"What the… It's only the first day and it's packed?!" Kise asked, as Murasakibara and Midorima mused that it was unusual. Aomine and Akashi looked away, feeling the pressure from the spectators that were only expecting victory by an acceptable margin. "Is the tension getting to me or…"
"Yeah but it can't be helped." Aomine said, feeling even more pressure than the previous year. At Teikō, only victory was acceptable. It's because they're the strongest; they have the biggest pressure to win but they needed to overcome that pressure, because they were the best. Shirogane noticed and gave an order to Himeragi, who walked up to both of them.
"Shirogane coach said I should toughen you two up. So, would you like slaps on the back or?" Kise was horrified by the thought of Himeragi injuring his back before the game and Aomine stayed quiet to show that he didn't like either choice.
"Can't you give us a break, Azu-cchi? Like I'm trembling like crazy right now—"
"Oh, are you?" He looked again at his left hand and realized it was less shaky than before. He smiled, as Himeragi sent them off with a small smile, telling them to do as they've always done, their best. Shirogane nodded his head at her encouragement, as the benchwarmers sighed in relief. Kuroko felt the same uneasiness from the opening ceremony as Nijimura noticed.
"There's no difference between the geniuses and the ordinary people here. Under this kind of scrutiny, anyone can make mistakes. But with the heavy cast on Teikō, it's not acceptable to make a mistake." Nijimura knew it was necessary for the starters to feel that pressure and become accustomed to it because they chose to be on this team. No one questioned Akashi's decision to pass to Midorima instead of Kise and no one blinked an eye at Midorima's three pointer touching the rim. Murasakibara also felt his body feeling heavier than normal but said nothing. The consensus was to play safely under Akashi's guidance, as the coaches decided to bench the starters for the second match of the day. Although the third years also won with a passable point difference, they were tired out, knowing that this year was more difficult. Even though he didn't play, Kuroko was tired out from the tension that just wouldn't dispel. On their way back, Aomine bumped into another power forward, Inoue from Kamizaki Middle School. As they exchanged affirmations that they'd win tomorrow and Momoi commented that Inoue was the only person that fought well against Aomine last year, Kuroko felt hopeful that his words would come true, that Aomine would find the rival he was looking for.
"You seem to be into it, Aominecchi." Kise remarked, after Aomine dunked the basketball into the hoop. As Aomine remembered Kuroko's words to him, to not go easy on an opponent no matter how terrible the match-up was, the light and shadow nodded at one another. But Midorima was worried, to which Murasakibara noticed.
"Today's Oha-Asa's readings…"
"What about them? Were they bad? Give me a break Mido-chin~" Murasakibara was not the superstitious type but that didn't mean that he wanted to hear that his luck was terrible. The last thing he wanted was to be punished for not playing up to par. But Murasakibara was not Midorima's concern; it was Aomine.
"Cancer is in third place and I have my lucky item so it isn't a problem with me. The one who's out of luck is Aomine. His sign is ranked last." When Murasakibara took a look at Aomine and then darted his eyes to Himeragi, who was holding Midorima's night lamp in her hands, he sighed.
"Well, let's hope that it ends well~" Midorima understood that Murasakibara looked in Himeragi's direction as well because she was the same sign as Aomine but right now, they had to worry about winning this game against Aomine's rival. But the outcome was unexpected and had lasting effects on Aomine. Himeragi bit her lip, realizing it was too late to delay the result. In the last three minutes of the final quarter, the Kamizaki Middle School starters stopped moving, letting Aomine get by easily. The score was 150:81 and Midorima also stopped his stride to also watch the opponents. It was unfortunate that they were pit against Aomine in full bloom but Midorima could not empathize with them giving up altogether.
"A guy who can take you on… There's no way someone like that exists." Inoue said, realizing since the beginning of the game that he and his team was no match against Aomine. He even described the difference to be between mere mortals and someone that was blessed with skill he could never reach. Aomine felt himself losing hope with the mockery and laughed nervously, feeling the dread well up inside of him. When he gave it his best, his opponents stopped trying.
"What the hell am I supposed to like about basketball now?" Kise and Akashi noticed the change in Aomine's demeanor as he headed back from Kamizaki's hoop. But when he didn't return Kuroko's fistbump, Kuroko knew something was wrong.
