The day of the Seirin vs. Yosen match, I woke up early. I took a scalding hot shower, shaved every hair off my arms and legs, and covered myself in perfume and lotion. I combed through my hair, blow dried it, and pulled it back into a ponytail with a light blue ribbon. I then proceeded to spend the next three hours in front of my mirror trying to get my eyeliner and the rest of my make up perfect. When I heard the incessant knocking on the door I opened my window and shouted, "I'm not ready yet blondie, come in, the door's unlocked!"
"You're alone, you shouldn't leave the house unlocked!" Kise shouted up at me.
"I can take care of myself. Or have we forgotten the beach incident? Or the fact that Takeda knocked you out in less than five seconds?" I shouted back at him.
"I couldn't help that! My delicate body isn't used to such rough treatment!" Kise shouted.
I sighed angrily, "Well get your delicate body in the damn house because I'm very close to coming down there and murdering you in the street!"
I heard the front door open and close, and then rummaging noises in the kitchen which I presumed was Kise making breakfast. Satisfied with my make up, I slipped on the only skirt I owned, which was a black pleated mini skirt and had been my "required" uniform at Fukuda. I put on a gray shirt and black jacket before going down the stairs and into the kitchen, "Hey," I said to Kise, who was at the stove.
"Good morning Shiracchi~" Kise sang as he turned around to face me and then stopped.
He looked at me with a frown on my face, "What's wrong?" I asked and patted my hair, "Do I not look okay?"
"Where is my Shiracchi and what have you done with her?" he asked me in a grave tone.
"What do you mean?" I asked as I sat down at the table.
He put a plate of food in front of me, "What is this?" he asked, motioning at my face.
"I'm a girl. I am allowed to dress up once in a while; come to think of it you're a model, I should've waited to do my make up until you came," I replied.
"Shiracchi, I don't even do my own make up," Kise laughed.
I narrowed my eyes, "Blondie, I think we're both aware that your eyelashes are not that long naturally."
He looked away, "Anyway, why do you look like this today? Usually I have to drag you out of bed when we have a basketball game to go to."
"It may be all for nothing, but I have to look perfect today," I answered.
Kise looked at me, "Shiracchi, that completely answered my question."
I smiled and he continued in a sarcastic voice, "Seriously Shiracchi, that response might very well be the answer to the universe."
"Aww blondie, is my quick wit rubbing off on you?" I asked and pinched his cheek.
"But in all seriousness, do I look good?" I asked.
"You always look good-ssu," Kise answered.
I sighed, "But I mean do I look like normal teenage girl to anybody who doesn't know me?"
"I think so," Kise answered me.
"Okay then let's go," I said getting up.
"You haven't even finished your food yet," Kise whined.
"It's not important," I said, heading towards the door.
"Not important," Kise said as he stood up, "I slave in the kitchen to make you food and it's not important?"
I looked at Kise and laughed, "I may look like a normal teenage girl right now, but you look like a disgruntled housewife blondie."
"Shiracchi," Kise whined.
"What? It's the apron, I don't understand why you need to wear it every time you cook; it was a gag gift," I said.
"It's a precious gift from Shiracchi," Kise said bashfully.
Whatever let's go," I chuckled.
"Shiracchi."
"Shiraaaacccchhiii."
"Shiracchi please talk to me," Kise whined.
My eyebrow twitched, "I can't believe you."
"It wasn't my fault-ssu," he pouted.
"Where are we right now?" I asked him.
"The train station," he answered.
"Why am I upset?" I asked.
"Because we missed our train," he answered lowly.
"And what will happen now?"
"We'll be late," he said.
I turned my head towards him, "Now tell me this, why did we miss our train?"
Kise hung his head low and said in a monotone voice, "Because my fangirls attacked us and I gave all of them an autograph and a picture."
"That is correct, and based on your answer, I would like to call bullshit on your previous statement of "it's not my fault" and place the entire blame on you," I said irritatedly.
