Summary [chapter 14]: She was fooling everyone with that smile... Too bright, too fake. It was left unoticed by everyone else who just smiled back at her. However, that was the day where Shintaro understood that Masuko's deepest secrets lied in her eyes.
Following the canon chronology with some additions for the purpose of the story. Main pairing of the story: Midorima x OC.
Written in the third person. The words in italic are characters' thoughts and the words written like this are said in another language (French or English). No harem x OC.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my OCs
[SUMMER TRAINING CAMP ARC]
FRAGMENTS
~.~
Chapter 14: the window to the soul
How could Oha Asa have put Cancer first today?
His neck hurt, he had to go through another painfully loud breakfast with Takao and Kagami at the same table and he didn't get to talk with Masuko yet (greetings and basketball related talks did not count).
However, there was no time for distraction.
Focus.
At least it wasn't one of these days against Seirin. It would just be a plain (yet intensive) practice... or so he thought.
"We're leaving."
"Hai, Co–Uh? Coach, it's not even 11 A.M yet. We're supposed to eat in two hours."
"We're going to the beach. Take your bottle of water, you'll need it."
No.
"But isn't it where..."
NO.
"For the rest of the week, we'll join the second half of Seirin's morning training session."
If it was what Shintaro thought it would be, then he had mixed feelings about it.
For one thing, he would get to see what Seirin was even doing during morning training to be able to progress so quickly but on the other hand, it also meant seeing more Kagami and Kuroko.
But he had to admit (to himself, at least) that fresh hair was more than welcome after spending more than half of a day in the gymnasium for practice. And being part of a team of sweaty basketball players didn't helped.
The walk to the beach was lively– too lively compared to Shutoku's usual seriousness. He didn't say a word but listened closely.
"Man, I wonder what Seirin are up to," one of the members wondered out loud.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you know? It's their cute manager who asked Coach to bring us there."
'Cute'...
He was hearing that word too often associated with her.
"How do you know that?"
"I overheard them bye accident while they were playing chess one night."
That was where she was doing every night...
"I heard something about their morning training. Izuki-san said it was fun with one of his lame puns."
Only Takao and Masuko could laugh at Izuki-san's puns (and Takao was the worst, his loud and annoying laugh bringing attention to them every single time).
When they arrived, Shintaro thought about the few times where he went to the beach.
Generally, his family didn't go there during summer vacation. Only once, when he was eleven.
It had been great since they chose a day where the beach wouldn't be with too many people.
Ironically, he went to Hawaii with Teiko but they never really got the time to go to the beach and enjoy the sun. Teiko had prevented him from doing many things for the sake of victory, things that were considered as part of teenage years.
And he only realized it now that he had left middle school and that he had met them.
Kagami, Masuko, Takao...
He wondered if Kuroko and Kise felt the same.
"That was awesome Kagami, I'm surprised!"
"Your take-off got better, impressive."
"Oi, I surfed when I wasn't playin' basketball in L.A."
He was puzzled to find Masuko on Iron Heart's back, talking to a Kagami holding a surfboard.
"You three, end of break!"
"Hai hai, coach!"
Serin's coach voice was softer than usual. Still, he found her quite frightening... he still remembered her holding that knife with what looked like blood when they arrived.
Her explanation about it being ketchup didn't completely convinced him...
"Don't worry Riko-san, Taiga surprisingly remembers we still have to play on time."
"Hey, you do the same!"
"Lies. And I took a few pictures, I'll post one on the account."
"Not lies. And why are you postin' pictures of me? It's supposed to be 'bout you!"
"Lies. And it's about my day and everything around me and I got positive feedback."
"Haha, you two are always so fun," Iron Heart said, laughing.
'Annoying' would be the right word.
Everytime these two were arguing, they were in their own world, too focused on throwing witty (or stupid, in Kagami's case) remarks to each other to remember they weren't alone.
"I was just stating the truth, Teppei... I see Shutoku, Shutoku-san arrived. Hello everyone," she said, a smile on her face after taking off her sunglasses.
