A/N: Hello, belated Merry Christmas! I am back with another chapter! Really sorry for taking so long to update :c but then I didn't expect college to be so draining. So, I've taking the past few days to sleep and recharge my brain and I finally, finally found the time and energy to be able to type c: Oh and it's because I was taking like a few days to warm-up for this chapter, so I released a one-shot for Psycho Pass, hehe. It's Kagari x Oc so if you wanna check it out, please do c: #ShamelessPlug
ALSO UHHH I wanted to make the Akashi vs Aomine detailed but then it kinda flopped and ended up as a filler ;-; i'm really sorry akbkabfkew
AND SCARLET HAS REACHED 500+ FOLLOWERS AND 400+ FAVES I AM SHOOKT THANK U GUYS SO MUCH
Enjoy!
"Seijuuro talking"
Seijuuro thinking
The voice talking
"Person on the other end of the call talking"
Chapter 14
Today was the day: the start of her career in middle school basketball, and the start of what would be Teiko's reign in the basketball scene.
She stood up from her bed and walked over to the mirror beside it, examining her reflection. Her long, waist-length hair was a little tangled up from her sleep, and her eyes, a peculiar shade of red, gazed back at her. She was nothing like the original Akashi, but also so much like him. Still, she would never be able to gain the potential he had, nor the same level of mastery of his techniques. Sure, she could try replicating them, but she would never have his finesse nor his quick mind.
Nevertheless, Seijuuro was confident that she would get into the first string today. She didn't want to waste all those times training with Shougo and Shuuzo (note: mostly just sessions playing around or her and Shougo teaming up against Shuuzo), after all.
After taking a shower and changing into her uniform, she entered the dining room, where Masaomi was already seated and eating his food. When she took her seat on the table and began to pile food onto her plate, he spoke, "I would like to remind you that you should not even bother trying out for the basketball team if you will not have an absolute chance of being chosen for the first string." Or, in simplified Akashi speak, you're a disgrace if you're not in the first string.
After two or so years of being subjected to such remarks in this life, and also considering the number of times she was told similar things as Elise, she had learned to not let those things bother her. If anything, she was sure she had already grown somewhat indifferent to those comments about her.
"Yes, Father." A simple, robotic answer followed by the soft scraping of utensils on her plate as she cut the steak on her plate into tiny pieces.
"And tomorrow," he continued as if she had not spoken, "Kon will be here by ten in the morning to drive you to your grandfather's place. Don't forget. He will come back for you some time in the afternoon."
This made Seijuuro pause from her actions. She looked up at him and asked, "What exactly will I be doing with grandfather? I was under the impression the meeting was simply to get to know the Akashi heiress."
"Your grandfather will be informing you about the agenda tomorrow when you arrive," Masaomi replied.
"I see."
Their conversation ended there, only the sound of utensils colliding with either each other or the plate could be heard.
Her first period was Mathematics, and they were tackling simultaneous equations with two and three variables today. The lesson was painfully easy, so it didn't take her too long to finish the worksheet given to them. She noticed Midorima finish about two minutes after.
"I'll be seeing you for tryouts later?"
Midorima glanced at her, adjusting his glasses before nodding. "Correct. Oha Asa informed me that Cancer is going to be second today. High chances of good luck, yes, but I took necessary precautions, as well."
"Oh? Your lucky item, you mean?" Seijuuro asked.
Midorima nodded once more, gesturing to the pencil on his desk. It was a white mechanical pencil with a penguin design. "This will augment my good fortune."
"That's very nice to hear, Midorima-san."
The response garnered a stare from him for a second before he turned his eyes to her worksheet. He glanced back at his own worksheet after a few seconds before nodding to himself.
Seijuuro felt rather pleased by this, but she willed herself to hide the smile that threatened to come out. Instead, she copied Midorima and turned back to her own worksheet.
Her class ended with Midorima giving her a nod before he left the classroom for recess. She stood up after, intent on finding a yoghurt to buy alongside the sandwich she had brought from home.
On her way out of the classroom, she slid the door open but stopped herself in her tracks before she could collide with a girl with pink hair.
Momoi Satsuki.
"Pardon, Momoi-san," Seijuuro said.
