It doesn't take a long time for the next update this time! Hurray for me! BUT! The next update may just be a little slow because I'm planning on editing my other KnB story, Rainbow Drops. Do enjoy this chapter and please leave a review!

To NguyetMieu: I do hope the water is not lodged in the wrong pipe? It can get annoying if it did, I know it, been there, done it. Hopefully, this update doesn't cause you the same problem! XD. On a side note, I enjoy writing Akashi teasing Yume too!

To SugarFeather: What would you expect? There's nothing not interesting when Yume is with the rainbow group! I really find myself wanting to write of their high-school selves, when they finally reached that bridge towards adulthood! I don't think Yume is willing to compromise her grandparents' wellbeing to introduce them to more than Momoi, hha! Oh, and it's good to hear that the two OCs are well-received! I don't think they will make too much of an appearance, but they will be there now and then.

To Zeila27: When you said GoM, does it include Kise and Kuroko too? I may or may not have write about that, so details please! Thank you!

Pairings : Undecided

Warnings : Teikō Middle School Days.

Disclaimer : I own only the OCs.


Chapter 43 - If you can't beat 'em, join 'em

Nothing registers in the mind of one Manai Yume as she sits on seat 35D and her limegreen eyes staring blankly at the screen of the portable TV attached to the seat in front of her for in-flight entertainment purposes. Not her overly excited bestfriend almost jumping on her seat on her right nor her other friend seemingly fixated on the picture of a female model in the magazine offered by the in-flight services on her left.

The young brunette is nearly catatonic as her mind replays the earlier scene over and over again much like a broken tape. The two girls have made themselves quite the huge spectacle by the check-in counter and while it is embarrassing, it's not what bothers her the most as her ability to remember eludes her that anything other than the pinkette's sudden hug following her declaration is blurry to her.

It is the looks on their faces.

Manai Yume can recall with perfect clarity of the numerous expressions the people watching both of them had after her pinkette bestfriend finally lets go of her and her brain regains its function to alert her the many presences of others that somehow vanished from both her sight and mind just moments ago but are now displayed in a HD quality. If only there was a hole there then, she would have buried herself deep and never comes out.

Despite being the main perpetrator of the scene, the pinkette managed to avoid the worst because the one facing the much more colourful individuals was no one other then the brunette. And so, while the other may be oblivious, she is very much enlightened.

The overgrown purplehead who loves his treats probably as much as he does his life since his life motto is 'Sweets are justice' actually has his hands frozen in the motion of reaching into more of his chips with few amounts of them already within his grab. That just doesn't happen because when the giant has a treat on hand, then it's only fate is to be consumed straight away. Even his expression wasn't right.

Murasakibara has a very light blush tinting his cheeks and mouth slightly agape, he appears to be dumbstruck by what he has just witnessed. The brunette is quite certain that he was in so much disbelief the two girls are actually bold enough to cause such a scene in a public location where hundreds, if not thousands of people are present. Putting him aside, even she can't believe herself what was done and gone.


Truth: Murasakibara is surprised that he thought of the girls being very cute, so cute that they attract more of his attention than his bag of chips. His older brother has always been saying that 'Cute is justice' in response to his life motto, followed by how he says knowingly only girls can be so cute that one's heart can't help but still then thump almost to the point of bursting. Now he understands where his brother is coming from.


That insensible childhood friend of her bestfriend who is always so brash and confident in every situation he faces has used his both hands to cover his face, shielding most of his expressions from her but the subtle trembles wracking his body isn't difficult to notice. Most of the time, the girls are embarrassed for him, now that the situation is reversed, she feels like the most shameless person on Earth!

There is this one unforgettable memory of said boy having felt her underdeveloped chest by accident during the closing of the Cultural Festival, and even then, Aomine didn't try to avoid meeting her eyes like he was doing now.


