A/N: Hey, guys, I'm back with another chapter! (Kinda surprised since it's only been a few days since I last updated, but I guess you can see that I'm clearly not even trying to hardcore study anymore.) Teiko Arc's been so fun to play around with, and I'm hoping to start their second year by chapter 21 because I have something planned for Kise and Sei. Can you guess what it is? c:
Also, while typing this chapter, I realized that it's lowkey becoming various x Sei, but don't worry, NijiAka is still the endgame no matter what I come up with (unless you want other pairings, which I can make omakes for).
Enjoy!
"Seijuuro talking"
Seijuuro thinking
The voice talking
Chapter 17
"These are the documents your father wanted you to look through, Seijuuro-sama," Flora bowed as she handed her a folder. "He would like you to hand them to me as soon as you've finished."
With that, Flora excused herself to do her other duties as she left Seijuuro's room. Seijuuro sighed and opened the folder, seeing documents about one of the Akashi Group's products. Well, it's not as if I don't have free time since I'm done with all my academic requirements. She scanned through the documents, noting that these contained the details about the product, including but not limited to its characteristics and features, where the company would be getting the raw materials to make the product, and its potential value.
She supposed she wasn't surprised at the information in the documents. Everything was concise and written in such a way that you would find yourself on board with the idea. That made her job much more difficult since she had to nitpick these details and try to find anything that could be questionable, or anything that required further clarification.
The other documents, on the other hand, were suggestions on how to promote the product. Some noted down potential commercials that they could do, while others suggested making use of social media to further the spread of information about the product. Seijuuro scribbled down a comment on a sticky note, 'consider incorporating commercials with social media to further create a brand image for the product and for the Akashi Group'.
It's a valid suggestion, isn't it?
It makes sense, I'll give you that. The Akashi Group's promotional materials have made use of traditional things so far, so expanding to the more frequent use of social media could help.
Hmm, true. I'm surprised you know a lot about this.
Every information you come across goes to your brain, and that's information that's easy for me to access.
Interesting.
She then placed the sticky note on the title page of the promotions documents before closing the folder. In that movement, one of the papers slid out of the folder and onto her table. Seijuuro checked the paper to see what was in it, so that she could order it properly before she returned the folder to her father — to Flora, you mean— but the contents of the paper surprised her. "The shareholders? Why is this paper in the folder? It shouldn't have been mixed up here."
The paper listed down all the companies that had a share in Akashi Group, and Seijuuro felt no worry with reading the paper since she was the heiress anyways. She would eventually have to meet with all of these companies to get a feel for them and to see how they would react to a girl taking over the company. She recognized a few of the ones that were listed on the paper, including one of her favorite chocolate brands, before her eyes stopped at a familiar name.
"Furihata?" she said out loud. How do they have shares? I was under the impression Furihata Senior thought of Akashi Group as a rival to Furihata Group?
Things have changes, it seems.
Truly.
Though, this made her think of Furihata Kouki. Exchanging emails with him had been entertaining enough, and she saw more to the easily intimidated boy who had played a part in Seirin's match against Rakuzan. The emails had stopped, however. Their conversation had ended at expressing their desire to meet up, but when she emailed to confirm the date and time, he had stopped replying. She had sent another email asking if he was alright, but there was still nothing from him.
Over time, she stopped waiting for a reply and simply went on with her life, so seeing that Furihata Group now had shares in Akashi Group made her wonder if there was a reason behind Furihata's silence.
With these thoughts in mind, she tucked the paper into the back of the folder and stepped out of her room, walking down the halls before she ended up in front of her father's study. Maybe she could just hand the folder to him instead?
Don't be an idiot. You know he ordered Flora to be the one to deliver it to him. Surely, you know he doesn't do things for no reason.
But this is stupid. He's been distant.
You look like his wife. His dead wife. Are you really surprised?
That shouldn't be a reason to be distant from your child.
What, you miss him?
Slightly, yes. I can admit that. It's just odd to sit next to him during meals and not talk. I mean, yes, I can speak with you, but I'd also like to talk to someone I can see, you know?
…Point. But still, don't even try it. Wait for Flora.
Geez, yes, mom.
…
"Ah, Seijuuro-sama! You're done with the folder, then?" Flora smiled at her as Seijuuro handed her the folder.
"Yes, Flora. Thank you."
Flora bowed before entering the study, and from Seijuuro's spot, she caught a glimpse of Masaomi, buried under a mountain of paperwork, hardly sparing Flora a glance.
Seijuuro turned around and headed back to her room.