"Ah, Akashi-chan!" Momoi greeted back with a smile. "I was looking for you. Dai-chan wants to have lunch with you, too."
"So he sent you instead of doing it himself?" Seijuuro asked with a chuckle.
"He wanted to save the seats instead," Momoi giggled.
"Alright, then. Lead the way."
("You know, Jake, there's something called 'table manners' for a reason."
"SHUT UP, KEVIN."
"Do you guys have to be so loud? Studying here."
"Why are you even studying during the break, Lis? Exams are more than a month away."
"You know why I have to.")
"—right, Akashi-san?"
Momoi's voice brought Seijuuro back from her daydreaming. Seijuuro's eyes landed on the pink haired girl in front of her on the cafeteria table, the latter's blue-haired friend sitting next to her and gorging on a small mountain of burgers.
"Aa, my apologies, Momoi-san. Could you please repeat the question?"
"Dai-chan was wondering if it would be difficult for you to compete during the tryouts later, since the regimen would probably be for males, but I'm sure it won't be a problem, ne?" Momoi smiled at her genuinely, and Seijuuro was momentarily surprised at the other girl's confidence in her abilities.
"It won't be a problem," Seijuuro nodded. "Thank you for the concern, though, Aomine-san."
"I didn't mean it in a bad way, okay!" Aomine told her.
Seijuuro chuckled instead of answering before taking a sip from the strawberry-flavored juice in her hands. "And what about you, Aomine-san? Are you confident you'll get in?"
"I hope so!" Aomine grinned. "I know the senpais say it's hard, but I'm aiming for first string."
"I'm sure you'll get in, Aomine-san. There's a first time for everything." And you won't be the only first year getting in. There's Midorima, Murasakibara, Shougo, and me, too. We'll be getting in. I'm sure of it.
"It'll be the first time a girl gets in, too!" he cheered her on, giving her a wide grin and a thumbs up before he bit into his fifth burger.
Seijuuro smiled at him for that before she glanced at the nervous-looking pink-haired girl. "And what about you, Momoi-san?"
"I don't think the manager position will be difficult to get if there won't be a lot of competitors. That, and it'll be easier for me since I'm just going to run around and make sure you guys are okay and all."
The girl sounded a little anxious and less confident about what she was doing.
Could it be—
—that she thinks she won't be able to contribute a lot?
What makes you say that?
Think about it. What can a manager do? Reserve the gym, making sure everything's locked up, maybe help fill data up, bringing the water bottles and towels, and the like.
So you're saying she feels inadequate compared to Aomine?
I'm saying she doesn't know that she'll be a good strategist yet.
You want me to give her a little push?
Up to you.
Fine.
"I'm sure you'll be a wonderful manager once you get in, Momoi-san," Seijuuro told her confidently. "Even if it's 'just' a manager position, there's still a lot you'll be able to contribute to the string you'll be assigned to, Momoi-san."
The words seemed to comfort the girl a little, and Seijuuro settled for that.
I won't be explicit and say she'll be a good manager. I'm sure the opportunity will present itself soon.
Hm.
What?
But the voice didn't respond.
The tryouts were overseen by Sanada and Shuuzo, but Seijuuro had no time to greet Shuuzo because the tryouts promptly, and she and the other player-recruits were told to begin with jogging around the gym. The goal was to make as many laps as possible in ten minutes. Seijuuro knew she wasn't going to finish first. She was fast, yet, but her stamina still needed some work, so she decided to settle for pacing herself. This caused her to be somewhere in the upper middle in the line of people jogging around.
To be fair, she was the only girl, so to be able to be ahead of many others was already a good thing.
By the time ten minutes ended, the many boys and Seijuuro headed over to a table with those competing for the manager spot. There were four girls on the table, but only three positions for manager would be available, so one of them wouldn't make the cut.
Seijuuro headed over to a girl named Kikuchi Atsuko, who had the list with her name on it. "Akashi Seijuuro. Eighteen laps."
"Noted!" the girl said before scribbling down that number next to Seijuuro's name.
Afterwards, the player-recruits were told to line up for a beep test. Seijuuro was lucky that the order in which they lined up was one where those who did the least laps in the previous activity went first, so there was plenty of time for Seijuuro to catch her breath.
