Break 23: Scouting Oddities

Note to self: Never agree to scout a school you know nothing about except that a very tall child with a screw loose attends there.

Taking an early morning train up north was both a good and bad idea. On one end she had to wake up and drag herself to the station, and on another, she would be back in Kanagawa sooner if she left earlier. The trip would take about five hours considering the distance, something she wasn't very enthusiastic about. She had done the math and since she had left on a 6 o'clock train with luck she would arrive by 11. Falling asleep proved to be much easier than expected, though she made sure to sleep lightly just in case.

She had woken up about three hours into the ride and had spent the rest of the time alternating between staring out the window, flicking her phone, and eating the few snacks she had brought along. At one point she had been so bored out of her mind that she considered calling Kise, just so he could talk her ear off. Yeah she really wanted the train ride to be over soon if she was getting that desperate. One bag of chips and a hundred and fifty-two phone flicks later, Kaed practically sprang out of the train the minute it stopped.

Sparing a few seconds to stretch and take a look around, Kaed spotted a map not too far away. Tracing a finger along the map's surface, she smiled slightly; Yosen wasn't all that far away within walking distance. Committing the route to memory, she set off at a brisk pace.

Kaed was a fast walker so it didn't take that long to get there. Entering without a fuss she made her way to where she hoped the basketball gym was located. She knew that the captains had made sure that her presence was not considered an intrusion and a simple scouting. She had wondered what the girl's team here was like considering how known their counterparts were for having such a strong defense.

It had been about ten minutes now and she was sure she was something along the lines of 'lost'. Now more than a bit put off with the school's lack of a directory of some sort, she was resigned to attempting to find a wandering student who might point her in the right direction.

As if she had shouted her situation out loud, no more than a minute had passed when a tap on her shoulder had caused her to turn around. The person that met her eyes was a sight she was pretty sure Etsu would have been squealing about if she had been with her. It was a tall boy around her age (maybe a year older) with black hair covering his left eye. He seemed to be rather calm from his demeanor. Withdrawing the hand he had used to tap her shoulder, he spoke, "Excuse me, but you seem to be a little lost."

With a sigh of relief Kaed gave the boy a rueful smile, "Yeah, I am actually pretty lost. You don't happen to know where the basketball gym is do you? I'm here to scout out the girl's team, they know I'm coming but I can't seem to find the place…" she trailed off with a sheepish scratch of the cheek.

The boy's expression went from nonchalant to slightly interested, "Oh? Well it just so happens that I was on my way there. I can take you if you want," he offered.

"Much appreciated," Kaed said nodding her head in thanks. As the boy gestured for her to follow, she took the time to take in the sights of the school. It appeared to be rather western in terms of architecture she noted. Her thoughts of the architecture were broken when the boy spoke again.

"I'm Himuro Tatsuya by the way," he said, "And you are?"

Taking the obvious hint to introduce herself; the auburn eyed girl obliged in turn. "I'm Tsuji Kaed, it's nice to meet you Himuro-san."

"Kaed? I haven't heard that sort of name before. I honestly thought it was Kaede," the now named Himuro replied.

The girl sighed, Etsu and her terrible pronunciations.

Himuro seemed to have remembered something at that moment, "Ah, by any chance have you-?"

"Himuro! Stop flirting with girls and get over here!" a voice thundered. Shifting her eyes to where a rather large male was standing in front of the door to what appeared to be a gym, Kaed couldn't help but to feel her lip twitch in disbelief at his outraged expression.

Another male, this one much shorter and slimmer in frame (presumably a teammate) groaned and rolled his eyes. "Okamura, we all know you fail in getting girls but you don't have to yell. I think the whole school might have heard you."

"Fukui!" Okamura shouted, yet again, "You don't need to let everyone know that! I try my best!"

Yet another very tall male walked out, this one sharp in features. "Does that mean thou art is a failure chin gorilla?"

If the metaphorical steam that appeared to be coming out of Okamura's ears was anything to go by, he was majorly P o'ed. "Not you too Liu!" he yelled.