For someone who barely slept last night, she looked happy, which somehow irritated him since the pain on his neck was getting worse with practice and each shooting three pointers after the other.
"Yo!"
"Good morning Masuko-san!" Shutoku answered in unison with eager.
Shintaro greeted her with a slight nod, the pain on his neck coming back.
Shutoku was fond of her, probably because she was the reason why they hadn't already died of starvation and if Shintaro was honest with himself, he would say Masuko was more than a decent person.
Always polite and willing to help the others (though in return, she needed help with her injured leg). She wasn't talktive and yet always found the right words and conversation depending of the people in front of her.
Indeed, she was someone easy to get along with despite her lack of words during conversations (not that he was talkative neither).
Now that they standed closer, he could see Masuko's clothes were different than what she usually wore on afternoon training and much more... feminine.
Shintaro thought she never wore white clothes but apparently, it wasn't the case. Her white shorts matched the knee pad she did not have the rest of the day (it looked light compared to her knee brace) and her jacket had the same colors as the ones she wore on the pictures of the album.
It might even be the same jacket.
"I'm grateful Nasaaki-san let you be here, I hope it's not a bother to you."
Coach was in a better mood as well in Masuko's presence, Shintaro noted.
"Not at all, Miyuki!"
"I'm glad. The second part of our morning training is a bit... particular. The only rule we have is: no basketball."
What in the world...
Nobody said a word, waiting for her to continue.
A training camp for basketball team without basketball?
Nonsense.
"I know how nonsensical it sounds but take this as a warm up for afternoon and... if you think it's useless, please let me prove you how wrong your assumption is."
Shintaro was wondering how could someone who was carried on someone else's shoulders could look so ominous. Maybe it was the way she just said that.
"Oh no."
"Please, not this again."
"We're doomed..."
Around him, the other Shutoku members watched with confusion Seirin starting to whisper and beg the deity in a collective panic.
"Oi, what are you talking about, Seirin?"
"I only have one rule: only taking your teammates is forbidden, meaning Shutoku and Seirin won't be separated in two teams, that would be too easy."
Seirin continued to debate between, panicked.
"Let it be beach volley..."
"No, dodgeball!"
"Are you crazy? You're only saying that because you were on the same team."
"Why not foot–"
"Furi no!"
"Guys. Stop please. Taiga and I aren't that dangerous."
Did that mean...
"Masuko-chan, you might be able to only walk with one leg but you're still scary."
"Come on, let's play beach volley... The only thing is, one will be carrying the other on his shoulder."
"WHAT?"
Was she crazy? Maybe in water but on the sand...
"Seirin already did it, you can ask them."
They all nodded.
"That was fun!"
"I almost died but yeah!"
"I wish I was on Masuko-chan's team again," Furihata whined.
"You're always on her team, Furi."
"We're going to do it like last time: shirt vs shirtless team. Choose your partner first then we'll make the teams! A piece of advice for you: take someone you trust enough to play with and that carry you during the whole match or it would be hard to play. It doesn't have to be someone from your team. Personally, I choose Taiga!"
"Miyuki, you always end up making a tag team with him..."
"Teppei, I promise I'll play with you before the end of this training camp... And well, I know Taiga since half of my life so it helps to tag team."
"Isn't that cheating?"
She temporarily put her feet on the sand, before being carried by Kagami.
"Maybe but Coach and I both agreed it would be a bad idea to have myself clashing against Taiga... for now. I will play against him when my leg will be fully healed," she ended with a smirk.
Said best friend rolled his eyes but looked determined. "Tch."
"Have some patience Taiga, it won't be so long before you pitifully lose against me again."
He never thought he would associate Masuko with the word 'provocative' but it was the first word that came to his mind.
Shintaro still had no idea what the girl's potential was but she never failed to surprise him. He generally disliked surprises but he discovered after losing against Seirin that everything couldn't go as planned. Masuko became a national champion but got injured, the same could happen to any athlete, including him.
