A/N:

Hey ya'll! How are you? A lot of stuff is happening this 2020 and it's only January omg :( Anyway, hope you're all doing fine and thank you for all the faves and follows!

To AliceRuiLin, yay your wish has been granted (lol) :) if you still haven't read the third chapter of Confetti, go ahead and check it out~

This chapter took me so long to finish because there are developments going on ;) and I would gladly hear out (technically, 'read' lol) your thoughts on this chapter :)


When autumn begins, one already anticipates the conversion of the green leaves of plants to spectacular shades of red, orange, yellow and brown. There are, however, bright blooms of a plant that come even before tress turn colors. These yellow-orange flowers are small and often overshadowed by the great autumn foliage. Small as they are, though, they emit a fragrance that is strong and sweet, something not easy to miss and usually denotes the start of fall in Japan.

Osmanthus is what the plant's called.


"Kuroko Tetsuya."

It took a few moments for Tsumiko to recover, followed by her informing Akashi that Kuroko was the same person she told him about during the camp. It took an additional number of minutes for her to process the vice-captain's explanation of Kuroko's qualification as the sixth man.

Her mind was now jumbled. Aside from her duties as a student and a coach, she has also been preparing for the Ikebana she was going to perform this Saturday at the birthday party of Kobayashi Corporation's Chairman. Besides, she still need to place the shogi piece – she's been holding for some time now – in the best position her current state of mind could come up with.

"Akashi-san, I'm not sure how to put this, but don't you think it's a little rude to use Kuroko-san's lack of presence?"

"I don't see anything wrong with it, Irosuzuka."

Sensing innocence in his tone, she tried to spell out her point more, "But using someone's um, weakness...isn't it slapping his weakness to his face?"

He briefly glanced at her from the shogi board, "That's not my intention. On the contrary, I'm helping him. Moreover, the fact that you think of it as his weakness is actually a fault in your part", before capturing the piece she just placed, with his knight.

"Pardon?"

"I apologize if that came out a bit strong. Let me re-phrase. Your line of thinking is understandable, because it is true that, at first glance, his lack of presence is his weakness. However, this weakness, when handled properly, has a lot of potential to be an asset."

"Asset?"

"The lack of enough sunlight during the colder seasons, such as fall, affects many deciduous plants, in a way that their leaves adapt. Because of the variety of pigments present in leaves, the typical green color of leaves transform into red, orange, yellow and such. Humans perceive these colors as beautiful, making the autumn season marketable to tourists, and therefore, profitable for businesses and for a state's economy."

Still deciding on her next move, she was so glad he had paused, because she couldn't really digest his mini-lecture about leaves and colors. He was most likely aware of this, so he gave her a chance to make her move (oh no, she probably looked like a fool right now), and when she did, he resumed.

"The point is, as a coach, you should know how to look into the positive side of things, Irosuzuka. In fact, I am certain that you've been already doing something similar."

"What do you mean?"

She knew she was asking too many questions right now. Actually, this was probably the reason why her shogi opponent didn't do anything yet, even if it was already his turn. Instead, he focused her gaze on her.

"The training regimens you formulate for us first-years are made to improve our skills, right?"

"Of course."

"And these training regimens are based on what you believe to be our strengths and weaknesses. Although you do design exercises that work on our weaknesses, you still largely focus on strengthening our strengths even more, am I not correct?"

"You're right", the young coach replied, while recalling what she had learned from the senior coaches and from the past games, "I do put much importance in enhancing your strengths because I believe that your strengths will soon surpass any of your weaknesses."

"Well then, we ultimately have the same goal. The only difference is that instead of capitalizing on what you could instantly recognize as strengths, I'm only capitalizing on what you consider as his weakness to transform this weakness into his strength or asset. His own weakness will surpass itself and soon turn into his greatest strength."

She wasn't sure if it was because of her being stunned by his words, but her own eyes caught a strange glint in his eyes. It's almost as if she had seen the colors of autumn in his eyes.

But as fast as it appeared, it disappeared, when he gave her a concerned expression, as he gently spoke her name, "Irosuzuka, I suggest you consider my way of thinking as an additional method or option, while you create training menus and devise strategies. Using our weaknesses is not necessarily being 'rude', as you say, especially if this will benefit us and the team in the long-run. You need to be a little tougher, now that you're a coach. Also..."