Feeling a drop of sweat roll down the back of her head, Kaed turned to the only seemingly sane person, "Ah, Himuro-san, does this happen often?"

With an apologetic smile, Himuro answered coolly, "More often than it should."

Now appearing to try and change the subject Okamura shouted loud over the other voices to Himuro. "Anyway did you manage to find our center Himuro?"

Shaking his head, Himuro replied with a sigh, "No, Atsushi disappeared on me. I do wonder how he managed to do that though…"

Fukui groaned, "How hard can it be to find a 6'10 purple haired giant wandering around a near empty school?" he asked sarcastically. It was bad enough they had to hear Okamura complain about his girl problems while they waited and then hear him go off again the moment he saw another girl with Himuro.

"You were looking for me?" a bored voice asked coming up from the side. Simultaneous sighs and shouts of 'You're late!' were heard, but the giant paid no mind.

Looking up at the very tall first year, Himuro's eyes lightened up, "Atsushi! Where were you?"

Munching on one of the many snacks he had cradled in his arms, he replied absently, "I had to get some more snacks Muro-chin~."

"Of course," Okamura grumbled, "well you're late so hurry up."

With a yawn, Murasakibara decidedly began making his way over before finally noticing Kaed and stopping. Peering down at her curiously he tilted his head, "Eh~? What are you doing here Tsu-chin~?"

"Business," Kaed stated simply, trying not to be stuck underneath Murasakibara's towering figure.

"You two know each other?" Himuro seemed slightly surprised by the fact.

Ripping open yet another bag, Murasakibara nodded, "She went to Teiko with me," he drawled out lazily.

Shifting on her feet, Kaed turned on her heel, "You know what I think I'll leave now," she muttered before giving a quick wave and making her way to the female's gym.

"Aka-chin said that you had better hurry up," Murasakibara called after her, not really caring if she heard him or not.

She had in fact heard him loud and clear as she slipped into the gym. Pushing the thoughts of the captain to the back of her mind, she snuck around to a wall away from the practice and commenced her job.

Snapping photos, recording, and jotting down notes was proving to be easier than she thought. No one really acknowledged her so she was able to do her job in peace. Three hours flew by quickly and soon enough she found herself thanking the captain and taking her leave. Checking her phone's time, she sighed, she still had some time to kill. Walking out with the intention to head to the train station and get back early, she was stopped by an imposing figure and a much less threatening smaller one as well.

"Murasakibara? Himuro-san? What are you two doing here?" Kaed asked, quirking a brow at the snacking giant and his companion. She wasn't counting on being stalled by two of the players; that was for sure.

"You're going to the train station right?" Himuro asked, more for clarification than an answer, a nod from Kaed confirmed it. "Well I figured we could walk you over there, it's safer that way."

Shaking her head, Kaed smiled slightly, "I appreciate the offer but I doubt anyone would do something in broad daylight."

"Can we at least tag along?" Himuro questioned, "We were heading in that direction anyhow and some more company would be nice."

"Sure," Kaed said, "I really don't mind. Is there any particular reason why?"

Starting to walk towards the train station, Himuro shrugged and replied, "Just that I am a bit curious. Atsushi never mentioned you before."

Murasakibara lazily chomped down on another one of his many snacks, "That's because Aka-chin said he didn't want me to." With the mere mention of the red-head's name, Kaed stiffened slightly, but continued walking.

"Hmm," Himuro looked the slightest bit curious but brushed it off, "so, where did you say you came from again?" he asked, trying to ease some of the tension in the air.

"Kaijou High School," Kaed stated, "it's in Kanagawa."

Himuro nodded, "Quite far than, isn't that the school where another of the Generation of Miracles is?" he asked.

"Speaking of Ki-chin, what has he been up to Tsu-chin~?" Murasakibara asked briefly taking a break from his perpetual eating.

"He's the same," Kaed sighed, "Kise hasn't changed at all really. He's still the same childish and annoying copycat."