"If you're talking 'bout that day, video games don't count!" Kagami yelled in protest.
"Everything counts: sports, video games, school... Though school isn't even something where I can lose against you."
Seirin and Takao laughed as Kagami blushed. "Shut up!"
It was rare to see Masuko getting competitive but it was a relieve to see that, since he planned to get his revenge and beat Seirin.
"Shin-chan! You're gonna carry me on your shoulders, right?"
How obnoxious.
He sighed. Takao remained a better option than Iron Heart who intended to head towards him. Two players above 190 cm together would lead to a certain disaster for that exercice.
He had no other choice. "Just don't move everywhere stupidly."
Seirin and Shutoku were willing to work with each other without any resistance: it wasn't completely surprising since members of both teams were sometimes eating together unlike the first night but it was a game now.
"I'm not gonna pull my shirt back."
"Whatever."
Masuko's aura had something feral that reminded him Kagami's face before an exciting game. No, maybe more like Aomine when he used to play against Kise: Masuko's eyes were focused yet cool and he could see a hint of something else...
However, her face didn't betray her emotions. The apparent calmness was a 'mask' like Momoi would say. Unlike these two morons, she wasn't hot headed though her eyes partially betrayed her emotions.
The next thing she did was unzipping her jacket before throwing on her bag and...
She was wearing a swimsuit.
"Be prepared to lose. Please, don't underestimate me because I'm a girl..."
She was so focused she didn't notice she caused of the sudden silence.
"... Or do so, but know that you'll edn up bitterly regretting it."
Masuko had no idea wearing a swimsuit while playing volleyball with boys was no good. Most of that bunch of idiots would get distracted.
He personnally felt slightly uncomfortable though it was nothing compared to Momoi coming with a bikini during one of their traning camps... that day had been a disaster between Aomine's loud fury and Akashi's cold wrath towards anyone who would dare ogling her... bosom.
"Riko-san and Masaaki-san will choose the teams based on the duos formed. The winners will get to choose what to eat for dinner for the rest of the week."
Food, again.
He wasn't surprised to find himself (with Takao on his shoulders) on Masuko and Kagami's opposite team. It had to be on purpose.
It was a test or maybe...
"Before we play, could you let me take a picture of everyone? To keep a memory of it," she asked, with a gentle smile on her face.
And yet, there was something strange in her eyes, something abnormal when it was associated with that smile.
It was left unoticed by everyone else who just smiled back at her.
However, that was the day where Shintaro started to understand that Masuko's deepest secrets lied in her eyes.
"'Eyes are the window to the soul'... What does that shit even mean?" Aomine whined.
Truth to be told, Shintaro had no idea.
"It means what it means."
"That doesn't help."
Shintaro sighed. "I don't care, do your homework yourself for once, Aomine."
It was stupid how he only understood that sentence only two years later. Shintaro tended to get distracted by his memories from Teikou because of Masuko.
On that day during their second year, Akashi and he were helping (forcing) Aomine to do his homework in Momoi's absence... a rather difficult task, in Shintaro's opinion. Aomine didn't even know where was the school library until his third year. But they had no choice since he needed to pass that exam to be present at the upcoming tournament.
"Akashi, you know what that thing means, right?"
Akashi stopped writing and layed his eyes on that sentence. "This is the kind of sentence you can only understand after living it for yourself."
When he heard that, Shintaro's first thought was 'he's just saying that because he doesn't know but doesn't want to admit that'.
Now, he found it ironic.
He thought of Akashi's eyes, and how they changed after that one-on-one against Murasakibara.
'Eyes are the window to the soul'.
But then, if Akashi's eyes changed, did it mean the same applied to his soul?
Stupid.
Masuko was the one to believe in such things as 'soul', not him. Not Shintaro. He wasn't a fool.
Man proposed, God disposed, after all.
"24-10 for us. Match point."
How the fuck did it happen?
Kazunari was no volleyball player but as an atlhete, he could say Masuko-san was a monster in her own way.
