The preliminaries for the Nationals happened more quickly than the aspiring coach had expected. Fortunately, the Teikou basketball team was already considered qualified for the Nationals.
Aside from the basketball team, most of the Teikou clubs were also busy that week, so Tsumiko found herself eating alone at the rooftop.
It reminded her about the time she was with Kise. So far, she had only seen him mostly at the hallways, and they only briefly and – most of time – subtly greeted each other. They also very rarely texted each other. This made her wonder how his last photoshoot went. It happened this weekend and he had texted her about it beforehand. Unfortunately, she was busy with the preliminaries and she had to apologize and explain to him.
The rest of their text messages went like this,
"Ehhh?! You're a coach-in-training of the basketball team? That's cool Irosuzuka-san! Good luck, then! Be careful not to be crushed by the tall, tall, and tall basketball players~"
"I appreciate your concern."
"That's cold, Irosuzuka-san~ I'm just worried about my number one fan..."
"Have fun on your photoshoot, Kise-san."
"Thanks-ssu~ I'll let you know about the next one. Hmm or maybe not... Just kidding!"
As she scrolled through the messages on her phone, she had two realizations. First, the simple cellphone charm with one small pink popsicle – the prize she and Nijimura got from the winning popsicle stick – dangling on her phone, had indeed given her white phone some color and life. Her mom had noticed the charm just a few days after it was given to her, and flustered, she had to lie about where she had bought it – saying that it was from her shopping trip with Momoi and Aomine.
The other realization was that Kise could apparently be chatty and somehow, loud in his texts. In addition to that, he was also being both mean and kind to her – teasing her and yet, still keeping his promise of informing her about his photoshoot schedule.
Aside from the blonde boy, the basketball team – with such busy schedule – had also been noisy the past several days, so Tsumiko felt that being alone in this rooftop was a refreshing change of atmosphere – or so she thought.
Her hopes were immediately shattered when someone yawned and groaned somewhere above her.
She froze.
She could've just remained calm and un-bothered or she could've just escaped and flew back inside the building. Instead, being the genius that she was, she scooted herself closer to the wall – as if it would absorb her in time. She heard more shuffling noises until she heard feet landing on the ground, followed by dragging footsteps.
A bit offended that the wall rejected taking her, she prepared herself to turn and face the approaching person, but she was interrupted by a startled – with an extra little voice crack – scream, followed by a 'The fuck?!'
Recognizing the voice, she looked up at the person, "Haizaki-san!"
She dumbly stared at the boy, who still had his face frozen in a grimace. This went on for a few more seconds, until a stomach growling broke the growing silence.
Tsumiko bit back a teasing smile, as she saw the boy look away and glare at the same wall, that refused to hide her, and remarked, "I'm guessing you haven't eaten lunch yet."
"Shut up", the ash-haired boy then flatly said, "Just woke up", as he messed up his already messy hair.
"How long have you – ", realizing that lunch time just started, she accused him, "You skipped class, didn't you?"
"Halfway through a class", he corrected – stressing that there was a difference between skipping a class and half of a class – before giving her a pointed look, "It was boring. The hell do you care?"
Despite being taken aback by his question, she reminded herself to be professional and mature – as always, "As a coach-in-training, I believe it wouldn't be good if you, a member of the basketball team, get bad grades."
He sighed, "I just need to pass, don't I? As if skipping a class – fucking half of a class – would fuck up my grades. I'm pretty good y'know?", then scoffed, "What're you even doing here, eating alone, anyway?"
"W-well, my friends were busy with their club activities and I believe it's a good change of pace to eat here", she defensively stated.
Haizaki merely sneered at her, obviously not convinced. This caused her resolve of being mature to weaken, with a comeback forming inside of her head.
"Besides, you were also taking a nap here alone and now that I think about it, you must've been tired from the preliminaries. I believe we need to improve more on your endurance by increasing some of your drills", she declared, gaining confidence as she watched his face contort in mild terror.
"You little shit. I swear – ", he paused when a meatball was shoved in front of his face.
"That was a joke. Before improving your endurance, you guys still need to have some sort of recovery time, and part of it is eating properly. Here, have a meatball, Haizaki-san", she offered, with a satisfied smile on her face.
His brows knitted for a moment before he pushed past the meatball. He then placed his palm heavily on top of her head, "Nah. Eat and grow more, tiny-san~", giving her a smug grin, as he left the rooftop.
The first-string practice ended earlier, given that most of the first-string members were still exhausted from the preliminaries. It was only a brief and rare piece of rest because they still need to train for the Nationals – sort of like a glimpse of heaven before they all go back to hell. Sadly, for a certain coach-in-training, she couldn't bask in this rarity, as she was tasked by the head coach (by now, she was convinced that he was the devil wearing an angelic smile) to go visit the second-string and help Coach Matsuyuki, as part of her training.
