After the events of the training camp, Esashi had wasted no time simply going home. They let out near the stadium, so it seemed like Seirin had intentions to go to one more match, but really, she couldn't handle any more. She had a good time, it wasn't to say that she had such a terrible experience with the sport. In fact, after things relatively settled, she found herself getting quite invested in the scrimmage games they held while there.

Maybe... a little too invested.

After all, she remembered actually getting visibly distressed that Seirin hadn't managed to win any of the games against Shutoku while there. She really wanted to see that tall, green moss-head get what was coming to him.

Regardless, it wound up being surprisingly pleasant, all things considered.

After being away for so long, and finally having the opportunity to come home and resume her usual activities, she found there were a lot of things she had to get a jumpstart on before classes resumed. She had shirked her studies somewhat -even if she didn't have any mandatory work to be doing-, and she had to get home to her parents at a decent time.

Luckily, except for a single text from Riko of 'Where did you go!?', that she could respond to with 'Had to get home' to avoid all further questioning, she didn't get too much of a hassle from it.

After all of that, when classes resumed, everything returned to normal. She was back to addressing the minor injuries and concerns of students alongside the school nurse, and using the extra time after school to catch up on her studies. It was honestly somewhat surprising to see how quickly everything reverted to normalcy. Going out to that training camp and staying with a bunch of people in an inn like that, it was probably the most she had ever done so freely. It was similar to how she would hear the people her age describing parties and sleepovers, or camping.

She sat at the desk in the infirmary, tapping the back of her pen gently against her cheek until she could hear the sound of it clicking repeatedly. In her idleness, she found herself thinking about it a lot, even now when summer had long gone and winter was creeping upon them.

The winter season had already begun for them, and save for a few glimpses of them still taking advantage of the outdoor track before it got too cold, or a couple of spontaneous drop-ins on their part, everything had gotten somewhat quiet around the nurse's office. Sure, she was happy she didn't have any immediate first aid to administer, or anybody coming in to inquire about some injury they were sure they had sustained, but she also didn't expect to miss the chaos so much.

"I should go visit sometime," she trailed quietly, twisting her lips into a thoughtful pout while watching from the room's nearby window. If Riko was still making their meals, then they probably would need that. She wasn't studying to be a dietitian or anything, but she figured it took more of a toxicologist to make a judgment on the things Riko served them. The wayward thought in her mind provoked a tiny, chuckle-like breath from between her lips.

"No, focus," she scolded herself, forcing her head back down into her studies. She had been distracted often lately, even if she still had been getting things done -considering a good portion of her career studies were done in her spare time separate from Seirin's academics.

Her raspberry pink eyes scanned the length of the sheets before her, all of the passages she had already read and the subsequent questions she had already responded to that needed review. She had a good accuracy rate. She wasn't falling behind on her productivity, necessarily, she just didn't feel completely anchored to her work. Her mind kept wandering to wayward thoughts and little questions or urges for recreation.

"Maybe I didn't sleep well," she supplemented an answer, her chin plopping down into her hand. Maybe she was somewhat burnt out, even. She had never felt such a strong need to break away from her studies before, so it had to have been something like that.

She wedged her loose study sheets into the pages of her book like a tag, shutting it firmly then bounding up slowly from her chair.

She would take a small break. Perhaps she'd take a small walk around the school, get herself a little fresh air, and maybe grab something from the vending machine as a pick-me-up. She grabbed her heavy jacket from the backside of her chair, slipping it on over her shoulders and remembering to take the key with her. The nurse had her own key, and it was actually preferred that Esashi lock up if she was going to be away long, so there was no trouble.

After doing just that, she eased her hands into the pockets of her pale red jacket and saw herself out.

Just being up and away from the desk felt liberating, and being able to walk the halls while only passing by another student an infrequent few times was relaxing. Her raspberry colored eyes took to the window whenever she passed them, watching the way various sports teams gripped at the last fleeting moments of fall to squeeze out as much as they could.

