Summary [chapter 18]: Miyuki held dearly the memories of these three years spent together in the same school. And then, she left to live in France and heard about the first time Taiga won against Tatsuya. She expected it, nevertheless, it remained bittersweet news. She noticed a few months later how the letters were becoming shorter and more vague, that both were mentioning less and less the other but she had been too overwhelmed by her own issues that she put a blind eye on it. She still regretted it. That was why she would not let the bridges between her two best friends burn.
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
[PRELUDE OF HALCYON DAYS ARC]
FRAGMENTS
~.~
Chapter 18: between two points
After insisting on the importance of healthy food and having had enough of Maji Burger for the week, Masuko-chan convinced all the first years of the team to try another restaurant for once.
They ate dinner together twice a month, just between first years, generally after a rough practice (... a really rough one, coach could be merciless).
Luckily, the restaurant Masuko-chan chose was almost empty; they took a table for six. Kouki sat in front of Masuko-chan, who chirped him ealier during practice that she had good news to share with everyone.
"Before we start to eat, I would like to make an announcement," Masuko-chan began, only to be interrupted by her best friend.
"If this is about the Library Committee, then only Kuroko and Furi care," Kagami grumbled, his eyes still on the set menu.
The guy was unbelivable... He was about to order food again despite not having started to eat what he already had in front of him yet.
"No, but I inform you that new members are always welcome," she answered.
Kouki exchanged an amused look with Kuroko. Masuko-chan kept trying to make Kagami a new member of the committee... unsuccessfully. None of them knew if she really was serious about it but nonetheless, it was entertaining.
"As I said before a certain someone decided to interrupt me," she started, her eyes set on Kagami in accusation, "I have an accouncement concerning my knee. Starting next week, I'll be allowed to walk without my crutches!"
"What? That's amazing!"
"Holy shit, Emilie!" Kagami dropped the menu to hug Masuko-chan.
Kouki was happy to hear Masuko-chan was finally making progress with her knee. She started to walk short distances without assistance during practice and changed her knee brace for a lighter one.
"Let's raise our glass to Miyuki-san." When looking closer, Kouki could notice that Kuroko's eyes were smiling despite the usual blank face. They raised their glasses of soda and clinked.
They ate peacefully their plates except for Kagami who was struggling with his chopsticks. It all started the morning when Kagami's tried (and failed) all his shots attempted with his left hand during warmup and continued even now with him trying (and failing) to grab a broccoli.
"Ah... Aaarh, shit!"
"What's he doing here?" Kawahara asked.
"He said he's practicing using his left hand," Kouki replied.
Masuko-chan snorted. "Amateur."
"Bastard! Are you saying that because you're a left-handed person?"
"A left-handed person is superior obviously but I can also use my right hand more than fine." She then proceeded to catch the broccoli in Kagami's plate with her own chopsticks in her right hand with ease and ate it.
"Damn you, Emilie! And since when you can do that?"
"Since last year of course. I learned how to use my right hand to make it more believable."
Kouki frowned. "Make what believable?"
"The fact that the football team's captain and I weren't the same person," she stated, before giving a high-five to Kagami.
They looked at Masuko-chan and Kagami, bewildered. They all knew about the way she won French nationals with her team but it still looked surreal every time she mentioned it as if it was nothing (which was rare to be fair).
Still, it was appalling to hear how Masuko-chan fooled everyone so easily into believing she was a guy while playing. She must be a very talented player, Kouki was almost jealous.
"By the way, what are you doing to do this weekend? It's out rare break after all!"
"Hmph... I usually just sleep in."
"Hah..." Typical Fukuda. Sleeping, eating and doing role playing games.
"Ah, I've got an idea." Kouki unfolded the small poster he found on his way to Seirin earlier the morning. "This! You guys want to join?"
"Street basketball competition... On our precious break from basketball training, we end up going back to the same game?!"
What the fuck, was that Kagami saying he did not want more basketball? Kagami? The guy breathed, ate and slept basketball and if it was not for Masuko-chan, he would probably do that all day.
"Where's that?"
"It takes 30 minutes by train, I think."
At least, Kawahara, Fukuda and Kuroko seemed to be interested.
"Is it too late to sign up now?"
"It says you can enroll on the same day. You two are regulars, but we do want to play in competitions sometimes!"
"That's a good idea, Furihata-kun. I want to watch how street basketball looks in Japan, it sounds fun!" Masuko said.