Himuro chuckled, "You seem to know him quite well if you talk about him like that. This is where we part I suppose," he said, gesturing to where they were stopped in front of the train station, Kaed hadn't even noticed.

Nodding, Kaed waved, "See you again sometime I guess," she said, jogging back to not miss her train, "It was nice meeting you Himuro-san!"

Pivoting on her toe, she twisted around to get a ticket and catch her train before it departed. Cutting it close, she managed to hop on and get a seat in a relatively empty car. Letting out a breath, she leaned her head back against the window, she was tired out. Closing her eyes, she soon found herself in a dreamless sleep.

Kaed had woken up half-way through the ride home, mostly due to the delay messages. Awake for the most part, all she could do was return to flicking her phone. By the time the train pulled into Kanagawa it was already close to 10:20. Since Kaijou wasn't too far, she jogged all the way there, arriving in front of the auditorium in record time. Sneaking in through a side door, she peered at the stage.

All she could do was face-palm. She had apparently run in at the same time Kiyo had decided to declare his undying love to a stiff and blushing Ueno, the poor girl. As she listened to the dialogue the urge to slam her head into the wall became ever more inviting.

Alas, she continued to watch, very interested now that Kise had come onto the stage. Or to be more exact the character that Kise was playing. "See, he's just playing you. Did you really think that he means that? Forgetting the past this easily~?" he said smoothly, voice nearly a purr.

Ueno commenced reddening madly as the line was spoken directly into her ear, much too close for the girl to handle. But she pulled through and stuttered out her line, "B-but he's been so n-nice lately."

"He's the one who's lying to you!" Kiyo cried out, "Just look what his girlfriend did to you!"

Ueno flinched visibly. "Oh shut up!" Kise snarled, "Of course you would know." Walking a few steps closer to Kiyo, he smirked darkly, "You were the one who made her life a living hell before after all~."

He was good, he was very good. If his whole performance was like this Kaed was impressed. He pulled of the jackass persona very well. If she didn't know any better she would have thought he was taking lessons from Aomine behind her back.

"That doesn't mean I can't try," Kiyo said, gritting his teeth, "I'll take you down, believe me. I will."

Snickering, Kise placed his hands on Ueno's shoulders tauntingly, "Like that would happen. I always win." And her point was proven.

The rest of the play was rather predictable, though the acting was good (which had her surprised). They ended on a cliffhanger, but got a large round of applause anyway. She hadn't noticed the size of the crowd until they started clapping. As the curtain fell, she nimbly navigated through the crowd to get to one of the backstage entrances, hoping to find Ueno or Etsu.

Unfortunately for her, Kise found her first. "Tsujicchiiiiii!" he cried happily, while attempting to tackle her into a hug, luckily Kaed moved fast and he only got an arm, not that he really noticed in his euphoric babbling, "I can't believe you came! Did you see how awesome I was?" he bragged.

Pushing the blond away to gain back some of her personal space, Kaed rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, were you taking a page from Aomine's book on how to be a jerk?"

Pouting, Kise jutted out his lip, "So cruel Tsujicchi. Admit it, I was great-ssu. I got a bunch of stuff from my fans too~!"

"Whatever floats your boat Kise," Kaed snorted, "By the way, have you seen Ueno by any chance I think-"

"Kise-kuuuuun!" a blur sped to them and latched onto the now near tears model. "We have to do that again! You're a great kisser!" Ume gushed. Raising a questioning and somewhat teasing brow to Kise, Kaed mouthed 'By this she means?'

Sighing heavily, Kise put a hand to his head. "Kiyo-senpai made us actually do the kiss scene…" he lamented.

Pressing closer to Kise, Ume frowned a bit, "You sound like you didn't enjoy it," she whined.

"I didn't," Kise whimpered, "I can think of at least a few other girls I'd rather be kissing-ssu."

Ume looked offended and Kaed was all the more amused. But before she could make a snide remark Ueno and Etsu became visible. Catching sight of the other three first-years, Etsu dragged Ueno along with her. "Hey Kaed-chan you made it!"