When she got to the second-string gym, she was greeted by the members. The amount of playful 'Coach!' was really making her embarrassed. Someone even shamelessly shouted an 'I miss you', causing the others to snicker. She could only give them a weak glare as she chortled as well.
After practice, she chatted with the second-string members for a while. She did miss them as well, even if she only got to be with them for a short time. Among them, she was closer to one particular member, Kogure, since he was the only first-year among those who were with her back in the third-string. He also happened to be Mizuki's friend and Haizaki's classmate at Class 1-D.
"By the way, Kogure-san, I heard from Coach Matsuyuki that you've been improving rapidly. He even said that if you kept going at this pace you could be one of the second-string starters and might actually qualify for the first string by next year."
"Eh? He really is embarrassing me. But I guess, it's also thanks to you, coach", he said with a wink.
She could only sigh at him, before she curiously gazed at him, "How's Haizaki in class by the way?"
"Haizaki? Hmm, I haven't really talked to him much, so I don't know. He doesn't really look friendly but he's quite popular with girls." He paused for a while, before remembering something, "Oh! He got in a little trouble earlier since he skipped class and – "
"Half a class."
Both of their eyebrows raised at her interruption, and before he could even continue, she clarified, "T-that's what he said. I saw him...earlier."
Kogure slowly nodded – prompting her to further explain, "I'm just worried since the Nationals is near. Please don't get any other strange ideas, especially since there's a big chance that you'll relay this to Mizuki-chan."
At the mention of their mutual and information-loving friend, Kogure understood what she meant and grinned, "Okay, don't worry, Irosuzuka."
On her way to the school gates, she saw the back of a familiar teal-haired boy standing near the gates. She was about to call out to him when an idea struck in her mind. She hurried towards the boy with quiet steps. Thankfully, the boy seemed to be engrossed into something, as he didn't even move a bit. She was now tiptoeing towards him and when she was inches behind him, she moved a little to his side and semi-yelled a "Kuroko-san!"
This caused the boy to slightly flinch and back away a little. He immediately recovered and flatly said an "Irosuzuka-san", with his usual poker-face.
His reaction wasn't much but it was enough for her to giggle lightly, "So you could also be surprised, Kuroko-san."
"That wasn't very nice, Irosuzuka-san."
"I apologize, I just wanted to try it out."
She then noticed that Kuroko was clutching his phone, "You just seemed to be absorbed at something."
Placing his phone inside his pocket, he replied, "I was just reading a message from a childhood friend. He's now in a different junior high."
He then started to walk and asked her, "Are you heading home now too?"
Tsumiko nodded and started to walk as well, "I get why you're so focused. I also have a close friend back in elementary, but she's now in London."
Thinking about it, the last time she had talked to her friend, Igarashi Sena, was back in spring, when she was still in the third-string. She made a mental note to try and call her soon.
The boy's soft voice broke her thoughts, "I see. That friend of mine was the one who taught me the basics of basketball."
She noticed the small smile adorning the boy's face, as he probably reminisced about his friend, "Wow, you must be really close, and I'm guessing he's also in his school's basketball team? By the way, how's the training going?"
Kuroko paled at her last question, startling her, "Sorry, you don't have to – "
He cut her off, "No, it's just that – ", he sighed, "I don't know if I'm getting better or worse."
Not wanting to leave an awkward silence, she immediately asked, "Is this about your shooting?"
"Yes, I still can't make a proper basket."
Thinking that she might've made things gloomier, she further inquired, with a little more positivity, "How about your passes? I think you're better at passing."
She sensed that he brightened up a little as he answered, "Coach Matsuoka did say that I was decent at passing." However, baby blue eyes were still set at the road ahead of them.
Still trying to cheer him up, she continued, "Oh, how about the exercises I've told you to do before, are you still doing them?"
This sparked something within the boy as he finally met her gaze, "Ah, that's right, I do. I think it helped a lot in my endurance. I rarely vomit anymore."
She cheered at him, "That's good to hear! See, you're improving, Kuroko-san."
Her smile, however, faltered, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help you as much as before, but you can always approach me if you need something."
"I appreciate it, Irosuzuka-san, but you don't have to worry about me. You must focus on your own training and on the Nationals more."
Feeling a bit relieved at his words, she nodded, "We also have to worry about the final exams."
"Ah, yes. That reminds me, I'm currently reading a novel right now, you might want to read it too, Irosuzuka-san, or I can also lend you the novel I was reading last time", he said in full nonchalance.
'He's not that upset anymore' , Tsumiko thought, before playing along, "Tell me about them some other time, Kuroko-san. I'll be heading this way. Bye!"
"I shall. See you at school, Irosuzuka-san", he said as he moved towards the opposite direction.
"I can't believe it's already the first week of July. I'm so excited for the summer break, but there's still the final exams to think about", Mizuki said as she packed her finished bento.