"Tetsu… I don't think what you said was wrong. But in the end, it's no good. Somehow I've realized, I'll never find what I'm searching for." As Momoi asked Himeragi to say something to Aomine and she shook her head, telling her that there wasn't anything anyone could say to Aomine at the moment, they all watched him run from Kuroko. "The only one that can win against me, is me." Although by Teikō's standards, the game ended in a success with a score of 169:81, the ace player lost his motivation, hurting Kuroko greatly as well. When the team retreated back to the locker room, Momoi spoke up.
"Aomine-kun! Just now, with Tetsu-kun, why did you—" Aomine and Himeragi made eye contact and looked away at the same time. Both agreed that it wouldn't be productive to revisit this again.
"Man, you're annoying. I'm going outside for a bit. I wanna be alone." As Midorima didn't expect for his premonition to take the form of this, Kise suddenly realized what Midorima was speaking about a few days ago. Aomine was unmotivated because he couldn't find what he was looking for. And after that match-up with a previous rival, Kise realized Aomine became even more disillusioned about finding a rival that could compete with him on equal footing.
"In this kind of situation, doesn't Kuro-chin go after Mine-chin?"
"Yeah. However, I'd say Kuroko is in shock too. At the moment, that may be slightly difficult for him." Himeragi looked at Akashi and he nodded his head, knowing that what had happened couldn't be helped and that they needed to deal with their next match first. "But our next match will start soon. If worse comes to worst, we'll keep playing, even if Aomine is benched. Let's talk about it afterwards." Momoi hadn't seen Himeragi so quiet and knew that the current situation shocked her as well. Midorima also didn't expect the backlash and couldn't help but worry about Himeragi as well. When Kuroko stepped out to take Ogiwara Shigehiro's call, he was disappointed yet again.
"Sorry Kuroko, we lost." In shock, Kuroko didn't know what to say. He could hear Ogiwara's voice quivering as he continued rambling, unable to think straight. "It was so close but we… I want to cheer you guys on but I'm so sorry, we've got to head back…" Kuroko couldn't think of any words either, and told Ogiwara to stop apologizing. But his heart sank. Himeragi watched, knowing that her bad feeling was coming true and that just as worrisome as Aomine was, the same could be said of Kuroko. Even though he was usually aloof, when he was sad or angry, he showed it without filter. And they showed in his basketball as well. Aomine came back in time for the next match against Yano Kougyou and with his cold response that he'd play, the game began with Kise on the bench so that Kuroko could support Aomine. But there was no need for that support, as Aomine began shooting formless shots that went in, no matter how carelessly he shot them. Even with his teammates thinking that it was careless behavior, Aomine scored the most points.
"His play seems unstable. But the one that is most likely to cause a problem…"
"Kuro-kun!" Himeragi yelled, as they were all caught off-guard by her voice. He realized a moment too late that his aim was off and that he did not properly pass the ball to Midorima, as they both looked on in confusion. Foreseeing this, Shirogane and Akashi made the call to bench Kuroko and replace him for a third year. When he sat on the bench with sweat dripping down his face and a look of hurt and confusion, Himeragi put a towel on his head and patted his head, as if to silently tell him that it was alright, no matter what happened. He closed his eyes, feeling so frustrated with himself for the mistake and silently reflected. Although it was no surprise that Teikō won the game, Aomine began to play carelessly for the remainder of the games, until the finals, where they encountered a curious pair of twins on Kamata West Middle School's team.
"This is it. If we win this, this will be our second championship win in a row. Is there anything you want to say?"
"I'll make as many three pointers as I can. That is all."
"Not really. I got nothing to say."
"Hm~ I want to get this over with so I can eat snacks."
"Wait, you're all over the place!" Kise said and Akashi chuckled, looking over at Himeragi. She nodded at him and Nijimura saw the exchange, feeling a bit off put that they were so friendly.
"There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, it's the very meshing of these various personalities that makes a team. We only need to be united on one front and I believe we are." His words sounded similar to Himeragi's, as she smiled at them all. "We'll win!" Akashi yelled, as his teammates answered him in unison.
"Let's quickly go before Azu-cchi hits us…" Kise said, as he and Aomine could feel a phantom feeling of being slapped on their backs by Himeragi, who looked ready to go. Murasakibara and Midorima just shook their heads at them. Momoi looked at Kuroko's back view in worry; they were all told by Shirogane to not speak to Aomine or Kuroko, neither of which needed words of comfort or coddling. As she watched Aomine once again make formless shots, Momoi felt irritated by the fact that she couldn't do anything, before Himeragi held her fist.
