A/N: Thank you everyone! It has been a long time but it's finally back!
Enjoy~!
Chapter 37
With the Open Mic Night now behind them, Catal Rhythm felt a little bit at ease. Getting their first performance as a rock band off their chests, the five boys decided to start planning things a little bit better. They had planned to perform at other Open Mics but not so soon. They had the remainder of Inter-High, Ai-Fest preparations to finalize ―which included their collaboration with Digital Club, The Music Award Show ―Pop Muse, among many other things.
It was then that the boys, sans Kise and Takao, realized just how hectic an idol's life was. And in their case, it was only going to get worse.
"Damn, I'm so beat." Takao panted as he collapsed into the beanbag nearby. Currently, they were practising their routine for 'Juliette', since they had all come to the agreement that they'll perform this at the show. This was one of their easier choreographies, despite its upbeat tempo.
"I think we have everything totally down at this moment." Kasamatsu said, following suit. "I guess we have nothing to fear."
Kagami, Kuroko and Kise all took their seats as well, but the redheaded tiger felt as though there was something missing. The routine was pretty much the same choreography, but for a performance, Kagami thought that they should change things up a little bit. But the issue is, how?
"...gami. Kagami!"
"Huh?" Kagami asked when he snapped back to reality. "Did I miss something?"
The others looked at him with raised brows. This wasn't like the boy they knew, more so Kuroko. He looked too pensive, and out of character.
"Kagami-kun, is something the matter?" Kuroko asked, not only for himself, but for the others too.
"Uh, yeah." The rapper said with uncertainty. "It's just that I was thinking."
"About what?" Kasamatsu asked.
"The performance. It would've been nice if we changed it up a little. I mean, it doesn't make sense we stick to the usual choreo when we can spice things up a bit."
Kasamatsu hummed and nodded. "I see. But, how will we even change it? Given the topic of the song, we have to kinda...I don't know, put a story to it?"
"Like what? We actually have our Juliette there with us? Or something?" Kise asked. "That's the only way I see it."
"That's good and all but where are we gonna get a "Juliette" from?" Takao asked. "And one that can dance and have stage presence? It makes no sense we get a random girl and while we dance and sing, our presences drown her out."
The others let out a groan. Remembering the "Hello" performance on MusicStock, having a twist to the song doesn't seem so bad. Although Aihara has a lot of dancers to go by, they felt as though they would need time to get accustomed to the dancer that they'll get and time was already of the essence.
"Maybe we can do that for a later performance of it. But not for Pop Muse." Kuroko suggested.
"Right…" Takao sighed. "If only Ai-chan could dance to Juliette then ―" Takao cut himself off as he got a stroke of genius.
"We can ask her, right?!" Kise chirped excitedly. "Where is she?!"
"She's practising for a competition so she should be here. Let's go!"
The five boys then excited the room and dashed further down the hallway. Reaching the right door, they knocked and then pushed it open, seeing Aika and her long-time dance partner Kamisaka Hiroto. The two weren't dancing; instead, they looked like they were taking a break.
"Ai-chan!" Takao greeted, skipping towards her.
"Kazunari-kun!" She chirped. Her dance partner Hiroto looked at her in shock.
"I've come to ask ―"
"Hold on a darn minute." Hiroto interrupted, walking towards the group with his arms folded. "Who the hell are these guys and why do you call him by his first name? I'm sure "Kazunari" isn't a family name." The raven-haired boy looked angry.
Aika looked unperturbed. "I don't see why you're getting all worked up Kamisaka-kun."
Hiroto rolled his eyes and let out a pissed sigh. "Fine. I'll be at the cafeteria."
With that, Hiroto left the room, leaving Aika with the five boys of Catal Rhythm. When the door clicked shut behind him, Kise broke the silence.
"What's his problem?" The blond asked, still looking at the door as though Hiroto was standing there.
"I have no idea. He's a really nice guy, and he was fine before you five came in so…" Aika shrugged at them. "So anyway, what do you guys want?"