Mika was ecstatic. Her English teacher had decided to give them a pair work to write a short story in English. The catch was that they would be paired with people from their teacher's other class, and Mika was so happy when her teacher announced her name alongside Haizaki Shougo's. This was her moment to try and get close to her crush, and she just had to know what he thought about Akashi Seijuuro.
Mika scowled. The girl was so annoying, and Mika couldn't even touch her yet. From what she heard, the girl was currently holding the number one spot in their batch in terms of academics, and it wasn't as if Mika could try to confront the girl again because Akashi Seijuuro was almost always with Nijimura Shuuzo-senpai.
"Don't forget to approach your partners during this break. They have also been informed to do the same," was their teacher's final reminders before the bell rang and lunch break started.
"I'll see you later, Ko-chan!" Mika told her friend as she hurriedly ran out of her classroom and entered Class 1-D. She easily spotted her crush, chatting with his seatmate. "Um, H-Haizaki-kun!"
That earned his attention as he looked at her, but she was disappointed to see that there was no look of recognition in his eyes.
"Uh, yeah?"
"I, um, we're partners for the English pair work? The one set by Ito-sensei?"
"Oh, that," he sounded disinterested but she wasn't going to let it deter her.
"I was wondering how you'd want to do it? We can go to my house! I can have some snacks ready," she said excitedly.
He just blinked at her. "Sure, I guess? I have practice later, though, so you can give me your address and I'll go to your house after."
He agreed. He actually agreed to go to her house! Ko-chan's not going to believe this! Oh, I have to prepare cookies and maybe that cake I saw in the store. That works, too. "Ah, I- I don't mind waiting for you after practice, Haizaki-kun."
"Sure? See you then."
The thought of walking to her house with her crush made her blush, so she bowed to him before hurriedly going back to her classroom. If Haizaki-kun saw me blush, he'd find out! She shook her head to rid herself of her blush and went inside her classroom, happy to see Atsuko there.
"Ko-chan, guess what?!" she squealed as she hugged her friend.
"W-What's up, Mika-chan?" Atsuko detached herself from her friend to eat from her bento.
Mika sat down in front of Atsuko and squealed again. "He's going to my house later to do the pair work! And I'm going to be waiting for him after his practice to do it. And we'll be walking together! Ko-chan, it's like we're together already!"
Atsuko chuckled at her friend's antics. "Congratulations, Mika-chan."
"But you know what I found really weird?" Mika said as she moved closer to Atsuko to start whispering. "Lately, Shougo-kun hasn't been hanging around Akashi and Nijimura-senpai. Did you know that?"
Atsuko hummed as she chewed on her food. After swallowing, she nodded. "Yeah, whenever I leave the gym, I'm used to seeing them walk home together, but for the past few days, it's just been Akashi-san and Nijimura-senpai."
"Exactly!" Mika said with glee. "This is exactly what I needed to have Shougo-kun. I don't know what went down between them, but I'm happy this happened! It means I don't have to do anything to split them up anymore."
Atsuko frowned but didn't say anything as Mika continued rambling. "What if it starts raining later? Do I 'forget' my umbrella so we can share one? Imagine us holding hands under that umbrella! And, and, and, what if the story we come up with is romance? He'll have to end up liking me, right? Oh, Ko-chan, I can't wait for later, I'm so excited!"
With Mika off in dreamland, she didn't see Atsuko's worried face.
All those in first string panted as they practically collapsed on the ground, sweaty and trying to catch their breath. Coach Shirogane's training menu was hell, and even though it had already been a few days, it was still hard to get used to it.
"Well, that's it for today," he said, making them all sigh in relief, "but you'll be having a practice match at the end of the week. We'll be testing how you do on your own with other teammates, so we'll draw lots on that day to see who'll go first. You'll be mixed with the second or third strings, depending on your draw, and you'll only have another member from the first string on your team. More details will be given on that day. That is all."
Once he left, Momoi went around to hand them their towels and water bottles.
"Thank you, Momoi-san," Seijuuro said as she took greedy gulps of water. She wiped the sweat from her face and neck before she gazed at Shougo, who wasn't looking in her direction. He merely stood up and headed to the shower area. Seijuuro sighed and did the same, though her shower area was more exclusive since she was female. Once she was done showering and changing back into her uniform, she saw Shougo leave the gym and meet with a— girl? The girl wasn't facing Seijuuro, all she could see was the girl's back as she and Shougo left together.
She wanted to send a text, maybe ask if he's been with the girl for the past few days. Or maybe scold him? Demand to know what's going through his head since he's been worrying her, Shuuzo, and Kuga? She sighed. Then again, did she still have the right to do so? She could always ask Shuuzo to do it, but he had a meeting with Coach Shirogane right now, and he told her to walk home without him today.
