Right, still boring. Sorry. It's just, I did research and to stay accurate I couldn't get all mushy/fluffy. (It's already obvious, but yeah, it's about Akashi's two personalities) We're moving towards Tokyo and the climax though! I'm gonna make this right, I swear!
I'm pretty busy, so I'm afraid I can't reply to the reviews! But oh my gosh, thank you all for being so sweet. I love reading your opinions or just little updates of your lives, hehe. I'm glad you're all doing all right! If you do want an answer, have a question or whatever: thekirouniverse tumblr com – you can contact me there or through PM!
I'm off fighting real life! Thank you so much for all the follows, favorites and reviews! Stay classy!
Thirty Six
"Aw, Rie-chan you came, too?"
Reo waved at the girls from afar while the other members of the basketball club were busy talking to each other upon the train platform. Rie frowned the second she noticed Reo, immediately stepping behind her dear friend Kozue to hide. The train station was rather busy that morning, the line from Kyoto to Tokyo rarely unvisited by tourists or travelers – although today, they were part of the masses, too.
"Why so shy, Rie-chan?" Kozue asked, glancing over her shoulder while they continued to head for the group.
"Not shy!" Rie argued. "Remember the Open Day? I ran away and never saw him again! What if he's mad? He looks like someone who could break my bones easily and- do you see the other giant next to him!? Why are they all so freaking tall! Seriously!"
Kozue couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head. But it had been sweet that her best friend had immediately agreed to drop her off the train station this early in the morning. Rie hadn't been too fond of knowing that she was going to Tokyo yet again because of Akashi, but grudgingly she stopped pouting after the promise of souvenirs and sweets.
In front of the tall boys though, she grew a little intimidated. It wasn't that usual to have such tall teenagers around after all, even their tallest classmate couldn't keep up with them. Stubbornly Rie ignored Reo's friendly wave, turning away from him while Kozue bowed her head to greet him properly.
"Good morning."
"Morning." Reo echoed, his smile faltering. "Did I say something wrong?"
"Not at all...Rie-chan is…merely not a morning person, I guess."
"Well…" He sighed dramatically, pushing his hands into his hips. "…she is not the only one."
"Iiji-chan!" Kotarō pushed his slender teammate out of the way, grinning brightly from ear to ear. He ignored Reo's outcry about his rude interruption smoothly, too busy to ramble on and on about their long ride to Tokyo, with her joining them this time. "It's always totally boring," he continued, "I can't sit still for nearly three hours!"
"I'm sure we'll find something to keep us busy." Kozue mused with him. "I prepared some food, too…I hope you will like it."
"Definitely! Oh." Kotarō blinked, finally noticed the short girl behind Kozue. "Neh, who's that? A friend?"
"Ah, that's my best friend, Rie-chan. She wanted to drop me off today."
Begrudgingly Rie left her hiding spot, claiming the right side of the black haired girl. She held her head high, obviously trying to buy a few more inches in her height to appear more confident. But in front of the two basketball players she still looked tiny. Rie lifted a hand in a half-hearted salute, the other hand resting upon her hip.
"Yo."
"Ooh…" Kotarō crossed his arms, staring owlishly at the short blonde for a long second. "…a middle schooler?"
"I'm in high school!" Rie cried out, while Reo hit his teammate against the back of his head.
"That's not how you speak to a lady, moron!"
"But she's so tiny!" Kotarō continued, rubbing the sore spot on his head. "How can she be so tiny if she's in high school!?"
"I'm not tiny! I'm average! Well…not exactly, but I'm close to!"
Kozue smiled warmly as she watched an agitated discussion between the energetic teens blossom from one second to another. Rie was a very social person, in school it was always her who brought a bunch of people close, but all their classmates had never been so tall either. She was glad that her friend quickly warmed up, even as Eikichi joined them to see what all the fuss was about.
Things were looking up.
"Kozue-san." Akashi stepped past their loud friends, approaching her swiftly with a bag in his hand. "Good morning. I apologize for my teammate's terrible attitude this early."
"Not at all. I'm glad I can join you properly this time around."