"Well…"
And so Takao told her all about their ideas of spicing up 'Juliette's performance, and luckily, she agreed. However, it was under a condition.
"I get to add some latin dance moves in it." She smirked. "I feel like it could get spiced up some more."
"Sure! No problem!" Takao agreed.
"Ha! You'll dance with Takao-kun during that time." Kuroko suggested, nudging the boy in his sides playfully. "I think you two will make a good duo."
The others chuckled, not at all surprised by Kuroko's behaviour. It was something that they got used to, and realized that Takao was indeed rubbing off on him. Without further ado, the group got started on their routine since Hiroto had left for the cafeteria. Luckily, Aika had already known their routine for Juliette, just like every other dancer under the Aihara label. Neither of the boys were completely shocked, being that when they were trainees they themselves were able to dance the choreography of some of the veteran idols.
…
…
Hiroto sat in the cafeteria, sulking.
While he never hated the five boys of Catal Rhythm, he felt a bit of jealousy when he heard Aika address Takao by his given name. He's been her dance partner for four years, naturally, they should be closer than how Aika is with Takao.
"Perhaps they're dating?" He mumbled to himself. He's seen them coming to the Complex together from school countless times and he's seen them interact with each other more than how he, her dance partner, interacts with her on a daily basis. "I should've gone to Shutoku instead."
"What's wrong with lil' Hiro?" A voice asked from behind, his Chinese accent heavy. "I thought you were practising."
Hiroto looked up and saw Chrome from Diverse. The older male then took a seat at the table, with his tray of food. And as per usual, an idol's diet was scary.
"I was." Hiroto replied, twirling the water around in the bottle he had. "But something's come up and I came here for the time being."
Chrome raised an eyebrow and paused in the middle of his chewing. "If you don't mind, but I'm gonna ask, what came up? Something wrong with Aika-san?"
Hiroto shook his head. "No, she's fine. She's just talking with a…" he trailed off and turned his face away. "...I think he's her boyfriend."
Chrome did a spit-take after which he proceeded to choke. "Are you serious?!" He asked when he came out of his coughing fit. "Aika-san...has a boyfriend?!"
"Shh! Not so loud." Hiroto hissed, looking around the cafeteria to see if anyone heard. "I think he is. After all, she calls him by his given name."
Chrome was not amused. "Are you sure about this? Couldn't they just be childhood friends? By the way, who's the guy?"
"Uh, he's one of the rappers in Catal Rhythm, forgot his name."
"Is he tall?"
"Yes. They all are!"
"No way, Kuroko is the shortest." Chrome laughed. "Is he the one with the wild look or the one with the grey eyes?"
"Grey eyes."
"Ah, Taka huh. So what's the issue? You're not okay with her having a boyfriend?"
"Well, I don't care, it's just that ―"
"You like her."
Hiroto nearly died. "What?! Where'd you get that from?!"
"It's clear. You like Aika-san, so when she got herself a man you're pissed about it and is out here sulking when you should be practising for the upcoming tournament."
"What?! That's absurd! I don't like her romantically!"
Chrome didn't press. "Fine then. I'll drop it." He shrugged. "But, the tournament is coming in a few month's time; how are things going?" He switched the topic quickly.
Hiroto grinned. "Of course we have our routines. We're fine-tuning what needs to be done right now. That's all."
"Alrighty. It's ―" Chrome broke off and looked behind Hiroto. The dancer noticed this and followed Chrome's gaze, only to see Aika walking with Takao to the counter. Hiroto's face looked displeased and of course, Chrome didn't miss it. "Aika-san!" He called out.
Aika left the counter and Takao to see what Chrome wanted. Hiroto looked like he wanted to stab the rapper to death but when Aika reached, he seemed to have calmed down.
"Zhao-san, what are you doing here?" She asked. "Don't you have practice?"
Chrome smiled. "Yeah. Just taking a breather, you know?" He then said, "What are you doing here?"