She had an incredible technique and skills. She was good at serving and tossing, and could even make a fairly decent dump... and yet, she wasn't a volleyball genius or anything, right?!
At least, Kazunari thought so... But now, he wasn't so sure anymore. Her blocks was kinda weak compared to the rest of them (pretty normal since she lacked of physical strengh with her injury) but she commanded the game.
She controlled the pace and moved with ease on Kagami's shoulder, unlike the rest of them (Midorima made him fall at least thrice but Kazunari was absolutely convinced he did it once on purpose, that bastard).
How could Masuko-san be so strong? She didn't voice any vocal indication about her moves to Kagami and she didn't have his or Izuki-san's eyes (at least, that what he thought once again... He understood Midorima's frustration now, that girl was an enigma).
"... And it had to be Masuko-san serving," one of them groaned.
"You've got to be kidding me..."
"I'll stop her this time," he repeated.
Kazunari didn't really believe his own words after saying it for the 14th time of the game.
"I take that as a challenge, Takao-kun."
Yeah, that was totally a mistak. It was in these moments where Masuko-san gave him chills. She was so focused and confident that everyone else got wary (and Kazunari felt worse than the rest since he had seen her play football... except Kagami maybe, poor guy).
Masuko-san took a deep breath, a cold and calculating look on her face. She threw the ball in the air and Kazunari couldn't help admiring her technique.
Something's weird.
The ball was beautifully spinning and before he even knew it, she made an ace service, signing her team's victory.
"Crap!" he cursed.
"Where the hell did you learn to serve like that?"
"In Los Angeles. I truly mastered the technique this year since we had our bi-monthly joined training with another club from school," she explained.
"What was that Emilie?" Kagami asked, frowning.
Weird.
"Ah, I know. I was a little off on that one... I guess it didn't exactly take the trajectory that I've planned but we won! No need to scold me for that, Taiga."
So Kagami noticed it too, uh.
Her technique was great but that one had something off compared to usual... Maybe her shoulders hurt? Her moves partially lacked of her previous grace and had something stiff.
"Right..."
Funny how she was the head and he was the legs. Figuratively and literally.
Could he do that with Midorima?
'Course not.
They only knew each other for three months. Even with that, Kazunari knew it would have been more or less the same thing if she would have teamed up with Kiyoshi-san or anyone else (since she befriended with Shutoku).
There was no way he could do that with Midorima because the guy still distanced himself from him and the team sometimes.
Midorima wasn't the jerk Kazunari thought he was back in middle school but he was selfish and if Midorima was honest with himself, he knew that as well.
Kazunari wasn't blind: not only Midorima was very talented, but as annoying as he was, he was a hard-working person. And that was why he said to himself there might be hope...
As dumb as it was, Kazunari truly wanted to make perfect passes to him and have a reliable ace.
For the team.
And maybe for myself too.
Sure, Midorima was (too) serious but reliable wasn't a word that could be used there. He played too selfishly and he didn't look like he was having fun until that match again Seirin.
Kuroko's team. A young coach who could rival the best coaches of the country. A team with a player on par with the Generation of Miracles, Kagami. And a manager on par with the Generation of Miracle's former one, Masuko. Someone like Masuko, who trusted so much her teammates and befriended with them and talked everytime about teamwork was a current National Champion in football...
Just with that, Kazunari wondered 'what if'?
After he had left the club in middle school, Kazunari had been feeling kinda... emo and couldn't stop thinking about different 'what if' scenarios about the Generation of Miracles.
What if the Uncrowned Kings had gone to the same school? What if the Generation of Miracles had gone to the same highschool too? What if there was another basketball genius out there? What if they already tried and failed like every team they had crushed?
Now that he had really thought back about it since he had been really emo but these new what if...
What if Masuko-san and Kagami were the ones bascially every basketball team in middle school had hoped for?
What if someone can finally beat the Generation of Miracles?
That stupid 'what if' wasn't one anymore though since Kagami and Mausko-san did it with Seirin twice, with trust and teamwork.
