senpai, Kimura-senpai, and Miyaji-senpai." She bowed her head slightly in greeting.
"Hi, manager." Otsubo nodded back at her.
Kimura merely waved, whereas Miyaji stood there turning slightly red. "H-Hey." The blonde stuttered out.
Miki stood there for a few moments before she felt another jab at her side. "O-Ow!"
"Aren't you going to introduce us, Miki-chan?" Hitomi asked in a teasing tone to the younger girl.
"O-Oh!" Miki blushed in embarrassment. "Um, Hitomi-san, this is the basketball team of my high school. Team, this is my co-worker, Inoue Hitomi-san."
"Nice to meet you, Hitomi-san!" Kazunari smiled easily. "Are you the owner of the store?"
"No," Hitomi shook her head. "My father is."
"Well, we only dropped by to say hi." Kazunari grinned cheekily before glancing over to his tall friend. "But, Shin-chan here is going to stay a little longer."
"He is?" Miki blinked in surprise.
Midorima looked down at his raven-haired friend in irritation. "Since when did I say such a thing, Takao?"
"You didn't say it, but I know you want to!" Kazunari sang before he ushered the three confused seniors out of the store. He shot Miki a wink as he opened the door and left the convenience store as well.
"You don't have to, if you don't want to, Midorima-kun." Miki shook her head at her green-haired neighbour.
Midorima heaved a long sigh before adjusting his glasses. "No, I suppose I can stay."
Hitomi nudged Miki and cleared her throat. "Actually, you can just leave, Miki-chan."
The younger girl looked over at the older one in shock. "I can? But I couldn't, it is my shift and I – "
"To-may-to, to-mah-to." Hitomi waved hand dismissively. "Don't worry, I'm the one letting you off the hook, so why don't you enjoy a nice date with your boyfriend?"
"H-He's not my boyfriend!" Miki protested at the same time as Midorima, who had said, "I'm not her boyfriend!"
Hitomi looked at the pair with a cheeky smile. "Ah, young love."
"Hitomi-san, but I – "
"If you say anymore, Miki-chan, I'm going to fire you."
Miki's mouth dropped open in shock. "P-Pardon me?"
"Leave, or else I will fire you." Hitomi grinned at the younger girl.
"But – "
"Go."
Miki looked over at Midorima, who looked away from her with slightly red cheeks.
"A-Alright…" she nodded.
"Good, now get out of my sight and enjoy a nice date!" Hitomi beamed at the two awkward teenagers and practically pushed them out of the store. "Don't be a fool and wrap the tool!" she shouted one last time before heading back into her father's store.
The pair awkwardly stood outside of the store, refusing to meet each other's eyes.
"I-I'm sorry for Hitomi-san." Miki stammered nervously as she played with a button on her bag.
Midorima merely grunted in response before he let out a small sigh. "No, I'm sorry for Takao."
"It's okay." She replied ineptly.
The two teenagers continued to stand outside, not knowing what to do.
Miki's head normally filled with jumbled up thoughts was completely blank as her hands turned cold and a little sweaty from her nerves. She didn't even understand why she was so nervous.
"Let's just go." Midorima said after a few long moments of uncomfortable silence.
"O-Okay." Miki nodded as she gripped her school bag tightly. "Where are we going?"
"You'll see."
He had taken her to a basketball court.
Miki looked around in confusion. "Are we going to play?"
Midorima shook his head. "I would like to show you something."
She was still slightly confused, but Miki just nodded and stood near the end of the court as the green-haired boy pulled a basketball out of his sports bag.
She recalled watching Midorima practice with his team the day she became the basketball team's manager. Miki remembered the coach telling the team that the practice was revolved around teamwork and for the players to try different positions to understand the team's dynamics a little better. With that said, she had not been able to see Midorima's skill that had him labeled as a member of the "Generation of Miracles".
Midorima unzipped his jacket and dribbled the basketball a few moments before shooting from the three-point line.
Miki watched in awe as the ball swiftly fell into the hoop with a soft swish. While she was not familiar with sports, she knew that for a basketball to fall into the hoop as smoothly as Midorima's shot displayed was not an easy task.
"That was amazing, Midorima-kun!" she cried out in amazement.
She saw the boy's cheeks redden slightly before he let out a small cough. "Of course, it was. But that wasn't anything."
Miki stayed silent as she watched the tall boy back away to the center of the court. She forgot what the name of the line was but Midorima was standing exactly where the court got divided.
She kept her eyes glued on her neighbour as he swiftly made another perfect shot into the hoop.
She didn't realize she had been holding her breath until she let one out. "That was amazing, as well! You are so talented, Midorima-kun!"
"That isn't all." Were her neighbour's slightly cold words.
Miki felt a chill run through her as she watched Midorima walk about even further with an indescribable emotion in his eyes. It was as if everything was in slow motion as he continued to walk until he was at the other end of the court.
She could hardly believe her eyes. While she knew the green-haired basketball prodigy was exceptionally good at basketball, she wasn't sure if even he could make a shot as clean as his previous ones at the other end of the court.
Midorima stared at the hoop for a few long seconds before he shot.
Miki's eyes never left the ball as it flew across the court in an incredibly high arch, before falling as smoothly as his other shots did.
Her eyes stayed on the ball as it fell from the hoop and bounced a couple times from the court.
She looked up and saw Midorima looking at her.
"That was…amazing doesn't even describe it." She told her neighbour.
Midorima looked at her for few more moments before chasing after the ball that had rolled off of the court. He grabbed onto the ball and walked up to her with the basketball tucked under his arm.
"Why did you show me?" Miki asked as her hazel eyes met his green ones.
Midorima stared right into her as if looking deep within her soul. "Basketball is a part of me. This is the reason why I'm part of the 'Generation of Miracles'."
"Are the 'Generation of Miracles' all this good?" she asked quietly.
Midorima's eyes hardened. "About as much, if not better."
The same chill that had run through Miki earlier made its way down her spine again.
She could tell that there was more to the reason why Midorima demonstrated his true strength to her. However, she didn't push it. She knew that there was a reason why he wasn't telling her and she understood that one day she would get her answer.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
You guys are so amazing and so sweet! Reading all your reviews make me incredibly happy and you guys are all so understanding. I really truly love you guys for helping me get this far into Divine Will. I can't wait to update more often and yeah!
Just keep in mind that I have not really looked over this chapter, so excuse any grammar errors, etc. I just wanted to upload as soon as I could. In a later time (probably after I finish the story), I will re-edit all of the chapters. That is the plan.
I am hoping to finish this story by the end of the summer or early into the school year. The idea of starting a new story is rather exciting.
Anyways, I will try my very best to get chapter 13 up on Thursday, and again upload twice a week. So look forward to frequent updates!
Love you guys and happy reading!