Aika deadpanned, "It's a cafeteria. What else could I be doing here?"
Chrome laughed. "Alright. Alright. But how are you? And I see you with Taka-kun. What's up?"
"Oh. I'm practising with Catal Rhythm for an upcoming performance."
"Oh." Chrome nodded. "Can I come look? I am rather bored."
"Zhao-san! What are you ―?" Hiroto nearly shrieked.
"Come on! You can come too if you want."
"I hate you."
Aika looked back and forth the two. Everyone knew of Chrome's playful and trouble-making personality, so she thought he was making fun of Hiroto. Still, she let it pass since it was a regular.
"Ai-chan!" Takao's screech took them back to reality. The boy jogged towards their table with his usual bright smile. Hiroto wasn't pleased but Chrome tried to stifle down his smile.
This is going to be interesting. He calls her 'Ai-chan'. Chrome thought with a smirk.
The quartet headed back to the practice room, where the rest of Catal Rhythm were waiting. The other boys were standing in a circle, seeming to be discussing something. But when Takao announced their arrival, they broke apart with bright smiles on their faces.
"I hope you got my favourite pudding." Kasamatsu said, making his way to the rapper.
"Of course. I got two of them." Takao grinned.
"Sweet!"
When Takao distributed the food, Hiroto looked on in shock. He then looked at Chrome who seemed impassive at the sight, as if it was something he was used to seeing.
"Zhao-san, I thought idols couldn't eat fried chicken and all that." The latin dancer whispered. "Aren't these illegal foods for idols?"
"We shouldn't." Chrome replied. "I don't know why they get to, but…" He trailed off before shrugging. "...I guess they're Ai-Prez's favourites."
"They are!?" Hiroto shouted, grabbing the attention of the boys and Aika.
The five boys looked at the duo upon hearing the exclamation. Hiroto's face looked seething. As if sensing the oncoming danger. Aika was quick to act.
"Alright! Let's do about 30 minutes of rehearsal and then I get back to Kamisaka-kun, ne?"
"Sure." Catal Rhythm agreed. For a fact, they felt a bit odd since both Chrome and Hiroto were going to watch them. They hardly (if they ever did) interacted with either male so the atmosphere was awkward.
Chrome stifled down a snicker. "Now I kinda see why you're so bitter. You've been her partner for four years and you're still 'Kamisaka-kun' and this guy who suddenly popped up out of nowhere gets to address her as 'Ai-chan'."
Hiroto nearly strangled Chrome. "That's what I told you! Yet you were hellbent that I was in love with her!"
"It's because you are." Chrome said without missing a beat. He then focused on the dancing sextet, humming all the while he did so.
Hiroto decided to give up.
…
…
Instead of returning to the practice room, the five boys left and met with Kenji in the parking lot. The five climbed into their van after which Kenji drove them to Spectertainment, for rehearsals with Digital Club.
"Why are you all so quiet? Something happened?" Kenji asked. He knew his boys to be the rowdy bunch so this silence had him worried.
"It's just that Ai-chan's dance partner probably hates us." Takao said without a hitch. "Do you think they're dating?" He looked across to Kise who simply shrugged his reply.
"Possibly. It's probably why he seems pissed at us, or rather you." Kasamatsu joined in.
Takao frowned. "But I like her."
Kenji slammed on the brake suddenly causing the boys to jerk forward. "Uh, a cat. The street." Kenji obviously lied, unable to form the sentence properly.
Even Kuroko who was always lost in his book, turned to look at Takao with utmost shock. Kagami and Kise's jaws hung to the floor, while Kasamatsu seemed to have turned to stone.
"Wait, what?" Kuroko asked. "Did...did we hear correctly?"
"What's up with you lot? What's wrong with liking someone?" Takao asked innocently.
"It's just the suddenness of that confession, that's all." Kagami said.
"What?! What are you talking about?! Confession?!" Takao shrieked. "I can't believe you!"