"Just the last half-hour," Kaed admitted, "You did a good job Ueno, how are you holding up?"

Smiling shakily Ueno nodded, "I think I'll be fine. It was actually pretty fun, though Kiyo-senpai is still on us about that competition thing…"

"Hahaha! Yeah he was totally pumped about finally 'winning Uneo-hime's heart' before the show. I wonder if he's around here somewhere," Etsu said, grinning cheekily. "So how was kissing plum-head?" At this Ume squeaked.

Hanging his head Kise replied. "Can we please not talk about that?" he griped.

"There you are!" Kiyo yelled, interrupting Kise's tear-fest. Storming over he glared at the victimized blond who started sniveling. And then he turned a gentle smile to Ueno, "So hime? What is your decision? Me or the crybaby over there?"

Etsu was staring intently, Ume was scowling, Kaed was face-palming, Kise was sobbing, "Do you see what I had to go through Tsujicchi-ssu?" And Ueno was looking around nervously.

"You know," Ueno managed, "I think it's too soon for something like that. I still have to get through high-school and focus on my art."

"Right," Kiyo nodded gravely, "that I will wait for you!" he declared valiantly before getting dragged away by a rushed looking Masahiko.

Currently it was taking all of Kaed's willpower not to break down in a fit of snickers. Shaking her head she spoke, "What have I been missing?"

"Oh! Actually I recorded the whole show from the front row!" Etsu squealed, taking out a video camera. "What do you want to see first?"

Stepping closer to her best friend, a wicked smile flickered across her face. "I want to see Kise's kiss scene with Isobe-san," Kaed said, enjoying the blonde's horrified expression all too much. As Etsu forwarded to the scene, she was grinning like crazy. Pressing 'play' the hilarity commenced. Watching with bright eyes, Kaed started snickering when in the video Kise hesitantly leaned in, Kise covering his eyes for what was to come. Which did and Kaed covered her mouth with her hand as Etsu paused. Uncovering her mouth, Kaed found it hard to put into words, "Kise…was Isobe-san trying to French you?"

At this point Etsu's body was racked with laughter as she convulsed with her loud laughs. Needless to say, Kise was sufficiently scarred. He was scarred even more so than when Akashi decided he wanted everyone to participate in a science experiment he thought of himself…no one wanted to go near a fish for a week. Ume on the other hand seemed quite proud of herself.

"Now do you see what I had to go through?" Kise wept, refusing to come out from under the shame cloud that had formed over him.

Kaed elbowed his side, "Oh suck it up. I bet you've kissed plenty of girls, what difference does this one make?"

"You're so mean!" the blond cried harder.

With Etsu still cracking up, Ueno hiding somewhere, and Ume attempting to woo Kise, Kaed wasn't sure if it was a good time to let them know. With a deep sigh, she did it anyway. "I suppose this isn't a good time to tell you I'll be leaving for Kyoto in two days than?"

Time immediately froze.

"What?!"

And time unfroze.

"You can't just leave like that!" Etsu yelled.

"Does this mean you're leaving us?" Kise wailed, not liking the idea one bit.

Sweat-dropping, Kaed sighed yet again. "Maybe I should have worded that differently…" she muttered.

"You can't leave me Kaed-chan/Tsujicchi-ssu!" Etsu and Kise cried, clinging onto an irate Kaed.

Shaking her personal-space invading friends off, Kaed huffed, "It's just a visit to my parents for a week."

"Oh," Kise said, sheepishly scratching his head, "I guess I misinterpreted that…"

"Yeah me too…" Etsu trailed, averting her eyes.

Because it was getting late, the group dispersed soon after. Kaed accompanied Etsu to their usual place before splitting off. Thinking back to that last conversation, she sighed. Great, she had just reminded herself that she was going to Kyoto. If only a certain demon captain wasn't there…then she would be fine.

A/N: Late yet again…But now we're getting into the (sort of) plot! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and stay tuned for more~.

Edits 4.25.14