Despite hearing the door open, she followed his fingers that maneuvered the shogi board, "Ote."

A voice significantly lower than Akashi's (and definitely not common for middle-schooler), was soon heard, "I just went to the restroom, and you already lost?", followed by a pink Hello Kitty fan being directed to her face, "What a shame, Pisces is even ranked higher than Sagittarius today."


"Osmanthus or tea olive is known to be a symbol of nobility...", Tsumiko repeated the script she had memorized once again. Her grandmother, who was still in Kyoto and unable to attend the party, had advised her to use these flowers and had assisted her in creating the script for her Ikebana performance.

Dressed in a light blue kimono with a faded pink obi, she fumbled with her brown obijime, while she waited at the wings of the small stage for the master of ceremonies to introduce her. Among the bunch of kids to perform, she was the first. When she learned about this earlier from the organizer, her brain had somehow broke down and she only managed to catch something about her opening the stage, which was now decorated by two huge ikebanas of wood and tree branches her grandmother had sent as gifts.

"Being too tense would not be of any help, Irosuzuka."

The dangling kanzashi on her hair bun tinkled as she turned towards her left, and there Akashi Seijuuro stood in an all black suit and a glitter silk tie, with no trace of anxiety in the way he loosely held his violin and bow.

"Akashi-san, don't you ever get nervous?"

The boy chuckled a bit before answering, "Nervousness and anxiety are absolutely natural for humans, so yes, I sometimes do. However, with enough practice, I am certain that I won't commit any mistakes, and thus, I gain more confidence."

She simply blinked at him, as if taking in something she – a mere mortal – was not capable of, but when she heard the emcee say 'ikebana', her eyes briefly went wide. Using both of her hands, she clutched the other's hand that was holding the violin bow, "Please give me some of that confidence."

"I believe there is no scientific evidence about that. Although if it is energy you desire, then that is more logical, since your hands are cold and heat could be transferred."

With her eyes shut, his words were drowned-out by her own quiet prayers, and the emcee's introduction. At the mention of her grandmother's name, she opened her eyes and met his curious ones.

"Support transfer complete."

"Support?"

Hearing her name, she softly smiled and gave his hand one last squeeze before letting go, "A friend's support... Thank you."

The kanzashi on her head jingled, as she turned around and walked to the table – that had a vase of stems and Osmanthus flowers, and other ikebana materials, and was being carried by two men – at the center of the stage. As sounds of people clapping could be heard, the stage was slowly being filled with the scent of Osmanthus.


Nijimura Shuuzo felt stupid – if stupid was the right word to describe his mouth dropping and his gaze never leaving the person on the stage, who just finished arranging stems and flowers.

Awestruck was probably the correct term, but stupid was better, he decided, because how could he not expect to see her here?

Oh right.

Its's his first time attending since her sister – who was present in the previous parties – was taking care of their sick brother at home. But, most importantly, his father told him that this was merely a party by the company for the birthday of their big boss.

Company party, his ass.

Still, he should've known. His father was the head engineer of Japan's leading construction company, so duh, this party housed the fellow wealthy. To further confirm this, a familiar redhead stepped onto the platform and started playing the violin, like the sophisticated and rich brat he was.

"Ah Shuuzo, you should've joined both of your kouhais at stage."

Annoyed at his father for not informing him on purpose, he snapped, "Shut it, old man."

Around the time most people were finished with their dinner, people started rising from their seats and greeting other guests, until the large ballroom turned into a mass of standing people chatting and socializing. He had no choice but to do the same. So far, his father's colleagues – mostly the female ones – gushed at him; and some fancy moms presented their daughters, who were usually older than him. His old man also had been dragged by the birthday celebrant to meet former and potential clients. Worse, Irosuzuka Yuuta was now approaching him for the second time that night.

"Nijimura~"

He scowled at him, "The hell you're doing here again – ", but after spotting a shorter male behind his former captain, he playfully grinned, "Ah, to what do I owe the pleasure, Akashi-sama?"

The Akashi heir didn't take any offense and slightly lifted the corners of his mouth, "Good evening too, Nijimura-san. My apologies for not being able to greet you sooner. I had to go and pay my respects to plenty of people, including your father and – "

"Yeah, yeah. Stop the damn formalities, brat. I've heard and even fucking said a lot of those tonight, I'm already losing my shit", he grumbled.

