A/N:
Hello!
I got the name 'Irosuzuka' from the Japanese word for 'color', 色 : 'iro' Apparently, the word 色 : 'iro' could be used in other words or phrases, which could not necessarily be related to 'color.'
Weeelll, that's all for my babbling.
Here's the second chapter. Enjoy~
The bell rang.
Classes for the first day of school were finally over. With this, Tsumiko quickly packed her stuff and went straight ahead to the gymnasium, not after bowing slightly to her seatmates, including Midorima and Akashi. Midorima pretended not to notice her and just packed his things. Akashi, on the other hand, offered the girl the same polite smile he gave her when their eyes first met.
The red-head already had an idea on why the girl was such in a hurry. He recalled that the head of the Irosuzuka group did mention how his children liked basketball. He had seen the older brother's fondness and skills himself. However, he had only heard about the sister's talent in strategy-making, so he was a bit curious on how she would perform on the women's basketball team.
That was when he realized that Teikou didn't have a women's basketball team. Pausing for a while, he shook his head, dismissing his own thoughts. He decided to just focus on packing his belongings because he needed to hurry to the gymnasium as well.
Tsumiko headed straight to the changing rooms to change into a shirt, shorts and rubber shoes, and to tie her hair up. No, she's not going to play basketball. To be honest, her skills are pretty average or worse. She could only perform the basics and she only knew the advanced stuff in theory and in video games.
So why the outfit?
Well, even if she's a temporary manager, she's also being trained to be a coach and part of the training requires her to test the training regimens she had prepared. With this, she needs to do some of the exercises too. That, and she also cares about dressing appropriately, which was one of the things she had learned from her mother.
As soon as she reached the courts, she saw the captain leading the members. Some new faces were also present at one corner.
"Irosuzuka" a man with glasses approached her.
"Yes, Coach Sanada?" Tsumiko turned to the older man, Sanada Naoto, one of the coaches of the club.
"It seems like a lot of those who signed-up haven't arrived yet. With that, let us first check on the students applying as the manager." Coach Sanada said, as he guided her to a corner where few students were gathered. No one looked familiar to her, but one person stood out.
It was that girl.
Coach Sanada introduced himself then he turned to Tsumiko, signaling her to also introduce herself.
"Hello. I am Irosuzuka Tsumiko, a first-year, and I am currently the manager of the first-string since the previous one had already graduated." She bowed then looked at the pink-haired girl and gave her a small smile. Although the pink-haired girl was shocked with the newfound information, she returned the smile.
"Irosuzuka, here, is just a temporary manager. She was already accepted to the team weeks prior today. That is because, the head coach had already seen her potential. She is also currently being trained to be a coach. Once she proves herself, she will be focused on being a coach. With that, we will be needing more managers for all the strings." Coach Sanada explained. "Well, go ahead and introduce yourselves"
The pink-haired girl's name was Momoi Satsuki and apparently, she was introduced to basketball by her childhood friend. She seemed to be knowledgeable about the sport and Coach Sanada noticed that too, because Momoi was one of those who were accepted as managers.
Afterwards, Nijimura went to their side and informed them that it seemed like there were already many applicants present, and that the try-outs could start. With this, the coach dismissed the managers, reminding them that tomorrow is the day they officially start.
Tsumiko was shocked.
She had already expected to see the childhood friend of Momoi, 'Dai-chan', among the large crowd of applicants, but she did not expect to see three more familiar faces. Now that she had thought about it, Akashi being there made sense, no – actually, after looking at the heights and built of both Midorima and the purple-haired boy, them being there also made sense.
The second-year captain noticed the white-haired girl beside him feeling tense so he put a hand on her shoulder, nudging her to introduce herself.
After introducing herself as their temporary manager and an aspiring coach, she looked at their reactions. Akashi didn't seem to be surprised, whereas Midorima was looking away and pushing his glasses up. 'Dai-chan' had a brief flash of recognition on his face, whereas, the purple boy didn't even change his disinterested expression.