"Is everything alright, Akashi-chan?" Momoi asked her worriedly once she sat down on the bleachers to fix her things.
"…As well as things can be, Momoi-san," Seijuuro replied. "What's your opinion on the other players in the first string?"
Momoi looked surprised but answered, "Well, everyone's so cool, you know? I thought Dai-chan was really one of the best in our batch ever since we were young, but then you have Midorima-kun with his three-pointers, and Murasakibara-kun's defenses, and Haizaki-kun's steals, and Nijimura-senpai's tactics, and your speed and technique. It's just… so amazing, you know?"
"But do you feel like things can still be improved upon?"
"I… I don't know," Momoi frowned. "I'm not too knowledgeable on basketball. I probably only know the basics and that's because of Dai-chan."
"Hmm." So who taught her to be so good with data?
Perhaps we should be the ones to push her to do so.
I agree.
"Momoi-san, can you give me your cellphone number?"
"E-Eh?" the girl was so confused but gave it anyways. "What do you need it for, Akashi-chan?"
"Aside from the fact that you're the team's manager and it'll be convenient to have it? I'll be sending you a list of books to go through. Reference materials, you could say. It'll help."
"I— okay. Thank you, Akashi-chan."
Momoi probably still didn't understand what Seijuuro was trying to go for, but Seijuuro stuck to a cryptic smile before excusing herself.
As Seijuuro walked past the school gates, she saw Murasakibara just standing there. It made her curious. That, and she hadn't really interacted with the purple giant. How close had the real Akashi and Murasakibara been? If they weren't close at all, she would try to remedy that.
"Murasakibara-san," she greeted and he turned to look at her before munching on his potato chips. "Are you waiting for someone?"
"Hm."
She didn't expect a detailed response from him, anyways, although his response seemed to have an affirmative tone. "Well, if that person isn't here yet, would you like to get some ice cream in the nearby convenience store? I can accompany you back here after."
His eyes seemed to light up slightly as he eagerly nodded, walking a step behind Seijuuro. She found it amusing. He really did act like a kid whose only concern was food. Once they arrived at the convenience store, she let him choose his own popsicle before she grabbed one of her own and paid for both.
They unwrapped the popsicles and threw the wrappers away in the store's trash can before making their way back to Teiko's gates. It was nice to be able to walk with him. She felt like she was getting to know the tall boy, and maybe, maybe she wouldn't need to—
Her thoughts were interrupted when he tugged on her arm and pulled her towards him. She was surprised, and looked at him questioningly before a motorcycle sped past them. Had she still been walking where she had been, she surely would have gotten hit.
He had saved her.
"I— thank you, Murasakibara-san," Seijuuro bowed to him before they resumed walking, although this time, she had switched places with Murasakibara and was now walking on the safer side of the sidewalk.
He gave her a nod as he continued eating his popsicle.
Once they arrived at Teiko's gates, a car stopped in front of them. The front window was rolled down as a tall, purple haired man grinned at them. "Hey, Atsushi! Sorry I'm late. My boss held me back for a bit to talk about a new project, but I bought you your favorite candy in exchange!"
Seijuuro looked at the driver and noted the resemblances between him and Murasakibara. The man didn't seem to be that much older, so he was either a cousin or an older brother.
"Where's the candy, Aki-nii?" Murasakibara asked, scanning the front of the car for the candy, before his brother chuckled.
"It's in the back, Atsushi. You'll have to get in first if you want it," Aki said in an amused tone before he spotted Seijuuro and grinned. "Oh? A friend from school?"
Seijuuro blinked. Should she introduce herself as a friend? No, they weren't close. As a teammate, then?
"That's Aka-chin," Murasakibara gestured towards her as he finished his popsicle.
Seijuuro was surprised at how he had introduced her. Was it because she had treated him to ice cream? Shrugging in her mind, she bowed towards his brother. "I'm Akashi Seijuuro. We're both in the basketball team. It's nice to meet you."
"Basketball? That's cool!" Aki said genuinely. "I'm Murasakibara Aki. I'm one of his older brothers. And Atsushi, get in already, or we'll be late for dinner."
"Okay," Atsushi lazily said before nodding at Seijuuro and entering the car.
"Will you be needing a ride home, Akashi-chan?" Aki asked her.
"Oh, no, I won't be. Thank you for the offer, Murasakibara-san, but I like walking home," Seijuuro informed him.
Aki laughed. "Please, call me Aki. We have three other siblings, so this is going to get confusing. Well, we'll be seeing you, Akashi-chan. Stay safe on the way home!"