"They better warm up properly," she thought aloud, "injuries occur often with cold muscles and bodies." Not to mention the American Football team that looked to be pumped up for their season entering its heart. That was one team she really worried about. They were as tough and fired up as the rugby team, and sometimes she worried for anything too serious to come through the nurse's office doors. She could only handle the basics, after all, so a feeling of being powerless wasn't one she ever particularly looked forward to.

Finally reaching the end of the hall, she pushed through the school's front doors. Immediately she was hit with the bracing cold and brisk breezes that forced a calming sigh out of her.

For another bonus, the vending machine was only a short walk away. She went over while digging through her jacket pockets for her coin pouch. Standing in front of the vending machine she was ready to feed her money in when she noticed an arm quite literally reaching over and around her to feed theirs instead.

...Well that was rude.

Her brow knit in confusion, and subconsciously, she felt the need to sink in a bit closer to her jacket. She stepped back off to the side, realizing the hand was just going right ahead with pressing the button for a drink, and only after backing up did she see it.

"Kagami-san," she dryly remarked, "were you in that much of a hurry, that you couldn't wait two-"

Before she could even finish her bemused question, she found he held the drink outstretched to her.

She peered up at him -surprise seeping through her otherwise unchanged expression-, and searched his face as if for confirmation. As she assumed, he was peering down to her then, his hand then flicking slightly towards her as if urging her to take the drink. She let her gaze drop to the drink in his hand - it...

'It's a real soda!' Not that she had any doubt it was a real drink, but more so because it was the variety of sugary soft drink that she preferred not to drink typically. Come to think of it, she was pretty sure she chose one of the healthier - juiced down - varieties to give him once. He did drink it anyway...

"Now we're even," he spoke up as she accepted the soda.

There was a subtle pause both in speech and transition of emotion. She felt her features relax into an uncharacteristically soft expression, and for just a brief stretch of time, she said nothing, only looked at the soda between her hands.

'Great,' Kagami could feel the dragging mental tire already, a fold of exasperation under his eye. She was looking at him weird. He couldn't place that expression or what it was supposed to mean, but from experience to now, he just assumed that there was some sort of obscure social ritual he missed out on again this time, 'what did I do this time?'

He drove his hands into the pockets of his jacket, and peering away he aimed to speak up, "Loo-"

"Thank you, Kagami-san."

He practically choked on his words, but recovering with grace, he pinched the inside of his lips between his teeth, narrowing his eyes almost suspiciously. She... did she just say 'thank you' to him? Was it sarcasm or something? He was just about to tell her that she didn't have to keep the drink if she didn't want to - that he'd drink it if that was what she was getting at, so this came to definitely some sort of a surprise.

"It's uncharacteristically kind that you would go through the extra effort."

"Kh-" that choking on air creaked through the small space in his lips again. THERE was more of what he was expecting. "What the hell's that supposed to mean!" he comically found himself offended, an anger tick popping up against his cheek.

Her head tilted solely as if completely oblivious to why he found himself so up in arms. "Nothing," she replied simply, "it just seemed surprising that you would go out of your way to pay me back for that. Not that you had to, of course."

Somehow, that oblivious demeanor only served to annoy him more. It sounded like she was taunting him somehow - but as if the that blissfully ignorant expression was to make him feel crazy for thinking that. Regardless, he merely breathed out a subtle sigh, hefty enough to see his breath in the afternoon cold, "it's nothing."

Still, he watched her flick open the can's top as if hesitating. Did she... think he did something to the can? It was something he had accused her of, after all, but she had watched him take the can right out of the vending machine. Mischief teemed around in his head for a time.. Suddenly, all signs of annoyance and exasperation became fleeting in his face and calm as ever he went on, "you know we have a game coming up pretty soon. The preliminaries are starting."

Esashi took this opportunity at conversation to draw away from the can, turning her full attention to him instead. "I heard something about that. The Winter Cup, right?"