Did Midorima even trust his teammates back in middle school?
"Alright! Go rest a little before eating."
Coach's voice cut his thought but he definitely saw Midorima's look on Masuko.
It was fucking hilarious to see Emilie with her mobile on Twitter: Taiga even made an account to follow Emilie's team and collect new pictures, stories and videos about Emilie (and Jean sometimes since he got embarrassing stories about him from Emilie, that traitor).
The problem was that she was now asking him to take a selfie with her.
"No."
"But–"
"It's still no."
There were at the beach like they were everyday before dinner and after he finished running, he helped her with her reeducation (at that point, the girl wasn't just determinated, she was being stubborn.)
"Come on Taiga, you know I hate taking selfies alone."
"You already took one this morning with Kiyoshi-senpai, then Izuki-senpai and you took a pic of me while I was surfing."
"Yes and I want to add one more to finish the day and people have been asking about you."
"What– what, me?"
She nodded. "They know a bit about you since we're best friends, they want to know more about you and basketball."
"Why?"
Why would Emilie's fans would be interested in him, weird.
"Because! Imagine: two best friends, both national champions from different sports and countries now reunited in the same team and country after years of seperation, that's kind of amazing."
Pretty amazing thing to picture in his head, yep. They would make that real with Seirin's help. The only thing was that her eyes... Her eyes betrayed her feelings.
Of course she thought about Tatsuya. She was stuck: no matter what happen, she would lose.
"Alright, just take this picture then ramble and post food pictures again."
"Ah, you're so cool!" she sincerely said with eargerness.
He blushed and slapped her head, looking back at the sea.
"Stop saying embarrassing things," he mumbled.
"J'aurais pas dû forcer sur mon épaule..."
Miyuki closed her eyes several seconds before deciding to tie her hair in a lazy bun, since it was the only hairstyle she couldn't mess up. Part of the tiredness went away but the soreness on her shoulder was a reminder of how efforts were more difficult when lacking of proper sleep.
She was also starting to try to walk normally on the sand with Taiga on her left and Teppei on her right in case she was about to fall, which happened more often that she would like to admit (which only made the soreness worse).
As she went to the corridor, she was surprised to see Midorima, eyes focused on her.
"Midorima."
"Masuko."
She sighed. "Let's talk, as I promised."
If anything, Midorima looked taken aback from her words.
"What's that look for?" Miyuki asked.
"You're unexpectedly straightforward," he replied back.
"I feel I've made you wait enough. Let's find a bench somewhere."
"Right."
She pondered. It was hot inside and there wasn't any bench that wasn't taken at this hour.
"Let's go outside."
He nodded silently while following her. Midorima might look like someone who didn't care but that wasn't true. He was caring; not in the conventional sense for sure, but he was in his very own way. Sometimes, he got for Kuroko or her lucky items and he always opened the door for her.
He even let me sleep on his shoulder last night.
"Trust. That's why I need to find my answer, so I could gain Shutoku's complete trust."
So he partly figured it out.
Midorima might be really smart yet oblivous sometimes. But if after this morning's demonstration he finally understood, it was a good start.
"You know, your teammates are also part of your answer. You might take time to find the answer, but I told you I believe you can do it."
"Always so allusive..."
She smirked. Funny how she got that same sentence four months ago.
"That's part of my charm."
She laughed at herself for answering with the same sentence before continuing, "Midorima, you need to believe more in yourself first."
Midorima was a prideful person. Always looking so confident but... All of this. The lucky items, the fate explanation...
She knew better.
"What?"
"Stop asking youself if you can find your answer. You can and you will. Snap it out, believe in people but most of all, believe in yourself!" Her voice was shaky but her eyes set on his remained strong.
She saw something in Midorima's eyes shattering before he averted his eyes from hers.
Did she do something wrong again? Was it because Japanese people avoided looking at the others right in their eyes?
But that was Midorima.
Could it be... Oh.