"I'm sorry-ssu," Kise said cheerfully.
"Apologizing cutely doesn't make up for it. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like the wait for the next train to be made in silence," I said coldly.
Kise's hand brushed against mine, "I'm sorry," he said seriously.
"I know," I said begrudgingly.
We ended up being late as Kise had predicted, and didn't get to the game until the start of the third quarter. If looks could kill, Kasamatsu's glare would've sent us to an early grave, "Where the hell have you guys been?" he asked angrily.
"Problem with the trains, life happens Yuki," I answered before Kise could tell him the whole truth.
"Thanks for covering for me," I heard Kise whisper in my ear.
It occurred to me only after I had said it, but it wasn't necessary for me to lie for him. Even if he had told Kasamatsu the truth, it would be Kise's head on the chopping block for letting his fangirls get in the way, not me. "We were only able to save one seat," Kasamatsu said, breaking me out of my thoughts.
Kise smiled, "That's okay, Shiracchi can sit on my lap."
Scanning the area I pushed Kise into the open seat and sat down on the person next to him, "It's okay blondie," I said.
"Shiracchi! You can't just sit on random people, come here," he whined as he patted his legs.
I gave Kise one of my most threatening stares, "I. Said. It. Was. Okay. Blondie."
Kise looked at me doubtfully and insisted on holding my hand, but otherwise he let the subject drop for the rest of the game. "What's the score?" I asked.
Instead of an answer from my teammates I heard they guy's voice in my ear, "29-17 with Yosen in the lead."
"Thank you," I said quietly.
"Why are you here?" the man asked.
"Basketballs, basketball players, teenage boy angst, this is my life now," I answered.
The man chuckled, "The more important question is why are you all the way out here?" I asked.
"I got invited by the coach, didn't you think I'd be here? I thought you got all dressed up for me," the man said.
"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't," I said cheekily.
"Well you look very pretty," he said, petting my hair.
"Hey, would you mind not touching her-ssu," Kise interjected and his sentence was followed up with an inhuman noise.
"Did he...did he just hiss at me?" the man asked.
"Kise, know your place, you are a puppy dog not a cat. If I need anyone to hiss at someone I'm going to call Hanamiya," I said.
"Now that you mention it, Hanamiya does seem like a cat," Kise said.
"Right? I think it's the tongue thing too, you know how he always sticks his tongue out at people. It kind of reminds me of when cats stick out their tongue and forget to put it back in so it's just sticking out all the time," I said.
Kise laughed, "That's so true, I'm going to take a picture next time I see him and photoshop cat ears on him."
I laughed back, "Make sure to send me that."
"It amazes me," Kasamatsu interrupted, "How much time you two can spend talking about non-basketball related things...DURING A BASKETBALL GAME!"
"Fine, we'll watch the freaking game, calm yourself and your eyebrows Yuki," I said in response.
Putting my attention on the game, I was quick to realize that it seemed Kiyoshi and Kagami were being more intense than usual, "Wait, I know those two," I muttered.
"Who?" Kise asked.
"Emo guy and Atsushi," I said.
"Eh, you and Murasakibaracchi are that close to be using his first name?" Kise asked.
"No, that's the only name I know him by; he helped me carry something when we watched the Seirin vs. Touou match," I replied.
"I see," Kise said somewhat relieved.
"Can I ask you something blondie? Haven't you ever thought of calling him by his first name? I mean, Murasakibara is already a mouthful, and then you add your -cchi to it and it's just ridiculous, like try typing that into any word processor and have them tell you it's spelled correctly," I said sarcastically.
"What's up with Kagami and that emo guy though?" I asked.
"That's Kagami's brother from America, I don't think they have good history," Kasamatsu said.
I looked at him doubtfully, "I don't think they're actual brothers," Kasamatsu elaborated.