When he heard her name, the tan boy remembered her, but he was also pumped-up enough to play basketball to even care.
The purple giant didn't care who the girl was in the first place.
The roll call started, and Tsumiko finally learned their names. The real name of 'Dai-chan' is Aomine Daiki. The purple giant is called Murasakibara Atsushi.
"Kuroko Tetsuya" the captain's voice echoed within the gymnasium.
No answer.
"Kuroko Tetsuya" he tried again, but still, there was no answer, so he crossed the name out. Some brat was probably pranking on them, or some brat probably chickened out.
The silver-haired girl watched Nijimura irritably cross the name out and she felt something wasn't right, but she dismissed it as her own nerves playing with her.
While everyone was getting ready for the try-outs, Tsumiko went to one side to observe. Suddenly, she felt a presence beside her, but oddly enough, there was no one there.
"Um, excuse me?"
Tsumiko turned to her right but again, no one was there. She probably heard wrong.
"Manager-san?"
Déjà vu.
"Irosuzuka-san?"
Tsumiko blinked twice towards her right side and that's when she saw the same teal eyes from the same teal-haired boy he bumped into this morning. Surprisingly enough, she was not surprised enough to jump away. Scratch that – she was too surprised to even dare move an inch.
'What is with this guy?' She thought, not really knowing what to say to the guy.
Seeing that the manager had already noticed him, the boy continued speaking.
"I'm Kuroko Tetsuya. It seemed like no one heard me respond when the captain called my name." he sighed. "So, I just want to ask if I can still participate in the try-outs?" he asked, staring straight at her dark eyes.
"Kuroko Tetsuya" Tsumiko repeated, finally recalling the name. She knew something wasn't right.
Looking at him apologetically, she said "I'm so sorry. I will inform the coach right away"
She jogged towards Coach Sanada and explained the situation. It took some time before Coach Sanada sensed Kuroko and allowed him to participate. It was also around this time that she noticed the head coach, Shirogane Kouzou, observing from the stands.
After the try-outs and the deliberation of the coaches, Coach Sanada announced who belonged to the first, second and third string, respectively. To everyone's surprise, four first-years were selected to be part of the first string.
Tsumiko was stunned for the nth time of that day because it just had to be those four – Akashi, Midorima, Aomine, and Murasakibara. It was as if fate was playing with her. Should she tune in to Oha-asa now?
Kuroko, on the other hand, was placed to the third string due to his weak presence. She actually felt bad for the guy.
A single clap echoed within the gymnasium and everyone turned their heads towards the source.
"Alright. Congratulations to everyone." Everyone stopped and looked at the head coach Shirogane, who watched them from the stands. "I would just like to make an announcement concerning our dear manager here", the older coach said as he gestured towards Tsumiko.
"Irosuzuka, as part of your training, I'm officially appointing you to be a coach of the third string. Of course, you will be guided, and I still expect that you will work as a manager for the first string. That's all." The people around her applauded and Tsumiko bowed at the sudden attention. She was pleased – really – but at the same time, she was feeling anxious. She was aware of the workload and she's not really sure if Coach Shirogane was being kind or evil right now.
Feeling someone's hand ruffling her hair, she raised her head, only to be met by the proud smile of the owner of the hand, who was no other than Nijimura.
She felt butterflies in her stomach.
It's probably the anxiety – yes, the anxiety.
Everyone was dismissed after the try-outs, except for Tsumiko, who found herself inside Coach Shirogane's office, as the head coach was explaining her training process.
"Irosuzuka, I want you to look after the third string for now. Once in every week, we will be assessing you through practice matches to decide if you are ready to handle the second-string members. Of course, this is also necessary to assess the players. Next, we will do the same when you reach the second-string, until you are qualified for the first-string." He paused for a while.
"I want you to focus more on your training as a coach. I know I said that I expect you to still work as one of the managers of the first string, but that is because I want you to be familiar with them, especially those four first-years. I believe that with your potential and dedication, you will work with the first-string soon" the head coach confidently said.