Truth: Aomine feels like a mess, he doesn't even know what he is feeling at the moment but he knows he can't keep his eyes on the brunette. Without realising it, his hands are already covering the majority of his face. His throat is burning, both his neck and face are hot, his heart is beating so hard against his ribcage almost as of he has just had a very intense basketball match even though clearly, he has not. Nothing comes to his mind when he tries to recall if he ever feels like this before.


A certain spectacled greenhead pretty much obsessed with the morning horoscope shows isn't that far off in comparison. That very same person who will freak out if he is without his lucky item for the day actually drops the strawberry-flavoured pocky he has just received, his left-hand twitching continuously and his entire face is flushed bright red. It's as if he is almost as embarrassed as the brunette or he is embarrassed for being acquainted to the two girls!

It's like that time when Midorima stares disbelievingly at her when he confirms the two girls were the one making scenes by the school gate in early morning! The pinkette ends up giving away her last stick of pocky to him to replace the one he dropped, she did it happily too, now that she has an even more precious pack of treats. That's probably why he is still talking to the both of them despite having head such a 'ridiculous' play.


Truth: Midorima the tsundere is in an intense conflict with himself as his emerald green eyes locked into the petite figure of the brunette, he denies he finds his fellow Student Council member so adorable his left-hand unconsciously reaches for her to feel her soft, fluffy, caramel-brown hair that both Aomine and Murasakibara are seemingly obsessed with and although he retracts his traitorous hand in time, his twitching hand betrays his intention. He doesn't even register the lost of his lucky item.


The oh-ever-so-capable redhead... he has that same exact smirk on his face whenever he derives entertainment in the expense of someone else—mostly hers—the tiny, almost imperceptible quirk of his lips and his ruby red eyes brightly lit with amusement completed with a beautifully arched eyebrow: the young man may have his features personally carved by the Heaven, but it appears so very vexing to the brunette.

And it is even much more so at the moment because she understands why Akashi is amused as she is just dying of embarrassment here and she can't fault him!


Truth: Akashi can't stop himself from being entranced if only for a brief second, his ruby red eyes losing its all-time clarity in that short time as his heart beats somewhat irregularly. It has never been like that before even as he teases the poor brunette almost mercilessly. Had the girl hold her gaze on him just three seconds longer, she would have noticed his ears are suspiciously red. Alas, she was just too embarrassed for more than a glance.


Even a certain ravenette Captain has to turn around so his back is facing the girls, his shoulders shaking as if he is trying hard to restrain himself from something and the back of his ears even turn into a very pretty red colour. The brunette is one-hundred percent sure that it is laughters he is keeping himself from. He must have been internally laughing to death! Can she say again how embarrassed she was, and still is?

If before, she avoids Nijimura because of that lemon water incident, this time, she may have just avoid him so he doesn't have to hold himself back from laughing every time he sees her.


Truth: Nijimura knows the second he feels fresh blood rushing up his nose, he has to turn around lest he offers a shameful sight of himself. He truly can't believe that his first time of having a nosebleed is not because he bumps his nose into a hard surface—he was quite the delinquent just a couple years ago—but because one girl looks so adorable his blood is heating up and making him uncomfortable just about everywhere! No way he's going to let her see this pitiful sight!


With everything done and gone, the young brunette finds herself earnestly wishing that she can erase that very memories from her brain if only to keep herself from flushing red every now and then at the reminder of what has happened. The group is currently seated comfortably, waiting for the airplane get its turn to take off. It's only when the plane starts moving that the girl is able to push those memories to the very back of her mind.

Like the giddy pinkette sitting next to her, this is the brunette's first flight. And while she can understand why, she is however, not as excited as the former. With the impressive invention of train, she doesn't feel like going on airplanes even when some of their fares are cheaper.

In Japan where one can go just about everywhere with ground transportation, the brunette is much more comfortable riding trains or catching buses where she can actually see the ground and still is linked to it no matter how indirectly it was, windows showing the view outside as well as feeling the jostle of the transport as it moves towards the destination.