"Shit, I'm so sorry."
She came closer and gently cupped his face with her hands. Her eyes met his glassy eyes.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it this way, I should have been gentler. It was inconsiderate from me but please, try to trust yourself more," she insisted. "I truly believe that you are capable of trusting people, including yourself." It was getting harder to look at him in the eyes. They were too similar to hers a year ago... to his eyes a few months ago. "Last year, I started having... trust issues. I thought it was because I trusted too easily that everything happened but I was wrong."
Trusting her teammates was in no way a mistake and beginning to trust Seirin wasn't a mistake neither. It was a choice.
Her choice.
She wanted to say it outloud but she would start to get messy and emotional again.
"I'm not saying trusting someone won't lead you to hurting, because it could but... It's worth the risk. It's a gamble. And to be able to trust other people, you need to trust yourself more first and not just be confident about your capacities, it's so much more than that." She knew a sports genius when she saw one and they all had the tendency to do the same mistakes. "Unfortunately, I can't do anything about it except telling you I believe you can do. It might be nothing but it helped for me to see that someone believed in me..."
... Even when I didn't believe in myself, was the implied ending of her sentence.
For her, that someone had been both Taiga and Tatsuya.
Papa and Jean believed in her as well, but it was not the same.
Papa was her father, so he had been hesitant at the beginning about her continuating football in highschool, especially disguised as a boy. Jean trusted her when it came to football as her partner on the field and encouraged her but she couldn't compared him to to both Taiga and Tatsuya.
She hd known Tatsuya and Taiga for years, and she knew her devotion for them was mutual. So perhaps she could have a spark of devotion for Midorima; to help him overcome that first wall.
They weren't best friends and they only knew each other for a few months but she couldn't let someone down in that situation, especially if it was a friend.
She wasn't trying to fix him as if he was a broken thing. She had gotten enough of that herself and she had deeply hated it.
So what if she was broken? What if Midorima was as well?
Noémie didn't have that chance. None of them did: being together through last year's hardship hadn't been enough. And now that she had it, though the cost was high.
So if Emilie had had that chance, Midorima could have it as well.
She would never force him but she wanted to tell him it was a posibility.
"You... believe in me?"
Of all things, she didn't expect him to say that. She readied herself to receive anger or denial. That was what she felt after she realized something in her was broken but he just looked... vulnerable. And surprised.
Why is he surprised?
She realized she still had her hands on his face. Strangely enough, Midorima didn't say a word about that. She bit her lips, not sure of what she was doing. She slowly moved one of her hands and ran her fingertips over his hair.
She had always liked his hair. It was bright and smooth and she didn't realize she kept brushing his hair with her fingers for minutes until she noticed Midorima had stopped moving.
She coughed, slightly blushing. "I do. You always work so hard so I can't see why your efforts would be worthless."
His eyes went on the hand touching his hair with an unreadable expression on his face. Should she stop?
"... Just that?"
That reaction was even more confusing.
"Yes, what else?" she replied, not knowing what to say. She finally put down her hand.
Midorima smirked, looking more at ease. "That's the first time I hear you talk so much."
She gently tapped his cheek, flustered. "I might be good with words but it's futile to use them for something that isn't worth it."
Midorima slightly flinched after moving his neck. It might appear as nothing to someone else but she knew that too well.
"Your neck and your shoulders hurt."
He avoided her gaze.
A blurry memory from last night came back in her mind. Her eyes had been heavy and she had been as awake as a drunk person would be but she did remember putting her head on his shoulder after talking.
She looked down, ashamed. "It's because of me, isn't it? Ah, I end up screwing up a lot when it comes to you..."
"Don't say something so stupid."
"But it must have made it harder for you at pratice... I know! I can give you a massage."
He looked away, a scold on his face. "I don't need that."
Maybe he was still uncomfortable with physical contact.
That's stupid, you were touching his face and his hair and he still hasn't said a thing about it.
Still, his neck and shoulders hurting wasn't good for him so she decided to insist (since it was her fault once again).