Kagami huffed, a smile on his face. "Okay, let's go!"
Masuko-chan raised her hand with hesitation. "May I invite Kise-kun? He won't play of course but it would be great for him to go out with friends."
Her request sobered them. She revealed Kise's foot injury before starting practice and asked them not to disclose the piece of information to anyone outside the team. They accepted immediately, understanding how important it was not only to Kise but to her... Especially after learning it wasn't the injury itself that might be an issue, but rather the fact that it was more serious than initially due to overworking. She had also hidden the information to Kagami before that; he took no offense and shrugged it off.
'Emilie is her own person, she's not bound to tell me everything' was what he said.
Kouki was envious. He couldn't deny he wanted a solid relationship like theirs... After ending dinner, they paid their own part and made an appointment at 10:20A.M to the train station.
"Good morning, Seirin!" Kise was there before anyone else, clad in expensive pants and a customised shirt. It was the first time he saw Kise not wearing his school uniform and his basketball kit, he really had the appearance of a model.
Honestly, he was scared of the Generation of Miracles. They were monsters on the court, not to mention they kind of were a bunch of assholes... or at least used to be. Kuroko wouldn't talk about himself and whatever happened in Teiko most of the time but everyone in Seirin knew that Kuroko rejected his former teammates' doctrine.
However, Kouki discovered during the training camp with Shutoku that Midorima was an okay guy (albeit kinda weird) and he knew that Kise had visited Masuko-chan a lot at the hospital... Maybe they had changed?! or maybe they had been assholes but not on purpose?
Kouki was curious but he was too shy to ask anything that had to do with that topic until that time before the training camp, where he had been worried about Kuroko and Kagami.
"Hi," he replied.
Only Kuroko, Kagami and Masuko-chan were missing now.
"Iron Heart?! What are you doing here?" Kise shouted, while dramatically pointing Kiyoshi-senpai with his finger.
'Iron Heart'?
"Kise! I'm here to play street basketball with everyone, of course" Kiyoshi-senpai patted Kise's shoulder energically, a big smile on his face.
"That's not the question!"
"I'm attending Seirin High!"
"Ah... That explains a lot."
Kouki knew there was something more to the story. They seemed to know about each other. It was hard not to know who Kise Ryouta the model and member of the Generation of Miracles was but how did Kise know who Kiyoshi-senpai was?
Maybe it was because of his permanant atitude and maybe it was because Kise was a very bubbly guy but there was no apparent tension between them.
"Good morning everyone!"
Masuko-chan had finally arrived with Kuroko and Kagami standing by her side, since they usually ate breakfast tother at Kagami's. She was wearing a cute white flounce top along with denim shorts reaching her knee. She had said during dinner that she would keep her new knee pad before switching to another one once she would be able to walk.
"Masukocchi!" Kise's attention went fully on Masuko-chan as he hugged her tightly.
"Hello, Kise-kun," she greeted him in a calm voice before kissing both cheeks and doing the same with everyone but Kuroko and Kagami.
"Why are you here?!"
Right, Kiyoshi-senpai being there was a last minute decision. He happily accepted to be their back-up; Kouki was grateful.
"Mhm? Why not?"
"I don't mean that... Sir. Where's Kawahara?"
"He's down with the flu."
Kagami sweatdropped. "Hah..."
"Just relax and enjoy!"
Kouki discovered during the small trip in the train that Kise had a friendly personality, despite the superficial smile plastered on his face sometimes. He dramatically cried fake tears after Masuko-chan told once more for the ones not present at last night's dinner (Kiyoshi-senpai and Kise) about her being to walk again but Kise looked genuinely happy for her. Masuko-chan chatted with Kouki about books they were reading before arriving at the place of the tournament after half an hour.
"This tournament's grander in scale than I thought!"
He looked around them. Kouki did not think the tournament would be so successful. They even met Seihou on their way. He suppressed a laugh when Seihou met Masuko-chan, who had an appointment at the hospital during that semi-final. They all sat on the grass to eat lunch together.
"What's Kise from Kaijo doing here with you? Is he going to play?"
"Hey, I know him, I played against him in middle school!" Kouki was amazed to discover that Tsugawa was even more noisy than Kagami, a feat hard to achieve.
Said 'Kise from Kaijo' looked around him, panicking before grumbling about 'that pain in the ass at that match'. No one knew what to say to avoid exposing Kise's injury.