It's not that she is against going on airplane, but it isn't her first choice of transport. And if the brunette is to be given another chance to change her choice, she would have chosen the shinkansen and paid for those extra differences in fares. At least then that situation in the airport wouldn't have happened.

When the airplane starts to move faster, the brunette realises that it is about to leave the ground and as it rises diagonally towards the sky, a hand firmly latched into her own: it is Momoi's, she has her eyes shut as her other hand clutches the hand rest in a dead-grip. The young girl is just about to soothe her friend's nerves when another hand strongly catches her left hand, surprising her.

Considering the direction, it can only be... the brunette slowly turns her head to the left, finding that the hand holding her own is much darker than hers which confirms whose it was: Aomine's.

The brunette can't help the sweatdrop at the pair of childhood friends, they are almost 'two peas in a pod' with how they reacted. The tanned male might not have appeared obvious in his apprehension, but her throbbing hand is begging otherwise. The cold sweats lining up on his forehead and the subtle twitches on his eyebrows are another evidences.

With neither of her hands free, the brunette is left with little options. In the end, she does nothing but allowing her friends to treat her hands as safety-nets. Fortunately, those dead-grips on her hands don't last very long. As soon as the airplane stabilises enough that it's approximately parallel to the ground, the two teens slowly softens their hold before finally letting go.

The pinkette offers her a grateful grin while the tanned teen acts like nothing has happened, so she responds accordingly: a smile to her bestfriend and nothing to her other friend. There's a thing called a 'man's pride' and that's probably what prevents her friend to say anything but she knows he is thankful and only time will tell if he will show his gratitude some other way.

After that little episode, the one-hour flight goes on smoothly.

Or at least the brunette had hope it would be.

As it is an early flight with approximately an hour duration towards the destination, many passengers have yet the time for breakfast. For this reason, the airline provides in-flight nourishment in the form of a satisfying, easy-to-consume meal, the menu for the day, to a certain someone's utter delight, is teriyaki burger.

Aomine looks like Christmas has come early for him, especially knowing that seconds are allowed. What he may not have understand though, is that it literally means second, not seconds after second. The airline staffs are very troubled but as the meal itself is still available as some passengers have refused their shares, they provide the seconds after second.

Next to the brunette, the childhood friend of the boy is somewhat resigned. She has expected this situation after hearing that breakfast would be the boy's favourite and knowing his monstrous appetite, seconds are not a possibility but a certainty. Although she is embarrassed for him, she is already used to it and her skin has thickened enough. Covering her ears with the in-flight earphones to listen to some music rather then the chomping noises of a certain boy, she is then settled.

Not the brunette though. It's already his third after second and his appetite doesn't show any signs of diminishing. Just as the boy was about to reach for the 'call' button, she pulls on his jacket's sleeve with hard enough force to stop his move. She may even have left a stretch mark on his jacket.

"What?" the tanned teen grumbles as he turns his head at her. He knows why she is doing this but he wants more even if the teriyaki burger they served isn't particularly delicious.

In any other day, the brunette might have stepped back when her friend grumbled at her but she knows that she has about fifty-percent chance in convincing him to stop, so she pushes onwards. "I know of a restaurant with the best teriyaki burger in Kyoto, Daiki-kun. I will take you there right after we landed. So... Can. You. Please. Stop. Eating...!"

Even when she said all that, the girl keeps her head lowered, not wanting to meet her friend's dissatisfied gaze for fear of backing out. It feels like she is waiting forever for his response. And when he finally did respond, it's only a single word.

"Really?"

The brunette feels the tone of his is not quite right and when she lifts up her head to catch his gaze, the first thing she sees is his huge, cheshire-grin. That wide, happy grin of his causes her brain to stop functioning for one full second, wondering why that grin is so off-putting. While the airline staffs are relieved for the lack of call for seconds, the young girl is dawned with the realisation that she has just signed her me-time to an outing with the rambunctious boy.