I nodded and turned back to the game; the third quarter had ended with Yosen leading by four points, but at least Kuroko had been subbed back in. The game was pretty close, but in the last 20 seconds of the game Murasakibara entered the zone (I only knew this because of Kise telling me) but Kuroko slapped the ball out of his hands and secured Seirin's victory.
I heard the emo guy, who I was just recently informed that he goes by the name Himuro, and Kagami have an exchange. I overheard something like, "We're no longer brothers" and had to ask out loud, "I'm glad that Seirin won, but what the hell is going on between the two Americans?"
"Apparently Himuro said that he's no longer worthy of being Kagami's brother because Kagami is stronger than him," Nakamura answered.
"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard, he needs to grow a pair and buck up," I said.
"I don't think anyone's disagreeing with you," Kasamatsu said.
We walked out of the game, me sticking close to the guy I had sat on; little did I know what was being said as I separated from the group.
"Who is that?" Takeuchi-sensei asked the team gruffly.
"I don't know, but Shira seems to be friendly with him," Nakamura observed.
"He looks like he's in his thirties," Kasamatsu said.
"I know Shiracchi can take care of herself, but I don't trust that guy," Kise whined.
"He doesn't seem trustworthy," Kobori said.
"I agree!" Hayakawa shouted.
"Genta," a female voice called out as a woman approached them.
"Masako," Takeuchi sensei said back.
"It was a great game," Takeuchi commented.
Araki smiled softly, "We lost, but I think this game finally lit a fire in Murasakibara to try."
"That's good," Takeuchi said.
"What are you all gawking at over there?" Araki asked.
"That shady guy," Kise replied with a hint of malice.
"Oh, he's the physics teacher at Yosen," Araki answered.
"That guy's a teacher?!" all of the boys exclaimed.
"Yes, why?" Araki asked.
"Shiracchi was on his lap the entire game, and now he's petting her head again-ssu," Kise growled.
Araki's eyes furrowed, "He never struck me as that type of guy, I'll deal with him right now."
"I'll go with you," Takeuchi said and followed her.
"Don't worry coach, we got your back," the Kaijo boys said as they followed suit.
"Excuse me," Araki said harshly as she walked up to the two.
"Oh Masako; I wanted to introduce you to someone," the man said.
Araki's eyebrow twitched, "You do, do you?"
"Yeah in all the time I've worked at Yosen I don't think you two have ever met, this is my little sister, Haizawa Shirahime."
"It's just Shira," I said.
The woman looked shocked for a second before introducing herself, "It's nice to meet you, I'm Masako Araki; Yosen's basketball coach."
I saw Kise inch towards me, "You're older brother?" he asked in almost a whisper.
I nodded a yes to him. I wasn't surprised he didn't guess it before; my brother is tall, has brown hair, and gold eyes; in short, we look nothing alike. Even our attitudes are different, I am a very volatile person and temperamental, my brother is a cool cucumber with a permanent bored expression on his face because he finds people too annoying to even feel anything towards. We weren't that close because of our big age gap and him living so far away, but we still care for each other. The fact that my brother was so smart and collected always led to me trying to impress him, or show him that I was okay; hence my need to look like a normal teenage girl. My brother had always watched me when my parents were away on business and had actually wanted me to move with him to Akita, but I had liked Shizuoka too much. I guess it didn't matter much anymore because I'd be on my own soon anyway, but old habits die hard and I didn't want him to worry about me. "Haizawa nii-san, I am sorry I hissed at you! It's just, your sister is the love of my life and I thought you were a predator!" Kise yelled and bowed.
"Umm...Okay," my brother answered.
"Are you staying?" I asked him.
"I have to get back to work, but you need to come visit me soon," my brother responded.
"Okay," I said.
"Shiracchi, I'm going to take a walk, is that okay with you?" Kise asked.
"Sure thing," I said as he walked off.
"What's with him?" Masako asked.
It was then that I spotted sadist sensei next to her, "I don't know. He's been acting strange the entire Winter Cup."