"Uh, you see..."
"Kise-kun and I are going out together and he kindly accepted to come with me to watch Seirin play," Msuko-chan smoothly answered as she interwined her fingers with Kise's.
Kouki suppressed another laugh after Kagami almost choked on his food at Masuko-chan's words.
"Ah..."
Masuko-chan could be as sly as a fox sometimes.
If he hadn't known her, he would have believe she and Kise were an item. A deceit would not be accurate enough to describe that. Masuko-chan didn't even lie; she manipulated the truth. She worded an ambigious sentence and used 'going out together' while making close physical contact with Kise, a gesture she was used to do with Kagami for example. Seihou left five minutes after since they had a match about to start.
Kagami was talking to Masuko in fluent English about 'old days in the States' (the only words Kouki managed to understand). Both had been unconsciously fiddling wih the rings they had: while Kagami had it around his neck, Masuko-chan wore it on her finger.
She was still tightly holding Kise's hand. Kouki tilted his hair, and stared at Kise who appeared to be as confused as him. Was Masuko-chan nervous? About what?
"I think it's almost time. Stop eating already, Kagami! We need to go now!"
"Oh no, we're late!"
"That's because you went back for more food!" Miyuki scolded her best friend before kicking him lightly with one of her crutches. The team easily won the semi-final and Taiga decided it was the perfect moment to have a 'food break' again.
"I'm sure Seihou won!"
Miyuki only watched that team through videos but it was probably the case, they were strong.
"What's with that commotion?"
Everyone around was aghast. It was after seeing the gap in the score that they understood: 31 to 51. A baffling difference... How did that happen?
"What... Someone managed to defeat Seijou by a wide margin..."
Oh.
She felt it since she woke up. She couldn't shake the feeling something big was about to happen even if everything was going well: the tea she drank the morning was perfect, her knee felt better, the weather was nice... And yet.
Restlessness won over her.
She tried to brush it off and brushed it off as nostalgia of her years under Los Angeles' sun but it wasn't that. Not totally at least.
"... And why is he here?! Why... is he here..."
Her gut feelings didn't fool her. Something happened... Someone might be more correct.
The raven hair. The fringe covering the left eye. The ring around the chain. The Yosen bag.
"Himuro Tatsuya!"
One of her crutches fell on the concrete, the metallic sound ringing in her ears. She couldn't not even move to pick it up.
"Tatsun..."
He was back to Japan. And he was in front of them, in front of Taiga.
"Taiga...!? I never expected to find you here. What a surprise!"
Tatsuya still had the apparent cool and composed atitude. If anything, he got better at it.
"You don't look surprised at all. Keeping the usual poker face?"
He grew a few centimeters taller compared to last December. Somehow, he was even more handsome now.
"I'm not trying to hide my feelings. I'm just expressing them in my own way."
"You're back," she whispered.
He finally made an eye contact with her, the subtle smirk replaced by a genuine half-smile. Everything about Tatsuya was subtile, just like everything about Taiga was loud.
He moved towards her and picked up the crutch on the ground to place it back in her hand.
"I'm home," he whispered in her ear before kissing her left cheek.
She found herself smiling, despite the turbulent thoughts in her mind. She was delighted to see Tatsuya face to face, but it was a shock to her that the match she feared would happen today. It wasn't how she envisioned it.
"Is it Himuro? Kagami's and Miyuki's friend?" inquired Teppei.
"Ah. It's okay, just speak Japanese. I'm just used to speaking English at all times."
"Thank god, that helps!"
"I'm Miyuki best friend but I'm not really Taiga's friend. If you must define it... I'd say I'm his big brother."
"Yeah."
She was surprised Taiga revealed so much about the way they met and how Tatsuya and her teached her basketball.
'Keep a hot heart and a cool head', Tatsuya always said.
Tatsuya and she were different from Taiga, who always rely only in strengh no matter what they said. At least Taiga learnt the 'never give up' part from them...
Miyuki held dearly the memories of these three years spent together in the same school. And then, she left to live in France and heard about the first time Taiga won against Tatsuya. Just like Alex, she expected it at some point, nevertheless, it remained bittersweet news.
She noticed a few months later the letters were geting shorter and more vague, that both were mentioning less and less the other but she had been too overwhelmed by her own issues and decided to put a blind eye on it.
She still regretted it.