"Yeah. Basically since we got to the semi-finals in the Interhigh, we get to go into this after we get past the preliminaries."

"That's a pretty confident way of putting it," Esashi's brow raised ever so slightly, but amusement was clearly moving in.

"Confident-" Kagami cut himself off, his eye narrowing incredulously - of course they were going to win. Normally, he'd take confident as a compliment, but it was almost as if she was trying to say he was getting ahead of himself, "of course we're going to the Winter Cup."

So matter-of-fact!

A slight bead of sweat took root on her cheek, and she decided she would just take his word for it, "has the team been taking care of themselves?"

"Yeah," he seemed far less intimidated by her questions this time, and that put her at ease. It didn't seem like he was trying to slip things under the radar or skillfully splice his words this go around, "Kiyoshi's been excited."

'Excited...' she thought to herself, resisting the urge to sigh. 'Is that true..? or has it been anxiety?' He had requested that she not go sharing all of his details with the rest of the team, which was something she had to honor. He still had a level of confidentiality, even just going to the nurse's office, and even if she worried that he may have been doing that to cover up some of the finer print regarding his exertion. It made her uneasy, really. "I'm glad everyone's in high-spirits," she chose to answer instead.

Now without thinking, she rose the can thoughtfully to her lips, taking a sip of the soda. It wasn't the greatest thing she's ever had, but at least she wouldn't want to be ungrateful. Deep in thought, and deeper into a drink from the can, her peripheral caught sight of a sudden movement.

She flickered her gaze back, seeing an open phone affront her face. It took a moment to assess just what she was seeing, but she came to identify it as the contact page: blank save for the name at the top reading 'nurse girl'.

"PFFFFF-" soda spewed off to her side, and ungracefully she began coughing from the rest that absent-mindedly took a detour down her windpipe. What was this? Why was he looking to collect her phone number? Rational as she was, the abrupt nature caught her by surprise, and now hacking like a fish, she shot him first an appraising look...

...but then discovering the way he was quite literally LAUGHING at her at this moment, that look immediately became chillingly brutal.

"KAGAMI!" She spat his name without so much as even a second thought at tacking on the usual, proper honorific in tow, "explain yourself!"

He would! Oh, he would! It wasn't what he was sure she thought. Riko suspected Esashi of flaking out on them or dismissing her texts on occasion, so she wanted more of them to have a line of contact with her. Seemed the coach was probably desperate for a little more female interaction, and was hoping Esashi would get more involved with their recreational activities. Really, Kagami had no idea why Riko chose to send him, given he and Esashi's background, but waiting a while to pull out that little prank was really worthwhile.

Even with the way the nurse's assistant glowered at him, reddened with embarrassment and still trying to properly wipe her mouth, he couldn't quite catch his breath. He sputtered to his original demeanor slowly but surely, stepping back to his old line, "now... now we're even!"

"I'm going back inside," she promptly responded, swiveling around towards the door.

"Hold on, hold, my bad," he uttered through intermitted chuckling, "coach needs it."

"Aida-san has it," she suspiciously peered back over her shoulder.

Kagami, thankfully for the cold stare he was receiving, had managed to pull himself together. He took a deep breath, and waving his hand dismissively he added a more casual yet put-together, "she thinks you're blowing her off."

"Huh?" That... wasn't entirely true. She answered her messages. She peered down at her phone that she fished from her jacket pocket, and scrolled through the most recent text threads. She didn't get many text messages unless it was from people she collaborated on studies with, but as she assumed, Riko was near the top.

...

...

Okay, so she turned down a trip to a restaurant, a shopping trip, and a few idle hangout texts... she did at least answer. She checked the answers in question that she had replied with.

'I'm busy this weekend.'

'Sorry, I have to study.'

'No, thank you.'

A slight bead of sweat dripped down her cheek. Maybe she had been a touch curt. She peered reluctantly back to Kagami whilst turning; he still had that infuriating look of pure gold-level entertainment all over his face.