Yume may not have said it, but both of them are clear on the fact that they were most likely to part after arriving in Kyoto: him and the rest of the group towards their accomodation for the duration of the camp in Kyoto, and her to her grandparents' home. Despite the free-time given to the students for the first day on arrival, the brunette didn't state that she would be joining them and they didn't ask because they thought that she has plan with her grandparents.

Now though, she has clearly fallen into a trap she can't get out of. She has just traded an hour of peace for at least three hours of disturbance. The girl is also aware of the fact that if she denies her earlier, unconfirmed promise, the boy will immediately push that 'call' button for the fifth time today to get the airline staff coming with another seconds after second. But trading one hour for three is just unreasonable, so the brunette wants a refund on that deal!

She frowns and opens her mouth to word out her denial clearly, "N—"

"Mana-chin is taking Mine-chin on a tour around Kyoto? Show me around too. There are restaurants I want to go to, but I don't think I can find it by myself," the purplehead cuts in, his head popping out above the seat in front of the brunette.

With the purplehead's interruption, the brunette wasn't able to finish her refusal and his sudden appearance caused her to blank out for a while. Has he always been sitting there? she is in disbelief, she didn't notice his presence at all! It must be because she was too preoccupied with the scenes in the airport to notice he was sitting in front of her when they were boarding, then followed with her two friends' haywire nerves during take-off and finally the tanned teen's troubling appetite after!

"N—No," the girl bites out the word, how hard is it to get that she is saying 'No'?!

"I didn't sa—" only to be cut off again, this time by a different speaker.

"I happened to have some shops I wish to visit as well. Their locations are rather obscure, being built in old districts. A tour, is very much appreciated," the greenhead follows, his voice coming out from the seat in front of the pinkette.

Unlike Murasakibara, Midorima usually won't trouble someone even in his search for his future lucky items, but the shops he is intending to go to is indeed in hard-to-find places, most of them are located in districts ranging from five to ten decades. If one isn't a local, it's hard to find not only the location, but also the transportation to get there. And because this is Midorima, it is a matter of life and death as it concerns his lucky items which not only enhances his fortune but also preserves his life.

One after another, the boys are assuming the Kyoto-born girl is offering a tour around her hometown even when she clearly has not said anything about it.

This is all Daiki-kun's fault! How could he do this to me? I want my vacation time, my summer break! the girl levels a glare at the tanned male instead of responding to the greenhead's claim. He still has that stupid grin on his face and it irritates her so much just looking him so happy while she is in for a suffering.

Daiki-kun and Murasakibara-kun, even Midorima-kun! Sat-chan will definitely go as well... which is okay, but I want to be free at least for today! she pouts, so very unhappy that she may just explode. Then her mind finds something missing and her brain automatically takes a moment to pause, Wait a second...

If Murasakibara-kun is sitting in front of me and Midorima-kun is in front of Sat-chan, then the seat in front of Daiki-kun must be... the brunette quickly connects the dots and her face loses colour just as fast.

"What's this tour I'm hearing about?! I thought Yuu-chan is supposed to show me, and only me, around! When did this become a group tour?!" the pinkette catches on to the faint conversation going on with her earphones on, so she hurriedly takes them off with an indignant expression on her lovely face.

Yume also wants to know the answer to that question, although it rings true to the pinkette as well. As much as she has intended to ask her bestfriend to set aside some of her time so she can introduce her to her grandparents, she hasn't even brought up the subject yet, so where has this understanding of her, showing the longer-haired girl around Kyoto, becomes a thing?

But it will quickly become a thing... the brunette concludes with dread pushing down on her shoulders. Maybe she should have just accepted her impending doom, Because...

"I believe it is a good idea. Head Coach won't be arriving until tomorrow and we will be having free-time for the rest of today. Familiarising ourselves with the surroundings will do us good," the oh-so-magnificent redhead finally grants his words of wisdom, all the while sentencing the poor girl to her fate.

Her ever-so-right President hasn't even needed to show his face, all he has to do is say a few words and the not-existing tour comes to existence. What a God-like individual—the bane of her existence. Such incredulous influence—that prickling thorn in her life. Unbelievable tides-turningabilities—the hurricane to her journey.