They had a free period today, so Shintaro worked on the Chemistry worksheets that were given as homework. Of course, they were still due at the end of the week, but it would be more convenient for him to lessen his workload. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he wanted to compare answers with his red-haired seatmate, to see what kind of solutions or strategies she used. He was hesitant to ask her, though. He still had his pride.
It was a good thing she had made the first step.
"Midorima-san, would you want to study together?" Akashi asked him, and he nodded. She brought their tables together and she moved her chair closer to his. "What would you like to work on?"
"These," he replied, gesturing to the Chemistry worksheets in his hands.
"Oh, the ones given this morning," she nodded in recognition. "Alright. I'll work on them, too."
She brought out her own worksheets and a mechanical pencil before she started answering. She was like a machine when she answered, going through the questions quickly, but she did still have a few more questions to go through, so Shintaro decided to observe her instead.
The way she answered was similar to his, but it seemed to come so easily to her. He would have to figure out how she did that one day.
As she answered, somebody bumped into their table, causing Akashi's grip on her pencil to slip a little. Her paper ended up with a small line that crossed through another solution.
She and Shintaro looked up to see their classmate, Tanaka Ryu, looking at Akashi with a slight glare.
"Oh, sorry about that, Midorima-san, Akashi-san," he said, but Shintaro knew he didn't mean it at all.
"Seriously? A girl got into the first string? How?" one of the boys said in amazement as he conversed with Tanaka.
Shintaro had been ignoring his classmates' conversations and was focusing on his book when he heard the topic come up.
"Tch, I don't know, man. It's annoying. She's so tiny, and she gets into first string?" Tanaka huffed, crossing his arms.
Shintaro remembered that Tanaka had ended up in the second string.
"I feel robbed of my spot," Tanaka continued. "And why would they even let a girl into the boys' basketball team in the first place? She can't be that good. I'm betting you she's probably spread her—"
At that, Shintaro stood up and walked over to Tanaka and his friend, effectively cutting off their conversation. He knew he could be intimidating, as he glared at the two. Tanaka seemed to gulp.
"If Akashi-san was good enough to get into first string, that means she's better than you, and everyone saw that it was fair. The managers know the data. The applicants saw her performance. There's no reason to deny she earned her place."
"She's a girl! She shouldn't even be allowed to join! I'm telling you, she—"
"—is better than you," Shintaro said before he looked at the two. "What are your Zodiac signs?"
"H-huh?" Tanaka's friend looked confused at the turn of events.
"What are your Zodiac signs?"
"What…?" Tanaka let out, wondering how the conversation reached this point.
At Shintaro's glare, Tanaka's friend answered, "I-I'm a Virgo. He's a Pisces. What does this have to do with—"
"I see. Virgo and Pisces are pretty low right now in Oha-Asa's rankings. It would be a shame if your luck would turn even worse."
"That's not the—"
"I suggest you refrain from speaking about such things when I am here," Shintaro said. Honestly, he didn't know what came over him to defend his female teammate, but such disrespect was something he just couldn't accept, especially when he knew she had earned her place in the first string fair and square. "Are we clear?"
"Did you need something, Tanaka?" Shintaro asked him with a dry look, and Tanaka scowled at him before leaving.
He could feel Akashi's curious eyes on him. "Is… something going on between you and Tanaka-san, Midorima-san?"
"…His Zodiac sign had the worst luck today. He would be interfering with my good luck, nanodayo," he said before asking, "What is your Zodiac sign, Akashi-san?"
The girl blinked. "I'm a Sagittarius, Midorima-san."
"Hm."
("For today's Oha-Asa, Sagittarius is ranked seventh! Your lucky item is a potted plant, and your lucky color is green! What a great combination to try to up your luck!")
Furihata Kouki was happy that his father was giving him more attention now. He had been close to accepting that he was forever going to be a failure in his father's eyes when his father suddenly came home with a big smile on his face. He had ruffled Kouki's hair — the first time he's ever done so! — and he'd even joined Kouki and his older brother for dinner.
He didn't know what had happened to his father, but Kouki was more than happy. He had basked in the attention, especially when his father asked how his day went. He knew his brother, Kou, liked that their father was home, too, although Kouki knew that his father spent more time with Kou.
Kou was supposed to be the one to inherit the business, but Kou had wanted to pursue volleyball. After some debate, their parents supported Kou's dreams and made Kouki the successor. Kouki knew he wasn't as good as Kou. Kou would have flourished in his position, would have been so much better than Kouki, and Kouki knew that that was why he had their father's attention more. Kou was the perfect child.