And meanwhile the other four boys carried on their banter, Kasamatsu seemed to be lost in his own world. He gazed through the window, unfocused eyes watching the scenery as they passed. Takao's sudden "confession" struck a chord with him, and got the boy thinking.
What am I doing? Do I like her? Or do I not?
The captain was uneasy, but even though he kept asking himself these questions, Kasamatsu knew that in the back of his mind, lay the answers. He knew he loved talking with Reiko; hell, they practically text each other every day. He realized that he loved some things about her but is able to tolerate the things he didn't. Sure, there is no perfect human being, but watching his parents all his life, he knew that one had to not only love, but respect their partner and tolerate their little habits too.
And that was how he felt towards Reiko.
A groan escaped his lips as he placed his face within his palms. Kasamatsu knew he got it bad when the first thing ―or rather person―he thinks of when he wakes up is Kise Reiko.
"Shit." Kasamatsu mumbled. He knew it wasn't a bad thing, he just couldn't believe how it happened. He then turned to look at Kise, who was busy teasing Takao still. "Kise."
The seriousness of his Senpai's tone of voice made the blond stiffen. Kise thought that Kasamatsu had had enough of their shit and wanted him to shut up. He looked at his captain and noticed the expression on his face wasn't pissed but somewhat...soft?
"Senpai?" Kise asked. Naturally, the others were looking too.
"When we get home, I need to talk to you. Don't forget."
Kise, shocked as it is, wondered what spurred this on. He didn't think it was anything basketball related, and if it were pertaining to their music, Kasamatsu would've included everyone.
So what the hell could it be? The blond thought.
Soon, they reached Spectertainment, and like previous, Dan was the one who greeted them at the entrance. Kenji trekked behind the group, listening to their conversation, although it was Kasamatsu and Dan who did most of the talking.
Just then, Kenji got a message and opening it, he saw that it was from Makio. Reading it, a wide grin stretched from ear-to-ear appeared on his face. And sadly, neither of the boys took note.
…
…
Chrome left Hiroto and Aika, humming as he headed back to his dorm. But his thoughts were preoccupied with Catal Rhythm. Their dancing was really good, although he noticed Kuroko a lot more. He's heard their music so he knew that their singing wasn't bad either. At first, he thought they were the regular run-of-the-mill idols like everyone else, but he realized that they were different.
Perhaps, he thought, that it was because they never auditioned for the company like everyone else, instead they were dragged here.
When he first heard that Kenji had been assigned a new idol group, he thought it had been either D:FI or Starburst. But alas, when he heard who they were, he was alarmed. He's interacted with many trainees and he knew he never met them before. So, how shocked he was when he heard the company was debuting another group.
Upon reaching his destination, a sock was thrown in his face by an angry Alto.
"Where have you been?" He asked sternly, speaking in Mandarin.
"Watching over our new juniors." Chrome replied nonchalantly as he took off his sneakers and put on his house shoe. He was the type to have a specific pair of shoes just for his dancing. He replied in his native tongue as well.
"What?"
"You heard me," Chrome smirked, making his way further in. "I was watching over Catal Rhythm. They truly are an interesting bunch."
"Oi! Japanese please!" A redhead shouted from the terrace. He was known as Narumi, who happened to be same man who ran into Makio. "When in Japan, do as the Japanese do and that includes speaking the language!"
Chrome stuck his tongue out playfully before continuing his conversation with Alto.
"So what's this about Catal Rhythm?" Alto asked, switching to Japanese.
Chrome playfully shrugged his shoulders and smiled. He sauntered towards Narumi and swiftly took out a pringle from his bowl ignoring the screech of "Hey! That's mine!"
"I'm interested in them."
…
…
After their practice session with Digital Club, once again, Kenji drove the boys back to the Complex. At first, they fussed about not going home but Kenji reassured them that there was a meaning for all this.
Arriving at their Dream Team's office, the first thing that the boys noticed was that everyone was there, including Nobuzane who usually was off making music for some other talent. But also, there was an extra desk nestled beside Kenji's.