"You're doing your best. This is part of supporting them so don't feel bad." Momoi felt immediately comforted by Himeragi's words, as Shirogane had spoken to her separately to have her keep an eye on the overall morale of the team. Nijimura watched the game and also noticed the presence of the twins.
"About that… I barely have any data on them and their stats are pretty normal…" As Nijimura wondered if they did an amazing job keeping their skills under wraps for even Momoi to be unable to find out or were actually just a normal set of twins, Kise was suddenly charged with a foul. Himeragi suddenly remembered a similar thing that happened in the footage she saw with Akashi. If their skill was forcing players to commit fouls, then there was something to them after all. Right after Kise lost possession of the ball, Aomine was charged with a pushing foul. When Kise obtained the ball again, he figured it must have been a match of speed, as if he was faster than whoever was guarding him, he wouldn't be anywhere near him for a foul. But he was charged with another foul, as his opponent timed a fall perfectly.
"Where are your eyes?! He fell over on his own! How can I accept a blind referee?!"
"Stop it Kise!" Akashi yelled, but unfortunately, Kise had received a technical foul on top of his two other ones. As Murasakibara came over to mess with Kise's hair, Midorima told him to cut it out, since his arguing with the referee wasn't helping. As Akashi analyzed that the twins weren't particularly fast but got their timing down well, Himeragi scrutinized the twins.
"How about checking for their extracurricular activities in elementary school?" she suggested, as Momoi nodded, getting right to finding out that information. Even with Kise benched temporarily, Teikō was down five points and Aomine was faced with four fouls by the end of the first quarter. At Shirogane's command, Sanada took all the players except Aomine to the locker room. When Akashi heard that Kuroko went outside for fresh air, he told them to call him back in two minutes, as his strength was indispensable in this match. Midorima remembered Akashi's original purpose for scouting Kuroko and silently realized that Akashi's foresight was correct.
"Let's talk, Aomine." They sat down on the benches and when Aomine asked the head coach what he wanted to talk to him about, Shirogane began the conversation by saying he had to apologize to Aomine. "Even if I wasn't coaching directly at club practices, I was always watching the players, including you of course. Almost immediately, I saw your incredible potential. I also knew that you liked basketball more than anyone else. And I knew this would happen should that potential come to full bloom. I realized all of this but I couldn't say anything." Aomine was reminded of Himeragi's reprimand of him, when she ended it by saying that she knew she couldn't do anything for him. "This is no excuse but I doubt there was anything I could have said to you. Everyone who plays basketball will run into a wall or have doubts at some point. But the majority of those problems will stem from a deficiency of some skill or other." When he said this, Shirogane thought of the many players in the past that he coached. He never faced such a dilemma in which a player was so gifted that he didn't need to be coached. "No one will sympathize with your overabundance of strength, and no coach can solve this problem of yours either. A coach can improve a player, but not worsen them. So I apologize and make a request of you. Despite all of this, please do not let your talent go to waste."
"Huh?" Aomine wasn't expecting the last tidbit. It didn't sound like a request but more of encouragement for his own good.
"Your worries won't disappear right away. But there's a chance that a solution will appear before you one day. Don't throw it away. I won't say it'll work out if you don't give up. But if you do give up, nothing will remain." Aomine immediately recognized the last line that he himself said, when he encouraged Kuroko to continue pursuing basketball. "That's right, I stole it." He was sounding shameless just like Himeragi did when she wanted to get a point across, regardless of the means.
"You really do sound like Azusa, head coach…" he laughed at the comment. He could see where the sentiment came from, since the girl herself came over.
"Well I'm definitely more shameless than Shirogane coach." Himeragi said, standing in front of Aomine. He couldn't guess what she was thinking at the moment but with so many self-loathing thoughts at the moment, Aomine didn't have the capacity to think of others. "Release the tension." She said, holding his left hand, before she began to rub circles around the inside of his hand, under his thumb.
"Azusa, what are you—"
"This is the best I can do for you right now." Shirogane was surprised by her degree of initiative in helping Aomine as well. "I can tell you to relax until you get sick of hearing it. But it's hard to do that too, so I can only do this for you." Himeragi said, trying her best to relax his muscles before he went back to the game. When she moved on to his fingers, locating the bones and softly massaged them, Aomine couldn't help but look at her with flushed cheeks.