"Please let me. I really feel guilty, your neck hurts because I slept on your shoulder and for talking too much."
He sighed and she knew she won that one.
"... Fine."
If it had been one of her teammates or Taiga, she would have asked to take off the shirt but that was probably too much (and maybe too weird for him). She began to massage his shoulders as she asked in a quiet voice "Hey, Midorima?"
"Um?"
"Did I thank you for taking care of me yesterday?"
His shoulders stiffened under her hands. "Don't tell me I said something weird to you. Or it it because I'm wearing my ring? I can take it off."
Midorima hissed while she applied pressure on his shoulder. He was still tense so it was not the second option.
"Do you... remember what you said? Last night."
Oh.
"... I do, at least most of it. I might have expressed my thoughts in... a negative way. I'm trying to stop it but it's hard sometimes. I couldn't save my friend but I'm trying my best now and she's doing that too. We started over."
"What do you mean, nanodayo?"
"She had to since most of her memories were gone. It took her a month to learn how to hold objects in her hands and pronounce words, two months to remember her family and... she still doesn't remember us, her friends and maybe she never will. It hurts me and it hurts the other but it's not her fault so we decided to befriend her again. She's a dear person to us."
The "we" was for Theo and her and maybe she could even add him now that he had changed school. She was still waiting for his reply but he was probably busy at the moment.
"I believe you can start over without pretending that your past doesn't exist, Midorima. Getting into a new team doesn't mean you have to forget about your old one."
"But–"
"You're rivals, not enemies. I know what I'm talking about."
She thought about Abdellah.
Abdellah and her had been foes before becoming rivals and then close friends. Same for Carter. It could have been the same with him if she hadn't decided to be so cowardly selfish.
"Midorima, you might deny it but Taiga and you are friends. Same for Tetsuya and Kise-kun although Kise-kun can quite..."
"A pain in the ass."
"Energic but you get my point. I'm your friend too and although I'm not a player, I'm still your rival as Seirin's manager."
He sighed again but she was sure she saw a ghost of a smile appearing.
"Shutoku will beat Seirin in the Winter Cup if not before."
Shutoku?
Miyuki kept her face still although the surprise was there.
Midorima said Shutoku as a team, not just him. He even included himself in the team.
"Is that a challenge?"
"Take it as you want. I was simply stating a fact, nanodayo."
"I have this feeling Seirin will make something great, something grandiose."
He snorted. "You are basing your judgement on having a 'feeling'?"
She laughed outloud that time, "I had the same feeling for my team and we didn't do so bad."
A/N: Oh my god, it took me so long to update! I had a crazy college year but now that it's summer vacation so more updates. This chapter is shorter than usual due to the fact that I wanted to focus on the Masuko/Midorima scene. I think that scene was important not only for their relationship but also for Midorima as a character. His character development is one of the best with Kise's to my mind and I wanted to make it slow and with details (since we have nothing between September and November). As for this relationship with Masuko, they're both comfortable around each other. The physical contact here (touching his cheeks and hair) is quite intimate and I left it ambiguous from both Midorima's and Masuko's on purpose. Midorima was indeed looking for comfort and Masuko is a touchy person but... Well, maybe there is something more developing. No, I didn't write Midorima blushing like crazy because it was not something romantic (not entierely at least) and I think Midorima is often written in the wrong way. He isn't the typical tsundere, he's blunt and his vocabulary is quite colorful (remember when the anime had to censor his vocabulary hahaha).
The summer training camp arc is ending at next chapter! I edited chapter 5 'croissants et chocolatines' and added scenes that can help you understand better Masuko and Himuro's relationship (we'll see him soon).
I would like to thank the people who has favorited or/and is following this story after I published the previous chapter : nueiii, Forbiddentofly, dbsk5sj13, ScythesAngel, PyroGrl94, chisato710.
Once again, thank you for the fav/following! Don't hesitate to post comments, I'll make sure to answer them on next chapter's A/N or on PM :)