"Nijimura, how crude. Is this how a captain should treat his teammates?", the older raven-head had his arms crossed, but it was obvious that the bastard was enjoying this a bit too much.

He rolled his eyes at his senior, "He's the vice-captain, he can handle crap", then smirked, "and I just learned from the fucking best, captain~"

Yuuta was beaming at him, "Aww, Kanagawa's not that far from Tokyo, you can always visit if you miss me that much. Anyway, I have to leave you and Seijuuro. I still need to meet some people", but Nijimura knew better than to trust that face, and boy was he right.

"Oh and Nijimura? Can you be a good kouhai and do me a favor? I think my sister needs some company."

He followed the direction Yuuta had gestured towards before he left, and said sister was seated alone in a table, causing him to frown, "Leaving his sister like that, what a bastard."

She was easy to spot given her snow-like hair, which was still up in a bun and with the kanzashi now replaced by a black ribbon. When a woman with the same snow-like locks – ah, her mother, he remembered – approached her, she stood up from her seat. Wearing a cream floral lace dress that hung jest below her knees, she walked alongside her mother, until a possibly mother-son duo greeted them. The two mothers introduced their children to each other, before heading towards a table of adult females. Irosuzuka was left standing and talking to the tall boy.

Nijimura scoffed.

He was definitely taller than the kid, who was likely just between Haizaki's and Akashi's heights. With this thought, he instantly faced the boy beside him, only to see ruby orbs already staring at him.

"Oi Akashi, aren't you bothered? You should go."

"Aren't you bothered?"

The question was the same and started from his own mouth, but for some reason, he couldn't respond. He quickly felt irritation seeping in, "Your senpai asked you first."

The younger out of them both remained stoic despite the older's frown deepening, "I'm positive that he wouldn't do anything to harm Irosuzuka, and if you have paid attention at the program earlier, you would recognize him as one of Chairman Kobayashi's grandchildren, who is as old as you."

At the first-year's suggestion, a vein eventually popped, "Don't sass me, brat. I paid attention, but I don't care enough to memorize their faces and names. Just answer a yes or a no."

The shorter boy even dared to sigh before going on, "If you are asking me if I am concerned about the possible connection that could develop between the two of them tonight, then my answer is, no, I'm not", with his expression getting more amused by the second. He then smoothly took his leave, "Enjoy the rest of the night, Nijimura-san."

Akashi, the little shit.

He could've flicked his smartass kouhai's forehead multiple times, if not for the fact that this hotel was owned by the Akashi group – another thing that his old man failed to tell him, and he only learned about it when the host blabbered about the Akashi group after it's heir's performance.

And if not for the fact that hearing such response weirdly felt like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders.

Ah, fuck it.

"Yo, Irosuzuka!", he waved at her, while approaching her – well, them, technically.

The name felt foreign on his tongue. Huh, he doesn't really recall a time he had addressed her that before. Maybe once or twice, but it was either 'brat', 'first-year', 'coach', or just nothing at all. He called her brother with 'captain', 'bastard', and on bad days – well other profanities that shouldn't be mentioned.

"Nijimura-senpai?"

He ignored her surprised and puzzled look and acknowledged the heh, shorter boy, "Ah, Kobayashi-san."

"It's Mitsui. My mother's Kobayashi."

"Oh."

Oops.

He didn't know that. Heck, Akashi was damn right about him not really listening when the family of his dad's boss was introduced to all the guests during the program. Getting more pissed, he almost blurted out, 'I don't really care' , except he didn't want his dad to lose his job. Thus, he settled with, "Nijimura Shuuzo, second-year at Teikou"

"You must be Engr. Nijimura's son. You're the captain of the baseball team, right?", the grandson replied, while saying 'baseball' in perfect English, because hey, he's rich so why not. Yeah screw him and his English if he couldn't even differentiate the two sports.

"Basketball", he corrected, in a natural Japanese accent, but hey, at least he got it right. The guy then started spouting that he 'probably misheard it because of the thick accent', and with a strained grin and with only an ounce of patience left, Nijimura cut him off, "Nah it's fine. Anyway, Irosuzuka here, is one of our coaches."

Without giving the other time to react at that information, he went on, "and our head coach just called, so I need to talk to her, if you don't mind, Mitsui-san."

Mitsui, thankfully, excused himself and left. Opal eyes bore into his steel ones, with doubt evident in the former, urging him to explain.