When she glanced behind her, she could see that Aomine, Midorima, Murasakibara, and Shougo were somewhere close to the end of the line. That meant they did really well with their laps. Seijuuro sighed. Maybe it's because of my height, as well.
Even the real Akashi had been one of the shortest among the Generation of Miracles, so she supposed that could be a factor why.
But your stamina is still terrible.
I'm working on it.
Work harder.
Seijuuro mentally rolled her eyes at the voice before snapping back to attention because it was her turn.
Seijuuro was thankful she reached the fourteenth level on the beep test. To her knowledge, fourteen was an excellent score for women, so being able to reach it was satisfactory for her. Unfortunately, that was also the level a handful of other recruits reached and Seijuuro felt the slightest bit of worry enter.
Would I be good enough?
You trained, didn't you? Despite your horrifying stamina, you can still make up for it.
How?
The other aspects.
And by 'other aspects', the voice actually meant the next steps of the training, which were shooting drills. Each recruit had five balls to shoot from the free throw line and the three point line, finishing with another set of five balls to do lay-ups with.
Seijuuro felt a rush of relief. This was what the voice had meant, and the voice was right. This was where she'd compensate for her stamina.
The order, this time, was alphabetical, so Seijuuro found herself second in line. Though it gave her a small hint of pressure, to be gazed at by the rest of the recruits, she was confident that she could set the bar.
The boy who went in front of her managed to get three out of five free throws, one out of five three-pointers, and four out of five lay-ups.
She would just have to do better.
Once the ball was in her hands, she took a deep breath before shooting the ball. She just had to remember everything she had ever done, playing with Jake and Kevin when she was Elise, Shuuzo teaching her when she was younger, playing with Shuuzo and Shogo. She knew she could do this. Why doubt herself now, of all times, right?
And it paid off. Five out of five free throws, three out of five three-pointers, and five out of five lay-ups. Almost perfect, but she would take it. Running wasn't her thing, but shooting? Shooting definitely was.
She, and the others who were done with their shots, were told to sit on the benches to wait for the others to finish. She was handed a bottle of water by a girl named Arai Miki, along with a small towel. Seijuuro shot her a grateful smile before chugging down a third of the bottle. As she drank, she saw Aomine move to sit beside her with a grin.
"You did great on those shots, Akashi-san!"
"Says the one who only missed one," Seijuuro told him jokingly.
"Maa, I hate three-pointers anyways," Aomine grinned before whistling. "But he looks like he likes them."
Seijuuro directed her attention to the court. It was Midorima shooting now, and she could see what Aomine meant. Midorima didn't even waste time. He was like a shooting machine when it came to the three pointers. One of the shots did roll around the hoop first before going in the net, while another hit the backboard before going in, but everything else? Nothing but net.
"Aa, that's Midorima Shintaro. He's my classmate."
"Interesting. Kinda want to play against him," Aomine said with fire in his eyes.
Seijuuro found herself staring at that fire. How long would it take before that fire stopped burning? How long until the flames were extinguished when no worthy opponent could come?
The sound of Shougo walking towards her stopped her thoughts as she greeted him with a smile. "Good work, Shougo."
Shougo grinned at her and nodded at Aomine, who returned the gesture. He plopped down beside her and wiped the sweat from the back of his neck. "We got the same score. You did a good job, too, Sei."
Afterwards, it was Midorima who came walking towards them.
"Your shots were a sight to look at, Midorima-san," Seijuuro told him as he took a seat on the bleachers behind them.
"It's a lucky day for Cancer," was his response before he too downed a third of the water in the water bottle given to him by the fourth girl, whose name Seijuuro couldn't recall.
Seijuuro then watched Murasakibara, who was next in line. His movements seemed sluggish at first, but there was no denying the raw strength that came with his shots. Once he was done, he sat a few meters away from Midorima, bringing out a box of biscuits from his pocket and munching on them.
Seijuuro made a note to herself to try to befriend Murasakibara soon. It would probably help in building their friendship.
And what? Lessen the chances of the Generation of Miracles falling apart? That's—
Impossible, I know, I know. I just… maybe it'll just… delay it. If only for a moment.
…
Thankfully, that was the last part of the training. Seijuuro had almost expected random 5v5 matches to be held, but she was also grateful there weren't. She was more tired than she expected, though she supposed it was because she had to keep up and be better than a lot of the other people who wanted to join the club, too.