He smiled briefly in answer, showing her their exact plan and the basketball club members beside the ones she already knew who'd accompany them to Tokyo. It weren't many, but the rules expected of them to have at least a certain amount of players with them to exchange their current team members in the game if need to be. It was a bit amusing to see them all wearing the same bright colored jersey like a uniform. Only their coach – a middle-aged man – stood out like a sore thumb between the boys in his suit, talking to someone on his phone.
"Are you excited about your first match?"
Their conversation had led them from the train ride to her grandfather at first. Hotaka was doing better again since the temperature was slowly dropping. He was already looking forward to seeing Akashi again after his return. And after her mother had heard about him, she would like to meet him too some time when they were in Tokyo. That's when Akashi still looked relaxed, perhaps a little amused by the idea of finally meeting her parents as well after having known her grandfather for so long.
But at her last question, his expression changed slightly.
"It will be interesting."
Kozue blinked. He wasn't focusing on her anymore. He was looking at a certain spot in the air instead, his piercing eyes boring into an invisible wall. Seirin, wasn't it? They were going to play against Seirin High, the high school from Tokyo one of his old teammates from middle school attended. But-
"The bullet train is arriving." The coach suddenly called out. "Gather around, boys. We'll get on here, and no shenanigans – I'm looking at you two Kurosawa, Hayama."
Hayama looked up from his agitated conversation with Rie with whom he was still fighting about something – what exactly had been lost in their banter at some point. But the other basketball player called Kurosawa replied with a loud 'yeah, yeah' to appease the strict-looking man. Kozue was distracted by her dear friend Rie who grabbed her hands, allowing the brief moment she had with Akashi to pass.
"Send me a few mails, okay? Oh, and pictures! And greet your parents for me and if Akashi-kun even dares to do anything, I'll make him pay!"
"Rie-chan, I'm merely gone for a couple of days." Kozue laughed, squeezing Rie's hands in return. "I'll see you on Monday."
The blonde nodded in return, grumbling a little to herself. She still looked a little crestfallen, gazing at their joined hands she'd have to let go in a couple of seconds. But just when Kozue wanted to cheer her up by promising her to buy lots of her favorite candies – Rie surprised her with a big bright grin.
"Have fun, Shou-chan!"
Kozue nodded deeply, squeezing her friend's hands for the last time. "Thank you. Look after grandpa for me, will you?"
"Of course!"
The black haired girl trailed after the basketball teams who followed their coach's command. A lot of people made their way to the entrances, flooding into the long bullet train while a voice announced the destination and usual security warnings. Kozue followed Akashi inside after returning Rie's wave for a long moment. Rakuzan's basketball team was already busy with stashing their bags away. Akashi helped her with that, easily lifting her small bag to push it beside his into the storage space above the row of seats.
"We're near the end." Akashi stated, closing the lid. "I thought it would be perhaps more comfortable without having the others bother us too much."
"How considerate of you, Akashi-kun. I haven't even thanked you yet for asking your coach if it was all right for me to tag along, did I?"
He shook his head, dismissing her slight concern easily. "It's my pleasure. It would have been inconvenient to go separately to Tokyo, too."
"This way we can spend a little more time together."
The edge of Akashi's lips curled, offering her a gentle smile. The cold glint in his eyes from earlier was gone, no matter how much she tried to find it. Perhaps it was the stress? It were the Nationals after all, nothing somebody could shoulder light-heartedly. But in moments like these it was hard to shake off the knowledge about the rare moments where she had witnessed his strange reactions. This sudden cold that engulfed him from one second to another, only to be gone as quick as it came.
Kozue tugged a few strands of her hair behind her ear as she followed Akashi towards the back. They moved past the other high school students; each of them offered Akashi a short nod as greeting or out of respect. It was still a little funny to see people older than him look up to the second-year as their captain and student council president while their coach sat in the first row, busy with something else. Kozue's train of thought came to a sudden halt as Akashi himself stopped in his tracks. She was surprised that he had stopped moving without a single warning, but as she glanced to their right, she saw the reason why.
"Iiji-chan!" Kotarō waved from his spot next to Reo, who looked more than relieved to see someone else beside his club members. Eikichi was sleeping in the row in front of them, snoring as if he had been sitting there for hours instead of minutes.
This constellation was a bit new to the red haired basketball captain apparently.
"Why are you sitting there." Akashi asked, staring them down.