"Whose desk is that?" Kise asked, looking to Kenji for the answer. Ren let out a hum, while Kiyotaka and Nobuzane exchanged glances before nonchalantly continuing to sip on their coffee.
"You'll know soon enough." Kenji said, taking his seat. He then shuffled through some papers on his desk, the others looking attentively at the group. "It's best if you boys had a seat. We're here to talk about Ai-Fest."
"Whoo!" The five boys cheered and scurried to the seats available. Normally, whenever their Dream Team wanted to meet, it never lasted for thirty minutes or more, so with Kenji indicating that they should sit, they knew something's up.
Kenji chuckled at their excitement. "Ren, your time."
The publicist sighed. "Ken-chan, this is your job."
"I have to fill them in on something else later on."
"Well boys, as you know, your hard-working team has managed to procure all the necessary items needed for your 'meet and greet' on day three of the Ai-Fest." Ren grinned. "We got four of the instant cameras and luckily, one of our photographers will be free on that day. So the photo aspect is settled. In regards to the gift bags, we have sourced those as well, they should be arriving some time next week." The publicist then leaned back in his chair and sighed. "The only thing left to do is the autograph signing."
"Why does that sound like it's the most stressful of all?" Kagami asked.
"Because, we don't know what the fans who come will want. What if someone wants only one member's autograph? Or all five? Or three out of the five?" Ren said. "What we had planned was to just print all five signatures on one sheet and give it to the fans that come, but we realized that fans will have 'biases' as they call it." Ren rolled his eyes with annoyed here and mumbled, "damn indecisive people."
"So...we have fans?" Kagami asked, looking genuinely shocked. "And these fans already know who they like the most out of all of us? We hardly even interact with anyone."
All eyes locked onto the redhead. The atmosphere turned awkward, before Takao burst out laughing and pat the boy on his shoulder. Kasamatsu face-palmed in distress, Kuroko continued to read his novel, Kise let out a groan.
"Tai-chan, we do have our fans, just not a boatload of them." Takao replied. "Remember we have to start small."
"Right." Ren nodded. "Anyway, let's continue. You need to make up your signatures, and hand them in to Kenji or me."
"Yes Sir!" The five chirped.
"So, it's your turn Kenji." Ren grinned.
"Yeah, yeah, so what I have to say is ―" The manager broke off when the door swung open and in came a young man.
"Makicchi!?" Kise shrieked in shock.
….
…
A white car drove into the Aihara Complex and out came a tall young man dressed in a grey suit. He was none other than Sugimoto Makio, and at this moment, he was quite nervous. When he had agreed to be Alter-Ego's manager, he only agreed to be temporary. But alas, things have gone so far along, that he was now on his way to see the President of the company.
With a sigh, he entered the building and was escorted to the President's office. Upon reaching the door, Makio knocked thrice before he entered.
"Welcome, Sugimoto-san." President Aihara greeted.
"Thank you for having me." Makio returned the sentiment. He sat in the chair available, as beckoned to by the President.
"I'm sure you already have an idea as to why you're here, right Sugimoto-san?"
"Yeah, I guess." Makio replied. "It's because of Alter-Ego, right?"
President Aihara grinned. "So you do know. Well, I'm here to offer you a job as their manager."
"Temporarily."
The President laughed. "Nonsense." At that, Makio paled but President Aihara didn't care. "From what I hear, you're the best option the boys have. Plus, they trust you."
"I know that but I run the Euphoria and look after my brother. Where am I going to get the time to be their manager?"
"But you're already doing it, so I don't know what you're talking about."
"With all due respect, Sir…"
"Do you really not want to do this?"
Makio bit the inside of his lips. It wasn't that he didn't want to do it, he was just confused. He wanted to help Kise and his friends, but he also had an obligation to his little brother and the Euphoria. In fact, what Makio saw in Kise and the others reminded him of his band days. He wanted to see them reach the heights that his bands never achieved, he wanted them to excel and dominate the world of rock music. He really wanted the best for them.