"I take back part of what I said. What will remain, even if you run away, is a nagging Himeragi." The students glared at each other, as he just laughed. Seeing Himeragi try her best to support Aomine was already comforting enough.
"I don't want this little monster to nag at me!"
"You think I want to keep nagging at you, you wild beast?!" When he looked at Himeragi holding his hands and processed the fact that she was willing to do any tiny thing to help him, Aomine sighed. He didn't need this kind of treatment but it didn't mean it wasn't nice to feel like someone was by his side, no matter if they could solve his internal strife or not.
"I got it. I can't go back to the way I was before. But even so, I still want to win." Shirogane and Himeragi smiled at the resolve he was showing.
"Say it with more resolve, Aomine." Himeragi said, holding up his hand. She was a believer that words can become the truth if you put more spirit into them. He returned her gaze with a small smile of his own and then sighed, wanting to say that it was a pain but when she smiled at him, he couldn't say no.
"Fine. I'm not going back to the way I was before but I'm sure as hell going to win!" he yelled, as Shirogane nodded his head. That was the spirit the team's ace needed. When Aomine stood up, Himeragi held his hands once more.
"You're going to win with all of them right? So, will you go get him?" she asked, knowing that Aomine would know who she was referring to. He clicked his tongue, calling her troublesome, before he jogged outside to find Kuroko.
"This is the most we can do for him right now. Even when that time comes and we can't do anything for him, I hope you won't change, Himeragi." Shirogane knew she felt unsettled by her own premonitions that the team would soon be torn apart by the emergence of all of their talents. She also knew that he wouldn't be there to see it and support them, which is why he put trust in her to help them. "I'm not shifting responsibility on you, Himeragi. Just do what you've always done and it will turn out alright." she nodded, as the two of them walked to the rest of the team, who was being debriefed about the troublesome twins from the data Momoi found.
Kuroko had been outside, surprised by an impromptu phone call from Ogiwara.
"Whoa you picked up! It's around the halftime break right now, so I got lucky! I regretted that all I got to do over the phone was cry and I also forgot to say something important. Sorry for not being able to keep our promise this year! Next year it'll happen! Let's do it!" That was the spirit that Kuroko lacked since he saw Aomine leaving him behind. It was that spirit that he needed to regain to properly stand with the rest of his teammates and win.
"That was more than enough." Ogiwara didn't know what he meant but glossed over it to speak about Kamata West Middle School, also remembering that it was the team with the twins that he lost to in the first round.
"I lost to those guys in the first round so take revenge on them for me, will ya?" Kuroko finally smiled after a day of being on the edge.
"Ogiwara-kun, you say such spiteful things so cheerfully." When Ogiwara expressed confusion at what Kuroko said, he didn't explain but simply said, "But still, I'll do my best." When Aomine found Kuroko, the air was still awkward between them but Aomine was able to muster up words.
"Let's go. We gotta win first, yeah?"
"Yes." When they headed back to the arena, Kuroko made a request to be put into the second half of the game and Shirogane granted the request, since they knew how to counteract the twins. As Teikō amazed the crowd by sending in their ace with four fouls and a feeble looking player next to him, the twins were ready to send Aomine back to the bench.
"Allow me to extend a warning. It would be best for you to stop thinking that it'll be easy for you to get fouls from here on out. I recommend you focus the entirety of your strength on defense." Akashi warned, being kind enough to let them know that their best shot was defense, now that Kuroko was on the court. With Kuroko's passes, Teikō easily overtook the other team with Midorima's three pointers and Murasakibara's lay-ups.
"It looks like you got the hang of it again. Did something happen with Aomine?" Midorima asked Kuroko, to which the latter thought about the exchange he had with Ogiwara, who wanted him to take revenge in his stead and Aomine, who came after to tell him that they needed to win first.
"I'll mope about it afterwards. I'll focus everything on winning this match and leave the details for later." Himeragi heard his words and sighed in relief. Midorima also mused that Kuroko was sounding like himself again and slightly smiled. The highlight of the match was the one-on-one between Aomine and one of the twins. Just as they wished, Aomine challenged them to a one-on-one, except the match was decided from the beginning. Having learned from Momoi that the twins had practiced aikido until the sixth grade and that they were known as the genius brothers, Shirogane told Aomine to target their skill: matching their breathing to their opponents to cause fouls.
"Annihilate them. After all, can you really bear to let them walk all over you?" The speed of Aomine's dribbles increased, as he finished a crossover into a turnaround that tricked the twin into heading to the left side and losing balance on his right ankle. With him on the floor, Aomine was in a perfect position to shoot.