"Oh, there was probably just a mistake. We had seats in the front while coach said you sat in the back – no worries, we changed our seats with others. The team gotta stick together, right Reo-nee?"
"You're actually right, Kotarō." Reo agreed, smiling knowingly towards the pair. "Isn't that so, Sei-chan?"
"…I see."
In the end they joined Akashi's team, sitting down in the row behind them. Kozue had gotten the spot right beside the window, allowing her to catch a glimpse of the busy scenery outside. Kotarō and Reo were already talking again – about Tokyo, the hotel and how long it would take to get there. At least according to Kotarō, Reo was merely regretting to sit beside his energetic teammate for the upcoming three hours instead of someone else.
Akashi sighed. He leaned back into his seat, closing his eyes to allow them a little rest. His nosy teammates were too loud in his opinion. He had been the one to point their seats as far as possible from Kozue and his as he and the coach had bought the tickets. A part of him had expected this outcome though. What else should he await?
Still…
"Akashi-kun."
He opened his eyes again, turning slightly towards the girl at his side. Kozue was smiling at him, patience written across her face. Unlike him she didn't appear to be bothered too much by his teammates' meddling. For Akashi though, this long ride could have been a lot more enjoyable without them…
They were unnecessary.
"I bought tea and a few snacks."
She was about to reach for her bag in her lap, probably her little way of cheering him up. Had he become this easy to read? Impossible. But before she could reach for her thermos bottle, he grabbed her hand smoothly to stop her. Kozue blinked at him a little surprised, watching him set their hands down between them close to his knee.
"Mh?"
Akashi only shook his head a little.
"That's all I need for now."
Her eyes crinkled in a familiar way, warm and sweet. She leaned back into her seat with a small smile, closing her fingers around his hand in return. A last announcement resounded throughout their compartment, their ride would start any second - the two of them in the back didn't pay it much heed though. The silence between them was welcoming and something the redhead had missed a little these past few days thanks to his busy daily schedule.
That is until Kotarō's face appeared suddenly above the seat in front of them.
"Nah, Akashi, Iiji-chan! Let's play a game! I'm so bored."
"The ride barely started!" Reo scolded his teammate loudly, but Kotarō didn't care.
"But I'm still bored! C'mon, cut me some slack, will ya!"
Akashi's left eye twitched in annoyance, but Kozue only laughed.
Half an hour had passed.
It had been barely thirty minutes and the ride reminded him already of the time they went to Tokyo for the Interhigh this year. Eikichi's snoring had grown louder, his neighbor was already trying desperately to wake him up – but it was in vain. Kotarō's complains had doubled, and Reo had found a way to ignore him thanks to Kozue since they had now started to talk about a few novels both of them knew.
Akashi stared out of the windows on the other side, facing away from his teammates and the noise. It was as if the world had decided to purposely worsen his headache by throwing everything it had at him. Tomorrow was the match. Tomorrow he'd see Tetsuya again and all his teammates were bothered by was their boredom.
Had his old teammate improved since the last time?
It was a thought he liked to muse about. He expected him to, of course. Tetsuya had been their sixth member, the phantom of their old middle school team. But he had looked anything but determined at the Winter Cup match after Akashi had won once again. He had looked beaten. Lost – right where he belonged.
Who knew how he'd face him this time?
"I enjoyed it, too." Kozue echoed, still conversing with Reo.
But she had started to slowly pull Akashi's hand closer to her lap, brushing over the back of his hand with her fingertips. His attention slowly wandered to her and away from the window. His thoughts grew quiet. She didn't look bothered by holding his hand in public like this, right under his teammate's attentive gaze. It was a refreshing thing to see, he guessed as he propped his chin with his other arm. And a change for his train of thought and coming headache, too.
"I have to admit, as I heard he took a break from writing, I was a little disappointed."
"Right?" Reo agreed, sighing. "The end wasn't satisfying enough, I wanted more."
"Can't we play something?" Kotarō intervened, groaning a little. "We've been on this train since forever-"
"-thirty minutes-"
"-and we still haven't arrived!"
The company could be more pleasant though, Akashi thought. Reo sighed, brushing his long bangs aside. "I guess a card game couldn't hurt. I brought a set with me."