"I...I…" Makio stuttered. "...I would do it, but who is going to look after my brother? I know I can always employ people to run the Euphoria, but my brother…"
"How old is he?"
"Sixteen."
President Aihara looked unamused. "I thought he was a child still in basic school. But that's a teenager. Can't he take care of himself?"
"He can but I don't want to leave him alone. We've only got each other and for me to be always working and if when the boys get to a stage where they're having concerts in other countries, I have to leave him."
"How old do you think he will be then? Surely not still sixteen."
"I know, I know. But he still needs a big brother's support. What if he finds a girlfriend? He's going to need to talk to me."
"Alright. Well, since you're indecisive, I'll leave you some time to decide." President Aihara said, pushing a document towards the former drummer. "This is your contract. I'll give you a week to gather your thoughts and make your decision."
"I…" Makio said as he looked at the contract. Even though he stared at the document, he wasn't seeing anything at all. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, and let out a chuckle. "...to be honest, I really want to do it." Makio looked up from the table and to the President. "Can I meet with the boys?"
"Sure, they should be with Kenji right now, I can have someone escort you."
"Thanks."
Makio left the office with a secretary who guided him to where he should be. But, throughout the walk, Makio called his brother in order to talk to him. When he answered the phone, he got straight into the meat of the matter.
"Hey, I was offered a job." Makio started.
"Well, isn't that great?! Is it the manager job that you were doing for Ryouta and his friends?"
"Yeah, I was offered a permanent position."
"So...what's the deal? Isn't that great? You're going for it right?"
"I'm not sure. Who's gonna take care of you? I can have someone run Euphoria, but what about you? I can't leave you alone."
"The fuck?! I'm not some child! I'm sixteen! I can handle myself in most cases!"
"But Mareo, not in all cases you can be alone!"
"Oh whatever, I can always go to Ruiko-nee, right?"
Makio chuckled, almost bursting out in full-blown laughter. "She isn't even your sister but sure, sure."
"She will be soon enough."
"Cheeky."
"Then the issue has now been solved. See you later."
"Yeah."
Finally, the two reached Catal Rhythm's office, Makio pushing the door and entering. There, he saw Kenji and his five boys but also with other males that he's never met. He remembered Ren from the Open Mic Night, but the others, not so much.
"Makkicchi!?" Kise shrieked in shock.
"Yo." The former drummer greeted.
"Ah, right on time." Kenji clasped both his hands together in joy. "Let me introduce to you, Alter-Ego's manager, Sugimoto Makio."
"Eh?! It was already finalized?" Makio was confused. "I can't believe this. I just came from the President's office and he told me to think about it. What's this about?"
There was an awkward silence before Kenji cleared his throat. Nobuzane and Kiyotaka wanted to applaud but they didn't. Kenji looked to Ren before speaking. "Your desk is right beside mine, so let's get along right?"
"Uh, yeah." Makio nodded, realizing that Kenji had ignored his questions.
"This is great! I knew that Makicchi would come to our side!" Kise chirped, throwing a hand over Takao's shoulder. The hawk-eyed boy grinned from ear to ear in jubilation.
"Why do I feel like I never had a choice?" Makio sighed.
…
…
After the meeting, Catal Rhythm returned home, but instead of practising with their instruments or in the case of Kasamatsu ―writing a song, they had all gathered in their conversation pit and seemed to be having another meeting of their own. As usual, Takao was the one who had the notebook and pen, while the others chatted amongst themselves.
"We've got to up our game, guys." Kise said, frowning. "Every other idol has their own web-drama and other shit so they'll be wracking up the fans. We definitely can't continue like this."
"We know that." Takao said. "But we had our plans, right? For Alter-Ego we had that we'd do cover songs, and for CR, we'd do dance practices and challenges."
"Yeah, but the issue is that we need to change things up. Always doing the same type of content will make our channel boring." Kuroko said. "Is what I believe."