She just hope she did her best.
Those who participated in the tryouts were now lined up randomly in the court. In front of them stood Sanada and Shuuzo. Shuuzo sent a discreet smile towards Shougo and Seijuuro before settling back into a blank expression as he directed his attention to Sanada.
"Welcome. I am Sanada Naoto, the Assistant Coach," the bespectacled man said. "Teiko has a string system, where we divide players based on their performances during the tryouts, and along with the potential we see in them. Those in the first string would be trained by the Head Coach, Shirogane Kozo-kantoku. These are the players with exceptional abilities. Those in the second string would be trained by me. These are the players who showed skill, but have room for improvement. And those in the third string would be handled by Matsuoka Daigo-kantoku. These are those who have room for improvement and just didn't make the cut for second string. Do not be discouraged, though, with your string placement. It is still possible to move up strings based on your performance. It is also possible to move down as a result."
"Now, then, let's begin with the first string," Sanada continued. "When I call your name, please form a line in front of me. Sekiguchi Toru, Kubota Masaya, Aomine Daiki, Midorima Shintaro, Haizaki Shougo, Murasakibara Atsushi, and Akashi Seijuuro."
One by one, those who were called formed a line in front of the coach. Seijuuro's worry was eased when her name was called and when she walked to the front, that was when the whispers erupted.
"Wait, is that a girl?"
"More importantly, aren't most of those in the first string first years? What's up with that?"
"Hey, man, to be fair, they were beasts during the tryouts."
"But, it's a girl!"
Seijuuro sighed. It surprised her that they only noticed now that she was a girl. Maybe they were too focused on the tryout. Understandable, though. Even the other two in the first string looked at her with surprise, but at least there was no contempt in their eyes. Murasakibara just munched on his biscuits.
"You will be joined by Teiko's captain, Nijimura Shuuzo."
At this Shuuzo nodded at each of the players in the first string. The first string players then moved to the side to wait for the second string and third string to be acknowledged. That was when Seijuuro heard the name 'Kuroko Tetsuya' and she looked up immediately, eyes darting around before finally focusing on the light blue-haired boy. He really is hard to see, huh?
This was it.
It was unfortunate that Momoi wasn't able to join Seijuuro and Aomine for their one-on-one in one of the gyms, stating that she had to be held back for the results on the manager positions. After asking permission from Shuuzo, they were allowed to use the gym for about ten minutes before they had to leave so that the gym would be locked.
"You didn't tell me you knew the captain!" Aomine laughed. "Man, I was really surprised when he just called you by your first name."
"It's not really information that's important to know before the try-outs. I could get accused of using him to get in, you know?" Seijuuro said sardonically.
Aomine frowned at her. By now they were inside the gym and Aomine had just grabbed a stray basketball on the floor. "But people won't be able to say that against you. They saw you at the tryouts. They saw how good you were."
"Just because people see things doesn't mean that they want to believe that those things happened," Seijuuro shrugged. "I know that maybe no one would actually twist the story of my friendship with Shuuzo, but that also doesn't mean no one wouldn't."
"Try to have more faith in people," Aomine grinned at her to cheer her up before handing her the ball. "Here, you go first."
"Is this a handicap?"
"Nah, I just want to see what it'll be like."
Seijuuro shrugged before dribbling the ball, pulling off her ankle-breaker successfully before taking a shot. Aomine gazed at her in surprise from his place on the ground before he jumped up, eyes sparkling. "That was amazing!"
"Thank you?" Seijuuro rubbed the back of her neck, slightly embarrassed by the praise and unsure of how to react to it.
After that, they were tied 4-4, fighting for the last shot to determine the winner of the game. Seijuuro was enjoying the challenge Aomine brought. He was quick on his feet and improvised a lot of the shots, and Seijuuro was fascinated with his style of basketball. Just when Aomine was about to try to take a shot, the doors of the gym suddenly let out a creaking sound. Both teenagers stopped in their tracks and gazed at the doors. The way they swung indicated that someone had actually left the gym instead of entering it.
This caused Aomine and Seijuuro to look at each other before Aomine let out a girly shriek and dove for his bag, using it as a shield for… for whatever he was scared of.