Thankfully, Kogure seemed to not tell Mizuki about last time, since she hadn't been bombarded with questions about Haizaki being the person she liked. She couldn't let Mizuki and Chitose have wrong assumptions, especially when she still hasn't found the right moment to tell them about her crush on Nijimura.
Tsumiko dismissed her thoughts, "Yeah, but I don't think I'll be relaxed this summer break because of the Nationals and the training camp."
"Aww, I feel so sorry for you, Irosuzuka-chan. But you can do it!"
Taking a paper bag her ballerina mom had handed her this morning, she excused herself, "Thanks! I'll bring the tutu Chitose-chan borrowed for to the drama club now."
"Want me to go with you?", the dark-haired girl asked.
"No, I'll be fine."
Oh, how she wished to take back what she had said.
The drama club was initially only using the mini theater as their headquarters, but less than a month ago, the school granted the drama club with an extra room. It was a room that's mostly used for storage and for some club meetings. The main problem was, she had never been to the drama club room before, and now she stood in between two rooms that looked similar and didn't have proper signages.
The doors of both rooms were similar in that they're not fully decorated, unlike the other club room doors. She couldn't figure out the meaning of the very little amount of decorations placed in each of the two doors, so she hypothesized that the door with the lesser decorations would be that of the drama club since it was a new room for them. She tested her hypothesis and luck, and opened the door with lesser decorations.
"Excuse me, I –"
She blinked.
He blinked.
"Hello, Irosuzuka."
His calm voice echoed inside the empty room, leading the girl to realize her mistake.
"Akashi-san, I'm sorry. I was just going to hand something to the drama club and I believe that I got the room wrong?"
"I see. This is the shogi club room. The drama club room is the one next to this room."
"Thank you so much. I'll be going now."
She then closed the less decorated door. Afterwards, she rushed towards the next door, feeling awkward and relieved at the same time. It was somehow better that Akashi was the one inside that room, instead of someone she didn't know.
After dropping by the tutu at the new drama club, her curiosity got the best of her and she decided to peek inside the shogi club room once more.
From the corner of his eyes, he saw how the visitor was literally peeking from the slightly opened door. The boy inside the room gave out a light chuckle, "Why won't you come inside, Irosuzuka?"
Embarrassed at being caught, she then fully opened the door and stepped inside "Please excuse me, then."
"Now that you're here, will you join me?"
"Eh?"
Looking at the board, she realized that Akashi was actually playing by himself, but based from what she was informed of, shogi was a two-player game.
Seeing her confused expression, he already knew what was on her mind. He decided to not comment about it and instead, he said, "I apologize for assuming. Do you know how to play?"
Her gaze flickered towards him for a moment before it went back to the board, "Yes, I learned from my grandfather. However, I guess, I'm not really good at it, so I might just spoil your fun if I play with you."
"Is that so? That's unexpected, coming from a strategist like you", he remarked, as he amusedly watched her take the seat across him, despite her previous statement.
She tucked some stray strands of hair behind her ear and sheepishly said, "Well, I always thought that I'm better with...moving or living things?", finally landing her eyes on him.
That comment earned her another chuckle from the red-haired boy. She then helped him arrange the board.
Tsumiko felt that their game was a little longer than expected – given that she had already anticipated to lose as soon as she had made her first move.
"Ote", Akashi's cool voice rang inside the room.
"You're really good at this, Akashi-san! Or maybe, it's just because I'm not good at it? Or both?"
"Now, what am I supposed to say to that?"
It was a rhetorical question, and yet she chose to answer, "What you honestly think."
"Well then, honestly, it was a match I enjoyed", he politely and genuinely stated.
"It's a pleasure, then. If you ever want to be challenged by getting caught off guard with my very novice shogi skills, just let me know, especially if you want to take a break in playing with your fellow shogi club members"
He humored her, "That is a tempting offer. However, I'm not part of the shogi club."
Her eyes widened, "Huh, why not? I doubt it's because you didn't pass their standards."
"I took down their offer, since I decided to focus on the basketball club."
Tsumiko restrained herself from gaping at him, "Wow. See, you even got offered to join. I'm surprised they let you use this room."
"They were generous enough to accept my request", he casually said, as if it was just a usual occurrence.
"From someone who took down their offer? Would you also be generous enough to share exactly how you requested them?"
Being slightly entertained by the silver-haired girl's reactions, he explained, maintaining his relaxed tone, "I simply played with all of the members and won all the matches. Afterwards, they asked me to join, but I respectfully refused. Subsequently, I asked them if I could play in this room whenever it's free. They agreed, even kindly saying that I'm open to join them anytime, and sharing the fact that no one really uses this room much during lunch time."
She shook her head at his story, "I'm not really surprised anymore, Akashi-san."