"Really?! Nah, Ei-chan, wanna join, too?"
Akashi couldn't see the face of the dark-skinned third-year in the row in front of theirs. But he heard a grumble and mumbled reply. That had sounded a lot like a 'no'. Lucky him.
"What about you, Iiji-chan? Akashi?" Kotarō was grinning over his seat in a second, acting more like a middle schooler on a school trip than a high schooler on his way to a national basketball tournament.
"I wouldn't mind." Kozue started carefully. "I know only a few card games though, I'm afraid."
"We'll just play Old Maid. That's easy. And if Sei-chan decides to join us, he'll win for sure anyway, right?"
Reo's smile was light while he shuffled the cards in his hands. Their seat arrangement didn't make it very easy to exchange the cards or play together – but the enthusiasm of Kotarō made up for it. According to him the redhead couldn't win forever if they were all going to give their best. Akashi only watched them for a while, contemplating if it was worth it or not. He would win anyway. There was no doubt about it. But…
"I might as well…"
If anything it would keep his teammates from being too noisy and kill some time. There was not a lot to do anyway. Kozue gave his hand a last squeeze before she let it go to accept her share of cards. She nodded politely a few times as Kotarō waved his cards around, explaining the game to make sure she knew the rules – and after a few minutes they were playing Old Maid.
"Impossible!"
Eikichi's snoring stopped abruptly at Kotarō's loud outcry, before a 'Hayama!' echoed down from the front. The blond snickered, scratching the back of his head while mouthing a 'sorry' towards his coach who sat quite a few rows in front of them. But quickly he turned back to Akashi and Kozue behind him. Two cards in his hands.
"How in the world did you not pick the Old Maid, Iiji-chan? I was so sure to finally get rid of it, too…"
Kozue chuckled beneath her breath, plucking two cards off her hand to set them down. "I'm sorry, Hayama-kun."
"Sorry doesn't make it easier." He grumbled, pulling a face. "Neh, let's change the direction again, going right was a bad idea."
"Already giving up, Kotarō?" Akashi glanced at his teammate for a second, reaching for Kozue's cards to pick one. He already had only one left on his hand unlike the others. He had won the past six rounds as well. But it had been a slight surprise how quickly the time passed by now since Kotarō's complains had grown more tolerable now. "Disappointing."
The blond haired teenager flinched, his grin faltering. "That's harsh, Akashi…"
Akashi, however, ignored him easily. His inner voice was pulling him over and over again towards the upcoming match, his mind wrapped around Tetsuya and his loud-mouthed friend. What had been his name again? Kagami Taiga, right? He had been an interesting surprise last time. A tiny figure on his chess board he hadn't been able to observe too much. An annoyance in the end.
And the closer they got to Tokyo, the more Akashi wondered how their first meeting after all this time would go.
Kotarō had sobered up quite a lot after his captain's remark, reaching wordlessly for Reo's hand to get a card. Like a balloon he had suddenly lost his air, offering the black haired girl his hand with a rather small grin.
Kozue stared at Akashi for a while, her mouth parted a little as if she was about to ask something. But she refrained from doing so in the last second, turning towards Kotarō again who still waited for her to choose one of his cards.
Sometimes, it wasn't a simple thing to solve with a single question.
"Woah!" Kotarō suddenly called out, tiny tears springing into his eyes in euphoria. "It's gone!"
"You do know that you're supposed to have a poker face in these games, don't you?" Reo wondered, but the blond was too busy snickering in glee.
"I guess, my luck has run out." Kozue smiled gently, adding the Old Maid to her hand. She shuffled the cards lightly, offering them the red haired boy at her side. "It's your turn, Akashi-kun."
Akashi blinked, scrutinizing her familiar expression for moment. But just like always she merely offered him a warm smile, not showing right away where the forbidden card could be upon her hidden hand. Had something happened? A voice in his mind whispered. Something was off. A little. Just a tiny fraction.
His fingers twitched as he reached for Kozue's cards, his headache was back knocking on the back of his mind. And strangely with it came a flash of the familiar face of his old teammate Midorima and their conversation at the last tournament. Like a reminder that this migraine of his was there to stay and not leave.
Akashi plucked a card from her hand and turned it over to glance at it.
Ah.
It was the Old Maid.