"Don't make this a habit..." she responded huffily, but lacking in bite. Her embarrassment had defanged her, and with her own brand of wounded pride, she shoved her phone in her own pocket and reached for his.

"I've got no reason to," he responded so simply, forcing her face to seem drier than before. It was just what he had assumed from the beginning, really. He couldn't understand what it was that she wanted from him - everything he did gave her a worse reaction than before-, so he just stopped worrying so much about it. It must not have been a big deal if she didn't scold him on it so much anymore.

Either way, she handed his phone back to him, "I've got to finish some things up." She had truly come out to relax, but she felt slightly more wound up than she did when she took her break, "so I'll have to see you around then, Kagami-san."

"Mm," he agreed wordlessly, peering down at the contact screen he had received back.

'Esashi Fuyuko', though right next to it were symbols and words marking out a big, bold 'X- Off Limits -X'. He supposed she was really making good on the comment about not wanting him to make it a habit, though still he didn't think much of it, only snorted idly while tucking his phone away, back into his pocket.

" 'He's getting better'," Esashi almost found herself scoffing slightly while mimicking the words Riko had said to her over the course of training camp. He still made her want to tear her hair out- how- she caught herself. For a moment, all that mimicry and mocking sounded so juvenile for her usual behavior, really the bug of immaturity spread like wildfire. Instead, she took a calming deep breath.

She wasn't really mad. Just bitter from embarrassment; even she wasn't save from the questionable side-effects of a damaged ego.

She brushed her hair behind her ear and proceeded on back through the halls, making no detours on her path to the nurse's office. "Oh no," she spoke quietly to herself under her breath.

Someone was waiting there outside the door.

She quickly picked up the pace of her walking, slowing only as she reached the door to the office, "sorry to keep you waiting..!" She peered up and could easily see that it was Kiyoshi that had been waiting there.

"It's no problem," he dismissed with such a nonchalant smile as per usual, "it's just a little check-up."

"Do you need the nurse?" Esashi asked for caution's sake, opening the door so that he could go in and seat himself. She was only there for first aid and basic medical, if it was something he needed more attention and expertise for, that was the best way to go about it.

However, he only kept his softened expression, "no, that's fine." He took his seat, one that had become familiar to him in the short time that he had been back. As per routine, he lifted his injured leg up to elevate it and make it easier for her to see. "I just need a quick check. We have a game soon, so... I just want to make sure I know how far I can go."

As always, his tone was cryptic and his expression, however gentle, dipped into the realm of becoming somewhat unreadable under its sweet tones.

Esashi attempted to keep the conversation lighter, "The preliminaries for the Winter Cup. I was told about that. It seems members are pretty confident about passing through."

The small smile that occupied Kiyoshi's face gradually weakened. Concern took its place, and a careful look seized hold of his eyes, "you weren't... thinking of going, were you?"

She paused in the midst of toweling down her washed hands. She hadn't considered that; for a moment it seemed like Kagami was extending an invitation, but all things considered, she was too irritated with him to really notice it until now. "I... I'm not exactly sure," she trailed contemplatively, peering back to the team's center, "maybe if I have a free day for myself, I will." It would also put to rest these silly assumptions that she was purposely brushing off all of Riko's attempts to socialize.

"I see..." The obscurity grew thicker in his words, and teeming with uncertainty, he offered through an almost sad smile, "I don't think... you want to go to that game."

"Hm..?" Her head tilted now as she turned fully to him, focusing all of her attention on him and his strange allusions, "is there something up with it..?"

Silence wafted, made short-lived by the quiet "aaah..." of thought that tread Kiyoshi's pensive lips. He offered a smile, large and broad like usual, though seeping with the questionable feeling of force and tension,

"I just don't think it would be very fun to watch."

A/N: Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. THIS. LMAO. THIS GAME. You know what I'm talking about. You know just what I'm talking about. It's never something that I've written, and I'm really not looking forward to the emotional angst involved.

For the moment let's forget about that game and let's have fun ;A;