"Besides, I learned that you're classmates with two of the first-years, so I guess that's a great start." He finished with a genuine smile.
"Thank you, coach. I will do my best." Tsumiko bowed before leaving the office.
To say that she was tired was an understatement.
She didn't move as much as the guys who participated in the try-outs, but she was exhausted. This day was just too long for her.
It was just too long and tiring that she didn't even bother to feel giddy when she saw a certain raven-haired captain leaning on a wall outside the coach's office.
Nijimura sensed her exhaustion and simply walked beside her without saying a thing. He watched her read a message from her phone and type in a reply. Being the great senpai that he is, he firmly decided that his questions could be saved for another day.
"How was your first day as a middle schooler?"
Idiot.
He is such an idiot.
Well, he can't help it. This was the only time he can ask that question.
"I mean, outside basketball" he clarified, after receiving no response from the white-haired first-year.
"It was…colorful" she finally spoke.
Fuck.
He regretted asking that question. He should have just followed his own decision that questions could be saved later because this girl is currently not okay.
Great senpai, his ass.
A certain former senpai of his, namely Irosuzuka Yuuta, who could also be a bit of an asshole, would probably not be happy in knowing that his dear sister lost her insanity during her first day of middle school, and the trigger was a fucking question by the one and only idiot, Nijimuro Shuuzou.
When he didn't reply, she continued, while crinkling her brows very slightly, "This morning, after meeting you, I kind of had encounters with some people today and I even met some of them during the try-outs. Well, you could already guess that two of them were my classmates, Akashi-san and Midorima-san. The others were Aomine-san, Momoi-san, Murasakibara-san, and even Kuroko-san. It's just so strange." She ended with a light chuckle.
The black-haired second-year saw her more relaxed expression and was relieved that she was still thankfully sane, and that his stupid ass had just been spared.
"No shit, it is. Though, those kids somehow give me the creeps a little" He heard her giggle a bit at his remark, but seriously, how could those brats even immediately qualify in the first-string? Well, he was the same last year, but still, four first-years? He scowled at these thoughts.
"Oh by the way, Akashi-san is also the son of my dad's close friend. It's funny that we only met today. I mean, Yuuta-nii even played basketball with him one summer, few years ago." Tsumiko added. His eyebrows furrowed, and his scowl deepen at this information.
"Oh? He did?" He stopped himself from imagining a younger version of his former captain – that bastard – playing with a younger version of the Akashi kid. "Wait, he's in Kanagawa now, right?"
"Yup, in Kaijou High. He was allowed on staying inside the dorms, with the condition that he'll come home during the weekends from time to time. He's also being trained in the business field at the company's branch in Kanagawa. He still plays basketball, but he said that he doesn't plan to be the captain anymore due to the workload" she fully informed. It was a good thing that her brother seemed to have a natural talent in business. Also, since he enjoys it, he doesn't really have a problem on being the heir to the Irosuzuka group.
"The Kaijou team should rejoice for not having a captain like him" the Teikou basketball team captain scoffed.
"The Teikou team graves, then" the Teikou basketball team manager/coach-in-training dramatically sighed.
Before the raven-haired boy could even retaliate, the silver-haired girl ran towards a black car. He didn't even notice they were already outside the school gates.
Black and white locks fluttered along with the pink blossoms of spring, as the gentle breeze of April hummed a soft tune.
"Bye captain-san." she waved while smiling at him teasingly.
He simply scowled at her but nonetheless, he waved back.
After all, the cherry blossoms seemed to be falling extra prettily today.
Idiot.
A/N:
She now knows the others' names...except for blondie and ashy...hmm who could they be? (lol)
I don't want to make it easy for Tsumiko, so she needs to start from the bottom (sorry my dear ;A;) and yes, her brother is in Kaijou! and is Niji's former senpai/captain! .o.
What do you guys think about Tsumiko, so far? How about her moments with Niji? Please let me know~~
Thanks!