Taiga lost the sweet innocent smile on his face... Especially after losing that last match on purpose. She only learnt it from Tatsuya himself when they had their first quarrel in eleven years of friendship during last Christmas break.
"It's a shame we didn't compete there, but I've settled back here this year. I'm in a school named Yosen High now," he smoothly announced as if he didn't know she told Taiga about it.
A head-on with no real conversation wasn't what she had in mind for their reunion.
"I've always wondered when we'll face off again, and there's never a day too early. I think today's the best time... to fullfill our promise!" Tatsuya ended.
She noticed how Tetsuya observed Taiga's face twist in pain. Despite the rough appearance Taiga had, she knew that his heart was still to soft. Tetsuya knew it too.
While she had recovered from the shock and kept a blank face, Taiga didn't know how to hide his emotions. She had to make them talk before having a proper match but how?!
"Tatsuya!"
She widened her eyes.
Oh no.
"Yes?"
Taiga started to stutter. "I... Um, to me, you'll always be..."
Tetsuya made Nigou slap Taiga with his paw. She puffed an airy laugh, similar to a mix of nervousness and hilarity to her own ears.
"OUCH... NIGOU!"
"Kagami-kun, you do get annoying when you're indecisive!"
"Hah?!"
"I think I get what's between you two now. I hope you'll listen. No matter what you felt, it's wrong for a sports-man to lose on purpose!"
His words caused another stir in her heart, reminding her of unforgivable things from middle school she swore to atone... She burried these feelings once more deep in the darkness.
She could always deal with it later.
Tetsuya was right. But if she would had been in Taiga's place, she would had done the same, even if her head knew it was not the right thing. Tetsuya was too upright. And he did not have the whole picture.
Taiga and Tatsuya neither... It was time to tell them.
(It was even too late, her mind reasoned)
But how?
"But you know what's going to happen if I win!"
"You'll never call Himuro-san your 'big brother' again and besides, you think it's wrong to call that match the final one when the other party is not even fit. But this is a game both of you were supposed to love! No one can walk away satisfied when your archrival gave the game away on purpose! Besides... Even if he isn't your big brother anymore, you'll always be important to each other."
"... Well, maybe! The reason I like basketball is becaue I can compete with lots of strong opponents!"
She glanced upward. He did love basketball but she knew that in his heart, he wouldn't give up on Tatsuya. Not after what they had been through.
"Thanks, Kuroko. I've made up my mind now!" Taiga grasped the ring on his metallic keychain. "If we meet in the match, face me like how you'd face the strongest player, Tatsuya!"
Fool.
"You bet! I look forward to playing you today... but before that. Sorry, who are you?"
Who was Tatsuya talking about?!
Oh, right.
Tetsuya.
"I'm Kuroko Tetsuya. Nice to meet you."
"I see, you're the one with... You've found an interesting partner, Taiga!"
There was something wrong. She purposefully kept all aspect related to basketball vague in her letters. She had talked to him about Seirin, pretty face and Midorima but chiefly as her friends and only refered to their position, team and overall level when it came to the sport.
She furrowed her brows. "How do you know about Tetsuya's skill?"
"Another interesting guy on my team told me about him. If we have a chance, I'll introduce him, but that can wait!"
Of course. "Murasakibara Atsushi, isn't it?"
She had been so focused on Taiga that she forgot pretty face reported her the presence of another member of the Generation of Miracles in Yosen.
"Ever the spoiler, little bird."
She huffed. He was the one to talk.
"Did you get this information from Kise Ryouta-kun here?"
She nodded.
While her usual interactions with Taiga involved banter, her interactions with Tatsuya involved subtle mind games and charades. Perhaps 'mind games' wasn't the right way to call it but their exchanges always hid a second meaning left unsaid.
"Hello, Kise-kun. I hope you're taking care of our beloved Miyuki. Are you going to play the match?!"
"Um..."
She cut pretty face before he revealed anything about his injury. "He kindly accepted to keep me company while Seirin will play."
It wasn't a lie. She wanted pretty face to go out and not be alone.
Isolation only worsen the morale of an injured athlete and could slow down the recovery.
"Interesting."
Tatsuya repeatedly using the term 'interesting' only meant trouble.
Seirin members went to the tent to wear their team's practice shirt, leaving Ryouta alone with Masukocchi. He had to admit that Masukocchi's other best friend was that handsome. The photos didn't do justice to his beauty, really.
Now Ryouta understood why Masukocchi immune to his charm.