Her dark eyes then looked directly at his red eyes, as a matter fleeted through her mind, "Wait, so does this mean that you've been playing here alone during lunch time?"
At the question, he blinked once before responding, "Most of the time, yes."
He knew where this was going. She was surely going to feel bad for him or she was surely going to ask him why he was alone. Just like when they were playing shogi, he knew what her next moves were going to be.
"Akashi-san, you don't happen to skip lunch, do you?"
Ah, how could he miss that move?
Of course, the girl wasn't used to playing shogi. There were some moves that he didn't anticipate – simply because, she got the moves wrong. He had gladly taught her and had even guided her.
But this – he didn't bother correcting this move because it wasn't necessarily wrong, in the first place. However, it was something foreign to him. He didn't find it particularly unpleasant, though. These kinds of encounters were all part of the learning process in life, after all.
Even when the gears in his mind were running, he kept his collected demeanor and answered, "Of course, not."
He watched as her features soften, "That's good to hear. You must not forget to eat proper meals, especially since training could get really intense."
Ah, all part of the learning process, indeed.
With an amused tone, he spoke, "I know that very well, coach", indirectly referring to all the drills they were currently doing, courtesy of their coaches and their coach-in-training.
To his entertainment, the girl in front of him caught on what he was implying, and matched his tone as she said, "As expected from the vice-captain."
Midorima was looking at the time on the pink alarm clock on his desk, his lucky item of the day. It was fifteen minutes before lunch time ends, and yet, his white-haired desk neighbor was still not present, along with his red-haired teammate. It wasn't like he was feeling bored and a little left out and wanted to talk to someone in the very noisy classroom, he simply wanted to ask any of them about a word he missed in his notes. That missing word was very crucial, of course.
To say that he was relieved to see the two enter the classroom at the same time was ridiculous because he wasn't, obviously. However, to say that he was surprised to see the two enter the classroom at the same time while happily chatting was something he, himself, couldn't even deny. He eyed them suspiciously as they approached their seats. The girl noticed him first and gave him her usual courteous smile before taking her seat. Akashi did the same, except that he seated in a way he could turn towards Tsumiko, to listen to her.
'Why were they together? Could it be because of club duties?' , he inwardly wondered. He now contemplated on interrupting the two since they seem to be lost in their own bubble.
'This is ridiculous', he thought.
It wasn't like he cared enough to be curious.
"Where were you two? You were almost late, not that I care, but I don't want to be the one to explain to the teacher if both of you weren't here on time."
Okay, he was curious, alright.
Silver head turned towards him, as she replied, "Ah, sorry, Midorima-san. Akashi-san and I were just playing shogi in the shogi club room."
The boy in glasses quirked his eyebrows, "Shogi? You're shogi club members?"
"No, we're not", Tsumiko responded before explaining the situation.
Afterwards, he nodded, "I see", while trying to conceal his amazement on Akashi's apparently impressive skills.
"Midorima, do you play shogi too?", Akashi questioned.
"I do know how."
With this information, the girl expressed her thoughts, "I'm guessing you might be good at it too, right? Or maybe, at least better than me."
He wasn't prepared for that assumption, "The people I had played with did tell me that I'm..good."
"Great!", the girl beamed at him, "You might probably be a better opponent to Akashi-san than me."
"Irosuzuka, you're not that bad", again, the red-head stated politely.
She turned towards the boy seated in front of her, "But still, I guess he might give you more of a challenge."
He gave her a knowing look, "I might say, yours is a different type of challenge."
Agreeing with him, a playful smile formed on her lips, "I might say, I'm honored."
Akashi then faced the other boy, "Anyway, I'm open to play with anyone, so why don't we play some time, Midorima?"
The green-haired boy pushed up his glasses, "If you insist."
The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break, with the very important word, that Midorima had missed, already forgotten. It wasn't really that important, after all.
Midorima then found himself eyeing the pink alarm clock – not really to look at the time, but to look at the color, reminding him of the two people he just had talked to some moments ago. No one should know, but he was actually glad.
It was July, and it was already the Cancer season. Oha-asa has never really failed him.
A/N:
Hi!
I made some slight changes with the chapter titles. This is because I finally decided to divide this story into three parts, based on the three-stem system or elements of Ikebana or Kadō (華道 , 'way of flowers'): shin, soe, hikae. I had explained this back in chapter 4, but I'll put it here and in the prologue anyway :)
Part 1: shin (真 , 'heaven') - the longest stem
Part 2: soe (副 , 'man') - the middle-length stem
Part 3: hikae (控 , 'earth') - the shortest stem
Again, thanks to the faves and follows! I also hope that Haizaki wasn't OOC ;A; but for now, he's just a softer Haizaki? (lol) Also, since it's already July and Cancer season in this story, do you guys have any idea about what's gonna happen in the next chapter? ;)