Still, Kouki wouldn't let that little flash of jealousy ruin his time with his father as they chatted about the day's events.
"—and we can go watch your game tomorrow, Kouki—"
At that, his head snapped up as his father kept talking about how he wanted to see Kouki win tomorrow, and Kouki couldn't believe that his father was actually going to watch one of his games. Sure, he wasn't that good at basketball, but he still got to participate in some matches, and this was the first time his father even mentioned the thought of watching.
He would do his best tomorrow. He really would. He would win, and then his father would be so proud of him, and they'll be happy, and maybe his father would treat him like he treats Kou and —
"—and Kouki, you may contact the Akashi heiress once more."
— what?
OMAKE: Oikawa Tooru meets Akashi Seijuuro
(Disclaimer: I don't own Haikyuu. But man, Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Tsukki, Kuroo, and Akaashi are so adorable help)
"So this is Rakuzan," a brown haired boy in a turquoise and white jacket said. "Looks better than Shiratorizawa, don't you think?"
"Never been to Shiratorizawa so I can't say, but Rakuzan does look nice," a boy with dark brown hair nodded. "It's a shame they don't have a volleyball team. Otherwise, I probably would have chosen to go here instead of Aoba Johsai."
"Hmm, true, and I would have followed you, Iwa-chan!" the other boy glomped the dark haired boy.
"G-Get off, Shittykawa!"
In their struggle, they bumped into someone, causing all three persons to fall to the ground.
"Ah, sorry about that," the dark haired boy said as he noticed that they had bumped into a girl with red hair. He helped her up as she dusted off her skirt. "It's this guy's fault for being so hyper. Apologize, Shittykawa!"
His friend, Oikawa Tooru, rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly as he opened his mouth to apologize before his eyes widened and he started staring at the girl in front of them.
The girl was wearing her school's uniform, which was colored white with light blue accents. She scowled at Oikawa. "There's no need, but do try to be careful. You're only visitors to our school after all."
"Yeah, I'll try to keep him in line," Iwaizumi Hajime said before smacking the back of Oikawa's head. "Well?"
"I-I'm—"
The girl rose an eyebrow at Oikawa, about to leave when Oikawa finally finished his sentence.
"—can I have your number?"
The girl blinked, and so did Iwaizumi before Iwaizumi kicked Oikawa's butt. "What the hell are you saying, Trashykawa?!"
But Oikawa wasn't paying attention to Iwaizumi. He was staring at the girl and waiting for her answer.
"No," was all she said before turning around and leaving them behind.
"Trashykawa, you—"
"She said 'no' to me," Oikawa said as a grin spread across his face. "We have to get her name, Iwa-chan!"
A/N: I made a Haikyuu omake because I was rewatching season 1 all the way to current episode in season 4 hehe. Also, I've revised chapters 1 and 2 in the past few days, no major changes were made, just some minor details that Elise used to play the piano when she was alive, and some Easter eggs for new readers towards Akashi Hirohito's attitude and well the Akashi family in general.
I've got the next few chapters planned out so it shouldn't be too hard for me to type them out (just a matter of motivating myself to do so honestly) because I'm really, really, excited for their second year.
Oh, and if you're curious, that scene with Tanaka and Midorima was a reference to a scene in Teiko Arc 4 ;)
Hope you enjoyed this chapter and stay safe!
REPLIES TO REVIEWS
Hope I typed your usernames right
Girl-luvs-manga: Here's the Murasakibara-Akashi interaction! I hope you liked it c: it was hard for me to come up with a reason for them to interact, but I hope it came off as natural. Still debating on whether Haizaki will turn into his canon self.
chibi-no-baka: We'll see what Mika might try to pull c: I really am excited to make the GOM bond in the next few chapters! I'm trying to establish a closer relationship among them hehe
LADY-P-R-I-S-M: Sei might open up to them, but as of now, I feel like Sei as a character might also choose not to because, as the voice mentioned in the previous chapters, she's a little Messianic, so she might keep things to herself first. As for your quarantine AU / omake suggestion, I was considering it, but then I feel like I won't be able to type it because I'm coming from a privileged position :c and it might come off as insensitive to some sorry about that T^T But yes I can say for sure Shougo would be the first to know if anything's gonna go down between our ship hehe
HuangBaiLian: Here you go!
Guest: Thank you liking this fanfic and stay healthy, too! I made Sei seem 'weak' in the last chapter because I also wanted to show that Sei is different from the real Akashi. She's going to make some mistakes and she can't expect everything to be perfect because she can't control everything ya feel
Enigma of Anime: Thanks! I hope to see the ship sail too hehe though it'll take some time since they're only in middle school after all