'I don't trust people with a pretty face' she told him two days ago on the balcony.
He glimpsed her blank expression. "Is Masukocchi okay?"
"As okay as I can be." She could see in the corner of her eyes that Ryouta was doing his best not to wince at the forced smile she had now plastered on her face. Her eyes were peering the sky as she dropped her forced smile, seeing how it did not work. "Say, Kise-kun... "
"Yes?"
"How is Murasakibara Atsushi-kun?"
"Eh?" Why the sudden question? Was it because he was Himuro-san's teammate?
"Murasakibaracchi is... tall, very tall."
"I didn't mean physically but I assume his position is center?"
"Yeah... Murasakibaracchi is very lazy but of all of the member of the Generation of Miracles, he's the one with the most natural talent."
Which, Ryouta added to himself, was unfair given how he hated basketball... Not that Ryouta really cared about 'fair' and 'unfair' until very recently.
In Teikou, there was no time to think about these frivolities. He supposed Midorimacchi said that he changed in a way (that guy wasn't wrong when he said that he went back to the one before the Nationals titles but Ryouta would like to think that he matured, even if it was just a little).
"I see." She wedged her crutches on one of the mettalic barriers around the court before her head on it.
"Have you noticed?" she whispered.
He cocked his head, puzzled. "Uhm?"
"Tatsuya. He's on par with you..."
'You' being the Generation of Miracles. And of course Ryouta knew, he had felt it. She knew the answer too.
"What's Himuro-san's position?"
He would bet on point guard or shooting guard.
"Shooting guard."
Knew it.
"Masuko-chan! Don't tease Kise too much!" shouted the guy with mousy hair.
Masukocchi was concealing a genuine smile now, her thumb up directed at that guy. Furihata Kouki, if he remembered correctly. He was discussing with Masukocchi on their way to the tournament about books and some new teacher coming.
He must know Masukocchi enough that it would be her teasing Ryouta and not the opposite.
The announcer finally started speaking.
"Finally, the match that will determine the champion of today's event! Both are high school teams! Which will turn out to be champion!? Assemble!"
"Taiga and him used to be on par in middle school but he's going to be crushed by Tatsuya as it it now."
He looked at the center of the court where Kagamicchi and Himuro-san were positioned. Yeah...
"Come! Both teams please get set... TIP OFF!"
Oh no.
Ryouta had been so engrossed by Masukocchi's mysterious other best friend that he didn't notice him... Murasakibaracchi, now standing there with now the ball in his hand. Was it him or did Murasakibaracchi look even taller than he was before they graduated?
How unfair.
"Well, shit... Looks like I was right."
Ryouta blinked... Did Masukocchi just swear in English? She rubbed her temples, a scowl on her face.
"Murasakibara-kun is... different from what I expected," she started to say after he patted Kurokocchi's head. He also had a bag a chips... At least, Murasakibaracchi did not really change in that aspect.
"He and Tatsuya seem to be friends... I knew Murasakibara-kun had to be around, there was no way Tatsuya would go alone in Tokyo, he easily gets lost."
'Friends.' Ryouta furrowed his brows. That alone was weird. And probably not true. The Generation of Miracles didn't do 'friends', especially Murasakibaracchi and Akashicchi.
"Say, pretty face..."
Ryouta was happy she was calling him 'pretty face' again, it meant she was fine.
"Yes?"
"Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Inter High happening until yesterday?"
"... You're right." It only meant one thing. "It means he didn't play."
"Why would he do that?"
He could only see one good reason...
"Akashicchi."
"Who?"
He didn't have time to answer. Their eyes went back on the referee who was shouting on Murasakibaracchi who was about to leave with Himuro-san before Kagamicchi stopped him.
"What an idiot, why does he always do this?" he could hear Masukocchi said as she facepalmed at the petty provocation.
"Always?"
"He made a... memorable first encounter with Midorima."
Now he was curious. "What did he do?"
"He wrote on Midorima's hand his name."
Ryouta put a hand in front of his mouth to avoid attracting attention. Meawhile, Murasakibaracchi somehow ended up playing a spare shirt of that other team.
"Tatsuya looks like a serious person but sometimes, he can be very sly to acheive his goals," she explained.
Just like you? Ryouta wanted to ask.
"Well, what do you think, pretty face?"
Shit, he said it outloud. He wouldn't have usually minded if it was something else but she was a friend and he really wanted to show her that her friendship mattered...