"The only one who can win against me is me." He said, sinking in another basket. Having figured out how to deal with the twins, Teikō pulled ahead again, finishing the third quarter in the lead and unfortunately for the other team, ready to replace Aomine with Kise. After a scolding from Himeragi who told him not to fight with the referee or else she'd be fighting with him later, Aomine told him not to "get his ass kicked" by neither the twins nor Himeragi. In the remaining eight minutes, Teikō continued widening the gap and ended the game with a final score of 81:51. As Kise jumped in the air and yelled in happiness, the rest of the starters smiled.
"I can eat now~ Do you want some?"
"Sure, I'll have some." As Murasakibara was shocked that Midorima actually wanted to eat some of his snacks, Himeragi gave them towels. Just when she was going to tell Aomine to be a normal kid and just show that he was happy to have won, Nijimura put a hand on Aomine's head.
"Why're you spacing out? It's thanks to you that we won. You can go ahead and show some happiness. Even if it's just for now, it's alright to be honest with yourself." He let out a sigh of relief and a small smile, as Momoi smiled at him heading to the five other players on the court.
"Himeragi." She didn't answer and continued looking outside the window at the sunset. "You have some nerve not to say any good wishes to the seniors. Some of us are going far away, ya know?" She smiled, thinking back to the peaceful way Shirogane and Sanada sent off the seniors and the foundation for the current starters was immovable. A few days had already passed and it was time to transition to the Generation of Miracles being the upperclassmen of the club.
"Is it strange to hear from me that I'm worried about the future? That this peace is making me uneasy?" Nijimura really wanted to yell at her for spoiling his graduation but couldn't bring himself to raise a hand against her.
"Why do you want to keep them together? Surely you know that the time will come that they all choose different schools and teams."
"Because I care so much for those basketball idiots…" When Nijimura looked at Himeragi's face, he was shocked to see such a level-headed girl, tearing up. She hadn't noticed until a tear left her eye as she quickly wiped the subsequent tears. Nijimura knew his feelings for her were still as strong as ever, as he bit his lip before taking a step forward.
"Geez, if you care for them this much, you're just going to suffer." he said, as she turned away so that he wouldn't see her cry. But that made him more angry at himself, for being unable to stop her tears. Nijimura enveloped her in a back hug, as she froze on the spot, letting out a hiccup of surprise.
"I'm sorry… this is your graduation..." she whispered, as Nijimura just sighed because he never expected to see her cry, on his graduation, even if it wasn't because of him. He could only sigh because Himeragi had the power to make all of their hearts waver.
"Damn right you should be sorry. I had something else to say to you before I left and before I could say it, you're already crying." Nijimura gave into his feelings and held her tighter. When he could feel her trembling decrease and the tension release from her body, he sighed. It wasn't the right time but he wouldn't have a chance to say it to her in person since he was going overseas. "I'm going to flick your forehead if you turn around so don't do it and just listen." When she disobeyed and accidentally looked over at his red cheeks, Nijimura went through with the threat and flicked her forehead. When Arai came to find Himeragi because she and Nijimura weren't present at Sanada's send-off for the seniors, she was shocked by the scene inside the classroom: Nijimura was back hugging Himeragi. Knowing she couldn't interrupt, she looked on silently, wondering how it suddenly turned out this way.
"Nijimura-senpai, what are you—"
"I really like you." Himeragi and Arai's eyes widened. When he felt her body tense up again, he knew she wouldn't feel the same way. But this confession was mostly for himself, for him to know that he properly conveyed his feelings before he left. "Don't be an idiot and apologize for putting the team first." she couldn't help but stifle a laugh. That sounded just like him.
"But you think it's foolish right? I understand that, Nijimura-senpai." He wanted to say that he liked her better when she wasn't teasing him and was quiet but knew that he liked her a lot, either way. Since he already went down this embarrassing path, he might as well have seen it until the end.
"Look here, I wouldn't have fallen for you if you didn't preach about those soft principles all day. Because I saw how hard you were working for our team, I felt a sense of hope in you and being around you made me happier. Not to mention, you really helped me make it through my dad's hospitalization…" Nijimura noticed way too late into his confession that he said loads of embarrassing things, as his words trailed off awkwardly. Nijimura blushed just a little more when he saw Himeragi's ears turning red.
