Chapter 21 : Go back to being a girl?
.
.
December had just graced its first week. Scarves and cardigans were all the rage now but to a bunch of basketball idiots –er, I mean players, it was just more and more practice as the winter cup drew closer as the days went by. The week-long high school tournament was receiving quite a lot of attention in the recent years.
Akira woke up to the sound of her alarm. She yawned and wished for the winter holiday break to come. Apparently, living alone as a boy had turned her into a lazy one.
"Maybe I'm slowly turning into a boy" she sighed heavily to herself and dragged herself all the way to the kitchen and rummaged inside her refrigerator. Its contents? Not much. She hadn't shopped for groceries in weeks. Yep, she was becoming lazy around the house now.
.
.
She rode on her new bicycle which she had just bought last week. Arriving in the classroom, she was greeted by the usual greetings from her adoring fangirls and a few guys.
"Hayakawa-kun, some of us were planning a Christmas party a-a-and" the little raven-haired girl blushed as she spoke. "We'd like you to come!"
Akira felt sorry for the girl. Though she had already grown accustomed to her fangirls, rejecting them was still a tad difficult for her. "I-I'm sorry Kagawa-san but I'm heading home on the 24th. I would have loved to but I've already made plans" she smiled. Plans? I wonder now…
.
.
"The tournament's opening ceremony is coming up in 4 days! Where the hell is Kagami?" an infuriated captain Hyuuga burst inside the gym when he saw their ace was still nowhere to be found.
.
Everybody sweatdropped. Why did they have to have such a short-tempered captain and coach? But indeed, how long was Kagami planning on training overseas? He was skipping a terrible amount of schoolwork and he wasn't blessed with a very high intellectual mind.
.
. . . time skip. . .
.
"Gather around!" Hyuuga called out with authority and his arms crossed. Riko stood beside him. "At 10 am tomorrow, the opening ceremony for the winter cup will begin, followed by the first match. We aren't playing Touou until 3pm in the afternoon"
Akira felt her heartbeat suddenly take a quick pace. Was she nervous? This was a second chance to finally get to face Akashi in a match. She clutched her shirt and heaved a deep sigh. She knew that despite her newfound love for basketball, there was still that tiny part of her that wanted to play out of her selfish desire to defeat the 'emperor'.
"Hayakawa-kun, why are you so tensed up like that?" Akira was brought back into reality by Izuki.
"Senpai! I-It's nothing, really" she smiled. What was she nervous about? She should be excited!
It was around 7 o' clock in the evening, or some time near 8 that Akira decided to cool her head off in the park. She went for a solitary walk to let the whole winter cup thing sink into her head. A long heavy sigh escaped her lips.
"It's been a while, Akira"
The voice behind her back sent shivers down her spine. It nearly gave her a heart attack. Nobody else called her Akira except for him.
"So you're here already" she replied, her back facing him as she did not turn to face him. She suddenly felt a heavy presence behind her as he moved closer.
"We arrived this morning. I must say, tonight's quite ideal for a stroll in the park. Mind if I join you?"
Akira felt her hairs tingle when he placed a hand on her shoulder. She felt her shoulders stiffen at the contact and the cold weather didn't help much at all.
In the end, they did walk together. Akashi asked her about school ad her life since summer. Akira gave short responses, showing no interest in conversing with him until she finally said;
"We'll defeat you, I swear" she said
"Defeat me? You make me laugh Akira. You're not even in the starting lineup" the emperor chuckled, grinning at her
.
. . . Meanwhile. . . .
.
She had just emerged from the convenience store with a bag of snacks. She was still in her school uniform.
"Yosh! Tomorrow is our revenge game against Touou Gakuen" the girl clenched her plastic bag of goods and marched her way out with confidence.
She stopped in front of the park when she saw a familiar person who was wearing the Seirin track suit. She had no doubt it was Akira, but who was the man with him? She snuck closer and hid behind a tree, her curiosity getting the best of her. Upon eavesdropping, she saw a head of red hair. Red hair… It seemed so familiar to her as well. Where had she known such a person? It wasn't until she heard their conversation that she knew.
"That's Akashi Seijuro!" she gasped. "Do they know each other?"
She quietly followed the two, careful not to get too close… She heard their conversation.
"So when are you planning on telling your beloved teammates about your secret?" Akashi smirked
.
.
"Shut up! This isn't your problem so let me handle it myself" Akira hissed at him
Everything else that happened afterwards had occurred all too fast. Next thing she knew, she was pinned on the wall and Akashi smirking devilishly at her. He leaned forwards until their faces were merely a couple of inches apart. Akira felt suffocated because of her increased heart rate. She felt paralyzed by his gaze.
"Do you think they'll accept you once they've found out?"
"Shut up"
"What would happen if they realize you've been deceiving them?"
"N-no. Shut up" her voice was breaking. She wanted to run away
"Heh? But you do realize they've only accepted you because they thought you were a boy, right? That somehow they could use whatever it is you had so they could win? Truly you are an idiot"
After seeing the tears roll down her face, he bent closer and finally crashed his lips into hers. Before she could even react, he pulled back and spoke without a smile.