"Um..."
"Don't be so hesitant, I prefer when you're being honest with me," she encouraged him, a smirk on her face.
"Now that I know Masukocchi better, I think it's the case too-ssu."
"I would say you aren't wrong."
Before he could ask something else, the match finally started. Seirin had the ball and Iron Heart dunked under Murasakibaracchi's eyes. He didn't know what Iron Heart had said but it had been a long time since the last time he had seen Murasakibaracchi getting that angry (and scary).
"Murasakibaracchi is staying in defense while Himuro-san is doing the attack..."
He wasn't surprised, that was Murasakibaracchi's style... but it meant two things.
One: Himuro-san knew him enough to tell him to stay in defense, two: Himuro-san must be really confident in his skills to decide to deal with the other team by himself.
And three: the only person that Murasakibaracchi listened until now was Akashicchi. Until now.
Masukocchi made a grimace at the sight of the one on one between Kagamicchi and Himuro-san. Kagamicchi jumped too late and could not touch the ball that Himuro-san threw. Ryouta watched transfixed the smoothness of his shot.
Silence filled the court and the crowd around them. It was as if they had just watched a shot in slow-motion.
"The stunned silence says it all! This ultra beautiful shot motion!"
Masukocchi didn't look surprised. "He did get better, as expected... Oh no, that reckless idiot!"
He turned back his eyes on the court were Kagamicchi was running towards Murasakibaracchi. In that one-on-one, he knew there was no way Kagamicchi would win. Ryouta felt droplets of water on his face before a pouring rain wetted him.
"It's raining! Pause! This match will be stopped for a moment! Participants, please return to the stand!"
Ryouta heard Masukocchi breathing out before realizing that her top was semi-transparent transparent. He was not better himself. The designer top he was wearing was now clinging on his arms and torso.
"It's always the rain," she whispered to herself and Ryouta wondered the meaning of this. "The match will be cancelled anyway."
"You look... relieved?!"
"I am. I have something to tell him." Her eyes were still set where Kagamicchi, Himuro-san, Murasakibaracchi and Iron Heart were still standing. They were exchanging some words before all heading towards them.
"Oh? Kise-chin is here too, why?!"
"You only notice me now?!" he shouted.
It was a déjà vu of their second year in middle school where Murasakibaracchi didn't notice they were in the same class. He absolutely had to avoid telling Murasakibaracchi about his injury because he would end up telling that information to Akashicchi...
Although Ryouta was sure Akashicchi knew about how he sustained an injury about Aominecchi, there was no way he could know how bad it was and how he did that with overtraining.
"Kise-kun was kind enough to accept going out with us and keep me company while Seirin would play. I'm Masuko Miyuki, it's a pleasure to meet Tatsuya's new partner," she bowed, completely unbothered by the fact that it was still raining.
Murasakibaracchi's eyes widened slightly (but enough to be noticable to Ryouta) before slightly bowing back awkwardly. That was new.
"As I was saying to Taiga," Himuro-san interrupted them. "I finally got to see you both. I'll leave you a gift. It's a technique that not even Miyuki knows about."
A technique? Could it be that he had a special move?
"Defend if you can."
Wasn't that nothing more than a regular jump shot? Kagamicchi could...
Ryouta watched, enraptured, the ball easily passing through Kagamicchi's perfect block to end in the hoop of the basket... What was that?
"See you again. And our next encounter..."
"Wait, Tatsuya!" Strangely, there was a familiar tension and unspoken words between between them. However, Ryouta couldn't exactly pinpoint where he had already saw that. "How about you come to my apartment, it's been a while. Murasakibara-kun can come too."
Himuro-san had an unreadable look on his face before smiling. It was more of a half-smile but Ryouta could see how he and Masukocchi were similar. "Okay."
"I'll make dinner."
A/N: Here we go, Himuro and Murasakibara are finally here! The scenes of this chapter were a bit tricky to write but I wanted to show the tension and the contrast between Masuko's friendship with Kagami and her friendship with Himuro.
Weirdly enough, I already wrote part of Winter Cup arc but not what happens between September and November yet ? But I have ideas and I'll probably end up modifying what I had previously written. What I can tell you is that the next chapter is truly the start of Halcyon Days Arc.
I would like to thank the people who has favorited or/and is following this story after I published the previous chapter: meslens, Famories, Queen3mma
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 through PM :)