"I'm moved by your words. You're a nice person, Nijimura-senpai." Arai gasped; was Himeragi going to accept his feelings? "I initially thought you were just grateful to me and did not actually love me anymore than you would love a little sister." While it was not her intention to rile him up, Nijimura's assertiveness surfaced.
"Oh really? I wouldn't mind kissing you right now." Himeragi froze again, since she was in a position where if she made one wrong move and looked back, Nijimura might actually kiss her. Arai ran away, being unable to bear hearing anymore. "I know your answer, Himeragi. I wanted to tell you this now because we both know I'm leaving soon."
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" He finally let go of her and when he took a proper look at her now, Nijimura blushed once more. Her slightly swollen eyes added to the sultry look she was unintentionally showing. He couldn't look away from her bright blue eyes.
"I cannot return your feelings but I'm happy that you think of me this way."
"I know that already, Himeragi. Don't apologize." She brought her right hand close to her chest and clenched it. Nijimura had always been so kind to her and in return, she tested his patience and forced him to assume roles he didn't want.
"Why won't you ask for anything? A reason, a favor, you are deserving of these things, Nijimura-senpai." He would much rather she didn't indulge him, as he didn't want to get his hopes up again. Knowing that her words stemmed from her just being a kind person that hated rejecting anyone, he looked away and thought.
"I'd like to still be in contact, even when I'm in Los Angeles." She smirked and subsequently laughed.
"What made you think I'd cut off all contact after this? Of course I plan to annoy you from across the world, Nijimura-senpai."
"Touché, Himeragi. As for asking for a reason..." Nijimura already knew she wasn't going to have a particularly compelling reason. "You have too much basketball in your head to even think of romance. I get it." Even though he wasn't blaming her, it still sounded like she was being blamed as she couldn't say anything against it. "Since my last favor wasn't actually a favor, I'll ask this of you now, Himeragi."
"If it's something I can do, I'll do it."
"The next time you see me, don't treat me differently." Her immediate thought was that it was a given, as she thought of him as a precious upperclassman. But she nodded her head, since he requested it himself.
"Senpai." she called, when he looked away.
"Hm?" With the sunset behind her, she looked truly beautiful as his eyes widened again.
"Congratulations on your graduation." she said, flashing a beautiful smile at him. He returned her smile, thanking her with all his heart for her proper send-off. When Nijimura stepped outside, after that nerve-wrecking interaction with Himeragi, he saw Kuroko and Aomine, the pair that probably worried Himeragi the most.
"Always be basketball idiots." Nijimura said, ruffling both of their heads. He wasn't one to typically show affection so when they looked up and saw his smile, they felt awkward. "Bye then." he said, walking to Sanada, who wanted to speak with him.
"I didn't expect you to advocate on Himeragi's behalf." Sanada said, beginning a conversation with the previous Teikō captain.
"I didn't think I would either, until I talked to Himeragi." he said curtly, thinking back to an expression he never thought Himeragi would show him. Sanada was also surprised by the reference to Himeragi as he wondered what she must have said to have persuaded Nijimura to take action for a team that was no longer under his command. Before Sanada croaked out a response, the former captain filled in the blanks for him. "It's because she cried. For someone like her to have gotten attached to those six idiots, how could I just watch on the sidelines?" After fixing his glasses, Sanada looked at the moon with Nijimura, knowing that because of one girl, the situation didn't turn for the worst.
"She knows that they will split up eventually. But she wants them to part on good terms." the coach said, looking at Nijimura for a response.
"What's wrong with that?" the former captain said. There was nothing wrong with someone that cared for the feelings of others, especially one that knew what the backlash would be in feeling that way. "We all know that she showed weakness by getting so attached to their friendship. But if there isn't one person that has the courage to fight for that friendship, then she's right. They'll be alone in this oppressive world. I wish I could be here for her but honestly, she will be fine. So will the six idiots."
"So you're saying that she has the power to change Akashi's views?" They both felt a chilly omen that Akashi would soon change his ways but with the addition of Himeragi, they weren't as worried.
"She always had that power. It's just a matter of Akashi finally facing her head on."
"You mean to say Akashi is the one running away?"
"Hilarious isn't it?" When Nijimura recalled the unwavering gaze Himeragi showed him when she told him that she was happy that he told her, his feelings but could not return them, he chuckled. He already knew who could make her heart waver. "I'm looking forward to the showdown between them."
This chapter officially ends the arc up until the second championship tournament!