"In this world, winning is everything. Winners are validated and losers are denied. Until now, I've never lost at anything, and I won't in the future. Since I always win, I'm always right. If you oppose me, I'll crush you no matter who you are. So I suggest you go back to being a girl and stand down"
.
.
Riko couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. "I-Is this yaoi!" she shrieked. "H-h-he just kissed a guy!"
Bu then she heard Akashi say something about Akira going back into being a girl. Wait! D-did he just tell Hayakawa-kun to go back… to… being a…. girl?
"Oh? It looks like somebody's been eavesdropping" Akashi smiled and turned to look at Riko as if he knew she was there.
"C-c-coach?! You're here?"
Riko still couldn't speak. Whether it was because of Akashi's aura, or just suddenly finding out about Akira's secret, she couldn't utter a word.
"Well, good luck explaining. I have to go" Akashi smirked, gave Akira a pat on the shoulder and backed away.
"Wait! You knew she was there, didn't you?! You knew somebody was listening to us!"
"I already told you, I'll crush you if you oppose me"
.
.
Poor Riko, still having a hard time taking in all that she had seen and heard. Who was Hayakawa Akira indeed?
"H-H-Hayakawa-kun? What was that all about?"
"Gomenasai coach. I haven't been completely honest with all of you"
.
.
And so Akira related in detail her past, her life with Akashi and her sudden risky decision. Riko couldn't believe everything completely at first.
.
"I'll show you instead, coach" Akira said, taking her jacket off and unrolling the bandages underneath the two layers of shirts she had on. She then took Riko's hand and placed it over her chest.
"Kyaah!" Riko shrieked upon feeling the two lumps over the chest she was touching. "Y-You'ra a…"
"I'm a girl"
"An A-cup! You're boobs are smaller than mine!" she squealed, suddenly clasping on Akira's chest
"E-eh? That's what you're worried about coach?" Akira sweatdropped.
"And I thought my boobs were small. I'm so glad somebody else has smaller boobs than I do!"
"Uhm coach, this is kinda serious. And can you please let go of my- er, my chest?"
Realizing the awkward atmosphere, Riko let go of Akira's breasts and coughed. "Well, the rest of the team will have to know this sooner or later. However, I can't blame you for what you decided to do. I'm not saying it was a bad thing, but it wasn't entirely a good thing too. So you're playing basketball for revenge?"
Akira let out a laugh to lighten the mood. "Well at first it was like that. I wanted to prove to my father that I could follow him in his footsteps and be somebody he could be proud of. That's why I was so jealous of you, coach, when your father gushed about how amazing you were"
"My dad can be a jerk sometimes but yeah, I know he means well"
"I wish my father would just say even a simply, 'good job Akira'."
So this is what girl talk is like. I haven't had a serious one in years, Riko thought to herself and smiled at her kouhai.
"Well, you were able to prove that you could be in equal footing with the guys so I'll keep your secret"
Akira's eyes glimmered with some sort of hope in them. Maybe she could go all the way. She never regretted her decision from the beginning. She never regretted choosing Seirin and being one of the members of the boys' basketball team. She never regretted challenging Akashi head on.
Go back to being a girl? No, not yet, Akira smiled to herself and to her coach. She was going to finish what she started.
.
.
.
The day of the Winter Cup opening ceremony had arrived and all teams gathered at the huge stadium. Akira was nervous. She had never seen so many people under one roof. The Winter Cup had just recently grown in popularity that could match up the Inter High tournament of the summer. She looked at all the sponsors and people flooding in. Then all of a sudden, she saw two suit-clad men in the VIP box and recognized them both instantly. Her father and Akashi Masaomi were seated along with other businessmen as they watched from the box.
.
"Is the Winter Cup really that big of an event?" Akira asked, still surprised to see her father so soon
"It's been growing fast and they say that in the past 2 years, it has even surpassed the summer event" came a reply from team captain, Hyuuga. "Idiots! Don't be so nervous. We aren't guests here. We've earned our place just like everybody else" he suddenly yelled at Furihata who was quivering like a baby.
.
"Ano ne, may I be excused for a moment?" Kuroko asked for permission, holding his phone out
"You first years sure like to runaway whenever you like it, don't you" Riko glared at him, grabbing his head
"No, i-it's just that I've received a text from Akashi-kun and he wants to meet up"
.
Everybody looked astonished upon hearing of Akashi. Random thoughts were now coming into their heads but Riko noticed Akira's reaction first. She noticed that Akira tried her best to hide her sudden discomfort upon hearing his name, after what he did to her that night.
.
"Fine go on Kuroko-kun, but don't take too long"
.
After letting the teal-head boy go, she gave orders for Furihata to follow Kuroko. Akira too wanted to sneak up on Kuroko and hear what Akashi had to say but she shook her head. She had nothing to do with that.
.
.
.
.
Aaaaaand another chapter after a loooooong wait. I'm so sorry, as always, minna-san. I just finally got off the hook for this semester and I'm able to enjoy 2 weeks of semestral break so I decided to make the most. Hohoho Thanks for all the likes and follows guys! You're all too sugoi!