"You don't think that's going to affect his performance do you?" she asked.
"No, when we were watching the tapes of our next opponent Kise was fired up over one particular player," Kasamatsu interrupted.
"Who's our next opponent?" I asked.
Kasamatsu looked at me with a disappointed face, "It's not like we're going up against them in a couple hours, but Fukuda."
My brother looked at me, "Haizaki?" he asked.
I nodded, "Do you know him?" Kasamatsu asked me.
"Yeah, he's sorta my best friend, but Kise and him do not get along," I replied.
Kasamatsu looked at me with a pensive look before saying, "Okay, we're going to warm up."
"You go ahead, taking a walk sounds like a good idea right now, I think I'm going to go for one," I said.
We separated, and I walked swiftly in the night air, trying to keep myself from vomiting. I was feeling very conflicted, I wanted Kise to win, but I didn't want Shogo to lose. "Shira senpai?" I heard to the side of me.
I looked to my right and was confronted with a petite girl with pink fluffy hair, "Sakura," I breathed.
"Are you okay, you look sick," she asked.
I smiled, "I'm fine, must be the weather."
"Yeah, it's cold. I saw Haizaki," she said suddenly.
"What?" I asked.
"I saw him a couple of minutes ago, he was beating up this guy from Yosen and this woman. Kagami and Kise were there too," she explained.
"What guy from Yosen?" I asked.
"I don't know his name, but he has bangs covering half of his face," she said.
"It's Himuro then, can't say I feel too bad about that, I don't like him," I said.
Sakura laughed, "Still as brutal as ever senpai."
"Hey Sakura, do you know where Haizaki went, I need to talk to him," I asked her.
"He went that way," she said pointing towards a small bridge.
"Thanks," I said walking off.
I walked the way she pointed for about five minutes before I caught sight of Haizaki, "Shogo," I called out.
He turned towards me, "Shira."
I jogged up to him and gave him a big hug, "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."
"Yeah," he said hugging me back.
"So, I was just informed our teams will be playing each other in an hour or two," I said.
Shogo snorted, "Just now? God, you are a horrible manager."
"That has been established," I laughed.
"Hey," Shogo said.
"What?" I asked.
"It's okay if you want your team to win," he said.
"We'll deal with this like we always do; you're separate from my issue with Kise," he added.
I took a moment to respond, "It's not that...I just don't want to see either of you hurt," I muttered.
Shogo looked at me, "Are you in love with him?"
I was taken aback at his sudden question, "What?"
He grunted, "Tch, don't lie to me; your face is completely red."
"Shogo...I don't-" I started.
"Don't lie to yourself either," he said aggressively.
I looked down, angry at him because he was right. It had been a long time since Kise confessed to me, so long that I barely ever thought about it and just went along with him. I had stopped asking myself whether I had any love for him and before I knew it I was in love with the idiotic blonde. Nowadays I couldn't be confronted about it without my entire face turning red and Kise had become such a big part of my life, I couldn't imagine it without him. I hated that Shogo saw right through me, but regardless of my feelings, this game was something that was between the two of them.
I walked over to Shogo and wrapped my arms around him, "Have you told him yet?" he asked.
"I'll tell him when I'm on my deathbed," I said, smiling into his shirt.
Shogo laughed, "Hey Sho?" I said.
"Yeah?" he said.
"Even though you're better at basketball than me, we'll always be bros," I said.
He was quiet for a moment, "Shi, are you on drugs?" he asked me.
I nuzzled my face into his pastel pink shirt, "No, I'm just feeling American tonight."
Hey there! I wanted to thank everyone who follows/favorites/reads this and especially those who review. To Amethyst, I so happy you like this so much and I hope
you enjoyed this chapter, because love is definitely in the air between the two. To amy1945, there was a little bit of jealous Kise in this chapter, but there will be
major jealousy in the last ten chapters because my life would not be complete with torturing Kise (I also feel as well that jelly Kise is the best).