"It is true." Kasamatsu sighed. "The only other thing I can think of is doing our own talk show kind of thing. I think it'll be an interesting idea since we can have other idols as guests and talk about lots of stuff."
"I can already see how we'll definitely fight against the whole "no dating" rules, and the stupid diet that's similar to starvation." Kagami chuckled. "We'll probably get blacklisted by the whole industry." This time he erupted in laughter.
"Right!" the others howled out. But even though they joked about it here, in the back of their minds, they knew it would be a serious matter that may even cost them their jobs.
"All...right…" Takao said while scribbling down their ideas. "The next thing is when do we start?"
"As soon as we get our shit together." Kasamatsu replied, taking up his phone and starting to type speedily. He paused a while before scrolling making the others curious as to what he was doing. Then, he passed the phone to Kise who was sitting beside him.
"These are some songs I believe we can do as Alter-Ego." The captain started, he then found another page, and said, "and these are the songs we can do covers for as Catal Rhythm."
"Senpai...the Alter ones are really...something." Kise said with uncertainty. "Don't you think?"
Kasamatsu chuckled. "You're overreacting." The phone was then passed to the others who shared the same sentiment as Kise. "Don't worry, I have been working on the arrangements. So I just need you guys to help me as well."
"Sounds like murder." Kuroko joked, still reading his novel. "Just let us get our night's sleep."
Kasamatsu laughed. "I make no promises."
"So since we've established that, I think we should focus on Pop Muse." Kagami said, looking across to Takao. "And I thought it'll be cool if we switched rap lines."
"Why?!"
"Because we're singing to 'Juliette' and Hattori agreed to play that role. She's closer to you and you'll even dance using some latin moves. So…" Kagami trailed off. "...you're better off rapping to her than me."
Takao's eyes brightened before he smirked. "Isn't that a bright idea."
Kagami returned the smirk. "Of course it is."
"Wait does this involve choreo too, or just the lines?" Kuroko asked. "Because if it does, we may have some changes to do on our parts as well."
"I don't think so. Remember, we saw how Hattori added in the Latin moves, we can work with it there." The redhead replied.
"Well, today was just the first day we practised with her, we'll smooth it out tomorrow." Kasamatsu said.
"I know, I know!" Takao laughed. "And now, it's time for dinner!"
Kagami got up and stretched. "I was beginning to wonder if you guys were on that wretched diet."
"Never!"
…
…
After dinner, Kise and Kasamatsu left the others and headed out onto the balcony. As a matter of fact, Kise was the one who remembered that Kasamatsu had wanted to talk, and dragged his captain out there.
"What is it that you wanted to talk about?" Kise asked without missing a beat.
"It's about your sister." Kasamatsu began, and suddenly he felt the air get tense. Kise was not laughing, nor smiling, nor chuckling. He was dead serious and this was the first time Kasamatsu saw the blond like this. Even when he's riled up and was facing Aomine or Kagami, Kasamatsu never saw this expression from him. Frankly speaking, it was somewhat scary.
"What about Reiko-nee?" Kise knew it couldn't have been his big sister Ruiko since she was already engaged.
Kasamatsu let out a sigh. "I like her."
He then spilled (what could be spilt) to the blond, his reasons for liking Reiko. And all throughout, Kise's face gradually softened from stone-cold judge like face, to his usual puppy like face ―bright sparkles and all.
"I knew this day would come." Kise snickered. He threw a hand over Kasamatsu's shoulder and grinned. "I wish you all the best when you confess. But don't wait too long now, because good things goes to those who act swiftly."
It was now Kasamatsu's turn to laugh. "Yes, yes, I hear you."
But within a split second, Kise dashed inwards their house and screeched as though he wanted the whole neighbourhood to know, "Guys! Senpai is dating Reiko-nee!"
"What?! Get your facts straight! I haven't even confessed yet!"
Thank you for reading! Don't forget to leave a review~!