"Your brother asked me to accompany you."

She shook her head, "That Yuuta-nii, seriously."

And that was it.

Great, now he didn't know what to say. The last time he had a decent conversation with her alone was during the camp. Ever since school resumed, he only spoke few words with her at practice and let Akashi attend the council meeting, because he didn't want to get in their way or something. But, it seems like he was under the wrong impression, based from the scarlet-haired boy's answer. As these thoughts messed with his mind, he felt warm and stuffy, that he suddenly blurted out,

"Wanna go out?"

.

.

.

Shit.

Wow, good job in making things more awkward, genius.

"Like to the lobby. Can't breathe in this place", he saved.

Just as they finally got outside of the ballroom – ugh, those guards just had to interrogate them before opening the doors – he loosened his sliver tie straight away and gave out a long groan, as he slumped on one of the lobby couches. Next to him, the girl sat upright, unlike him.

"By the way, I met your dad earlier. He's cool", he started.

Irosuzuka Hiroshi was kind and seemed to be a relatively chill guy, compared to the other stuck-up businessmen he had seen. He had called him 'sir' and he had felt so small despite being taller than him, but she didn't need to know that.

She sprung up her seat and looked as if she had just offended someone, as she tried to walk back to the event hall, "I should give my greetings to your father, as well."

He instinctively reached for her wrist, "Oi, you don't have to. He's busy. Besides, he already knows you", then released it, as soon as what he was doing registered in his mind. Damn it, he was being too self-conscious right now.

"But I haven't introduced myself formally yet, and I also need to get my coat."

Only when she crossed her arms did he realize that even if her dress was long-sleeved, the sleeves were lacy. He patted the space beside him, "Sit back here, I'll give you my coat", and took off his silver 'coat', leaving him with his silver pants, black dress shirt, and sloppy silver tie. When she settled down at his side, he draped mentioned coat over her shoulders.

She secured the coat around her and meekly thanked him, before her dark orbs twinkled teasingly, "and it's called a 'suit jacket', senpai."

At this display of playfulness from her, which he hasn't been able to witness the past weeks, he felt his own spirits being lifted. With raised brows, he leaned towards her and challenged her, "Okay, what else do you know, little miss Ikebana master?"

She giggled at the nickname then hummed in contemplation. Afterwards, she uttered, "I do know few things about fashion, and I could say that you look great in your suit tonight."

Nijimura Shuuzo felt stupid – if stupid was the right term to describe his lips curving up at her words; and his dark eyes leaving hers only once for the rest of the night, when he returned the compliment, "You look pretty."


Akashi Seijuuro was confident with his plans, and seeing the captain and young coach being friendly once again at practice, his success was confirmed.

Although he was not the type to interfere with other people's romantic endeavors, he was striving to be the best in everything. To do this, he had to push his limits, practice, and test his strategic mind in different fields and situations, and what else was better than the ones he interact with in a daily basis. His subjects were two of his fellow members of the basketball club.

...

"A friend's support..."

...

Or maybe, 'friends' was a more appropriate term.

Perhaps.

Regardless of what he thought of them, his objective, during the time when they were at the top of the hill last summer camp, was to give Nijimura a little push – not literally, of course. That was the extent of his plans. He was already contented with how delicious the fried rice the next morning tasted.

However, he didn't really expect to meet his classmate at the engawa, more so to bump into the second-year on their way back to their rooms – giving rise to a frustrating misunderstanding. Having enough and wanting to focus on more crucial matters (the team was still lacking and in need of a sixth man), he decided to take responsibility for such unforeseen circumstances.

Therefore, when he saw the dark-haired teen at the party and saw a perfect opportunity, he made his move and cleared up everything, which now led to the current scenario in front of him. The atmosphere between the pair was now more relaxed than the past weeks.

...

"Akashi-san, don't you ever get nervous?"

...

He recalled the question she had asked that night when she fixed her gaze on his hands, which loosely held the violin and bow – clearly indicating the absence of tension in his mind and body.

He had already given her an answer that night, and he simply doesn't see any point for her nor anyone to be aware of the fact that when she had grasped his hand that night, his other hand wrapped itself tightly to the violin's neck.


It was now a memory that will remain overlooked, like the small Osmanthus against the great autumn foliage.

The fragrance of Osmanthus, however, lingers.