"…Aomine-san?"
"You saw that, too, right?! The doors couldn't have closed that way unless someone had been with us all along!" Aomine said before he grabbed her bag as well. He started dashing towards the gym's doors, grabbing her wrist in his other hand.
"Aomine-san?!"
"Run, Akashi-san! This gym's probably haunted!"
By the time he stopped running, they were two blocks away from Teiko, and two blocks further away from the direction of her house, but when she started openly laughing about their predicament, and when Aomine started calling her 'Seijuuro', she didn't think of her worries about the future at all.
A few days later
It wasn't as if she was a stranger to this part of the mansion. The hallway was still lit with candles, which was rather old-fashioned, but the previous Akashi heads had deemed it as tradition. Windows could also be found on one side of the hallway, so the moon's glow could still penetrate the glass layers and light up the area. It was this scene that surrounded Seijuuro as she walked down the hall, eyes fixed on a particular door.
The door itself wasn't unique. It was just like the rest of the doors of the mansion: smooth, white wood with dark blue decorations. What made it unique was the contents of the room it was hiding.
When Seijuuro arrived at the door, she extended her hand in order to grasp the door's handle, but she found herself stopping an inch away from the latter. Was she really ready to touch the cold metal handle? Was she really ready to go inside?
It was rather stupid, she thought, to be afraid of turning down the handle of a door. It was something so basic that even Yukimaru could probably even learn to do it.
She took a shaky breath and she began to lower the handle. Before she could fully lower it, though, her cellphone began to vibrate in her pocket, startling her. She removed her hand from the handle, glancing at it forlornly before getting her cellphone out of her pocket and pressing it to her left ear.
"Hello?"
"You wanna eat at Maji Burger? I'm with Shougo and Shuuzo."
"Oh? What's the occasion?"
"I was actually supposed to eat alone, and then I got a call from Shougo saying he was in the area and that he wanted to go out for a drink. Stupid, right? He's underaged. Anyways, I managed to find him and drag his butt to Maji, but he kept whining so I decided to call you and Shuuzo for much needed assistance."
"His father dropped by again, huh?" Seijuuro winced slightly. Shougo only got into that kind of a mood when his father dropped by their house. She understood his need to vent, but she wholeheartedly agreed with Kazuya that drinking was something they wouldn't let Shougo do. She honestly felt like some sort of a parent by doing so; to be fair, she was mentally an adult by now, and she knew better.
"Yeah. I just bought him some food so he could focus on something else. I'll leave the talking to you and Shuuzo."
"Yeah, I'll be there," Seijuuro replied before ending the call and turning around. She began to walk back to her room, sparing only one last glance towards the door before going on her way.
"Don't be late tomorrow. I do not have to tell you on how to act. You represent not just myself but also the future of the company," Masaomi has told her a few minutes ago. She began to understand even more why the real Akashi practically snapped with the combination of family pressures and the fact that he wouldn't be absolute anymore had Murasakibara beaten him in that episode; Masaomi knew how to pressure people well.
As she sat down on her soft bed and began to brush her long, red hair, Seijuuro wondered what it would be like to meet the man who has raised Akashi Masaomi. If not for Shiori, and if not for her being born as a girl (or: practically replacing the real Akashi's biological sex), she was sure Masaomi would have been how he was alluded to be in the anime. But, there had to be reason why Masaomi ended up that way, and the reason was most likely Akashi Hirohito.
She had never met her grandfather. Shiori liked to comfort her as a child by telling her that her grandfather was just a really busy man, bur Seijuuro liked to think she knew better than that. There had to be a reason for his purposeful evasiveness, and she supposed she would find out the reason tomorrow.
It had been years since his granddaughter's birth, and he now chooses to meet her and make his presence more known to her? For what purpose?
Seijuuro mentally reviewed everything that had gone on in her life here so far, and she couldn't find anything impactful. Her level of intelligence should be on par with the real Akashi's, although she knew the real Akashi had more intellectual potential compared to herself. As such, there had been nothing remarkable about her, so what reason did he have to choose to finally be introduced to his granddaughter?
Seijuuro huffed softly, slightly irritated with the politics inside the family she had been reborn into.