Ridiculously-abled student—ever looming disaster over my hea— the young brunette is about to continue her inner lament when her limegreen eyes catches a hint of red between the two seats in front of her, the one between the purplehead and the... Heavens, I sincerely repent.

"Mana-chin? You are taking me to the restaurants, right?" the purplehead is ignorant to the girl's inner monologue, he is more concerned about getting to eat the food he has noted from browsing the net.

The pinkette is as stubborn, her peachpink eyes shooting daggers if not lasers—whichever is more effective—"Yuu-chan is showing me around and that's final! No boys allowed!"

The greenhead is also not about to give up, muttering under his breath, "The items those shops sold are very rare and this may be my only opportunity to get them..."

Even the bluehead who initiates this chaos is frowning, "Yume promised me first. She is taking me for teriyaki burgers."

Although the youngsters aren't talking very loudly, it's enough for the seats on their line and the one line in front and behind to get some clues to their conversations, and while most of them are their fellow Teikō students, there are other adult passengers as well, which means, it's only about time one of them alerts the Coach sitting further in front about the commotion they were making.

Fortunately or unfortunately for the brunette, before the matters can inflate to a much bigger proportion, a certain very-much-capable and pretty-much-inhuman redhead is there to calm the riot and the group of rambunctious students are inclined to listen to him.

"Enough," he says this with a tone of finality and authority, expecting full-obedience of the other party.

As all of these young students are working alongside the redhead with him being the one in the higher position—Vice Captain of Teikō's First-string Basketball Club and Student Council President of Teikō Junior High—they subconsciously backed off at the implied threat in his voice, quickly subduing whatever noises they were making or about to make.

Akashi is satisfied with the response, Finally, some peace and quiet. He sighs to himself, enjoying the brief tranquility before he returns to the point of argument, his ruby red eyes landing on the brunette who again, has her caramel-brown coloured fringes curtaining her eyes with her neck slightly down, a habit of hers whenever she is trying to hide herself from meeting anyone's gaze.

The brunette can try and hide all she wants, but he will eventually catch her anyway, so what's the use? It's not at all effective against him. He doesn't need to meet her gaze to get her to listen to him. Perhaps she should have tried covering up her ears instead.

"I am sure Manai-san is willing to show all of us around. The six of us doesn't make too big of a group for a tour. We can go to the restaurants Murasakibara and Aomine wants to go to for lunch and perhaps early dinner. Some of the shops Midorima wants to visit can be arranged on the way. We can also see several Kyoto's landmarks while we are at it. That should be enough for all of you, right?"

The group is silent as they processed what they just heard and it doesn't take long for them to form an appropriate response.

"Mm. Since Aka-chin says so~" the purplehead nods and lounges into his seat.

"It's sufficient," the greenhead adjusts his glasses, a sign of acceptance.

"...I guess it can't be helped. A date with Yuu-chan can wait for another day," the pinkette mumbles in dejection but is resigned to agree.

"It works for me," the bluehead shrugs, so long as he can get that teriyaki burgers he is promised while spending some more time with his friend, then that's good enough for him.

...Can I say no? the brunette contemplates not even a second before lifting her head ever-so-slowly. She doesn't quite know what she expects to see but meeting the ruby red eyes of the redhead is enough to vanquish her refusal.

Do I even have a choice? the girl almost wishes she can cry, maybe then this demonic presence in front of her will soften and let her go? Yeah, right. Who is she kidding?

"...A tour," the brunette begins in a voice nearly too low to hear, as if it drains her energy to turn up her volume, "...sounds nice."

Thus the poor brunette seals up her fate. The Demon King is satisfied. And his Evil Minions are put to rest.

Thirty-five more minutes to Kyoto.


So yeah, how is it?

Reviews are very much appreciated!

Next time, finally arriving in Kyoto! Is the trip going as planned? Will Yume actually have fun in a tour she is coerced to give?