Before she could continue grumbling about it, her phone buzzed. She checked her phone and saw that she had received an email from Tatsuya.
To: Akashi Seijuuro
From: Himuro Tatsuya
Re: Bored
I'm bored.
Seijuuro held herself back from snorting out loud, the corners of her lips tilting upwards minutely before she typed a reply.
To: Himuro Tatsuya
From: Akashi Seijuuro
Re: Re: Bored
So am I. You have perfect timing.
After sending that, he had asked if she wanted to have a video call, and she was more than okay with that. When she had finished getting and setting up her laptop, she answered the call and on her screen, she could see Tatsuya in his neat room decorated with light blue walls.
"Hi."
"Hi. I'm really bored."
"Yes, I think we've established that. Hi, really bored. I'm Seijuuro."
"Yes, try to be funny, won't you? Anyways, what's new with you? I have nothing interesting to tell you right now since I'm on a bit of a break from training. I have to pull my Biology grade up first. At least, that's what Alex said."
"And she makes sense. Your grades are important, too," Seijuuro shrugged, moving her hair to the right side of her body. "I'm meeting my grandfather tomorrow."
"Oh?" Tatsuya looked at her with interest. "Why now of all times?"
"EXACTLY," Seijuuro gestured with her hands exasperatedly. "It seems a little off."
"True," Tatsuya nodded. "I would have said that maybe his conscience finally got to him, but I think we both know that's not something he would probably do."
Seijuuro hummed in response. "Yeah, but how are you?"
"Aside from all this studying? I'm fine," Tatsuya said. "Taiga's still under the impression that I like you or that you like me. Ridiculous, isn't he?"
"Very. Perhaps, in time, I'll be able to meet him personally to correct his assumptions." That, and it would be nice if my first meeting with Taiga wouldn't be me throwing scissors at him for interrupting the meeting of the Generation of Miracles just like in canon.
Seijuuro then yawned, covering her mouth in an attempt to stifle it. "Sorry, but I think I should sleep."
"I think you should, too," Tatsuya said with amusement. "Good luck tomorrow. Tell me what happens after, okay? I'm bored out of my mind with all these biology concepts."
"Study," Seijuuro told him warningly before grinning. "Good night, Tatsuya."
"Good night, Seijuuro."
A/N: Since I've been through one semester of college, I'm 30% confident I'll be able to fix my time management and allocate time to type fanfics when the next semester starts. (I HOPE). But, I'll definitely be able to release another chapter before my break ends sometime next month.
ALSO, Kikuchi Atsuko is a canon character according to the KNB FANDOM wiki. She, and Arai Miki, were friends with Momoi. Based on the photo there, and based on Teiko Arc, I'm going to assume that they were the other managers, though I'm not sure if the particular strings they were in charge of were mentioned, so I'll just be making that up in this fanfic. Matsuoka Daigo, Sekiguchi Toru, and Kubota Masaya are also canon.
And if you have any prompts that you'd like me to add in future chapters, ex. Midorima ending up in Seijuuro's house for a project, please say so in a review! It'll really help me churn out more ideas for future chapters, aside from the ideas I currently have c:
We'll also be seeing an old character in the next chapter! I wonder who it could be?
Anyways, see you in the next chapter! Have a great day c:
REPLIES TO REVIEWS
(hope i typed ur usernames right)
Girl-luvs-manga: I'll try my best to make the basketball scenes detailed! I'm not very familiar with the technicalities in basketball tho hehe
HuangBaiLian: Sorry for the wait, but here it is! c:
LADY-P-R-I-S-M: Hello again! 3 I actually did consider the crossover, but I'd have to finish Scarlet first before making it legit hehe. I'll take the suggestion into consideration, tho! c: Here's the update and sorry I took so long :c
kate: Thank you so much, that's nice to hear!
Guest (Aug 10): Yup! Sorry to cut the Aomine vs Akashi really short but I actually had plans to make it detailed but then they kinda… flopped… :c
Oh hani (Aug 10): SAAAMMEEE Teiko Arc's my favorite arc hehe
nicoleAnE: Omg thank you! This made my day ajhfbakjebkaew I'm honestly happy that you're reading my fanfic even tho it's not in your first language T^T Here's the next chapter and sorry for the wait!