A/N:
HELLO EVERYONE!
I'm back! OMG I'm truly sorry for the looooong delay. I got super busy and I had to take a break from writing. So again, I'm sorry! ;A;
Aaahhh! I missed you all so much T-T How are y'all? I hope that we're all doing great and that we all still love KnB!
I'm also glad to see new people making this one of their favorite fics and following this story. To those who made this as one of their faves and to all the new followers, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! And I know it's late, but WELCOME! Go ahead, introduce yourselves, and share your thoughts and feelings about this fic, about KnB and even about life in general. I'll be delighted to talk with everyone :)
To Almathia, hi! Thanks for sharing your feelings about the chapter. I'm glad you loved it! But I'm also sorry for breaking your heart with that chapter ;A; I guess we all got a little broken there (including me lol). Hope you enjoy this new chapter!
To the guest, who reviewed, I apologize for making you wait so long, but here it is! Hope you like it :3
Anyway, this chapter is the start of the second part of the story: soe (副 , 'man'). Enjoy~
One sunny July morning, a girl held up a sunflower to the sky, trying to place it over the sun. White tresses tied in a ponytail bounced, as its owner nodded – satisfied by the length of the sunflower's stem. She placed the piece in the vase and took another piece from the bunch of sunflowers, which was freshly brought home by her older brother from the sunflower festival in Kanagawa.
Sunflowers are known to be symbols of recovery and hope.
This was why this ikebana was perfect for the sick. Later, she'll be heading to the hospital to visit the father of a certain senpai.
Sunflowers take some time to bloom and mimic the sun rays with their majestic yellow petals. They're usually planted during April to May for them to bloom during July to August.
As she continued with the flower arrangement, she was reminded of everything that has happened since that Monday in May – when spring brought her new beginnings.
Practice began immediately after the head coach made the announcement. The young student coach wasn't surprised to see how natural the newly-appointed captain led the practice. Unlike him, the newly-appointed vice captain seemed to be a little more tense, as he followed both senior coaches to the office, to properly be briefed about his duties. The former captain was the first to do the drills to really show everyone that he was simply one of the regulars as of today. There was something in the way that he was moving that felt more free. The usual focus in his dark eyes was accompanied by relief; and Tsumiko couldn't help but feel the same for him.
Discarding the heavy feeling she initially had in her chest, she shifted her attention on the practice, by looking at her clipboard and checking on the members.
As she scanned the gym, however, she failed to see a certain ash-haired boy. At this point, it wasn't surprising that Haizaki was missing again. He'd probably show up the next day. Or he will be brought back to the gym by their capt–
Oh.
Former captain.
Right.
She has to get used to that. And now, she's just going to mark Haizaki absent again, carry on with the drills, then perhaps try to find him tomorrow.
.
.
.
"Has anyone seen Haizaki-san?", Tsumiko voiced out despite everything.
To be honest, she could've just done what she's said above; but something in her tells her not to. She remembered her visit at the Haizaki household last November and began to think of possible reasons to the silverhead's recent behavior. Unfortunately, the heaviness in her chest, she tried hard to suppress, was currently back.
"Um…", a first-year uttered and broke her thoughts, "I saw him arrive when Coach Shirogane was announcing...but I didn't notice him leave."
'So, he was here. Why did he suddenly leave?', she internally mused.
"Is he in the restroom?", asked another first-year.
"Idiot. It's Haizaki.", a third-year snorted, "He probably decided to bail out last minute."
A new recruit, who's waiting for his turn in the drills and was definitely not the best at reading the room, blurted out, "But isn't he kinda amazing? He skips practice but he's still so damn strong."
"Yeah, so cool!", another rookie agreed.
"Oi newbies!", an all-too-familiar voice echoed along the gym – as Nijimura, who just finished his drills, approached the group with a commanding presence, "Since you brats have energy to chit-chat, go get your asses outta here and run for fifteen minutes then come back. Got that?"
"Yes, captain!"
.
.
.
Realization then hit them like a truck.
.
.
.
The previous captain quickly tried to hide his embarrassment by scowling even more and hissing, "It's senpai, idiots."
He cleared his throat, "..and it's just a suggestion", then met red orbs on one side of the court, "What do you think, captain?", and dark orbs on another side, "Coach?"
His gaze stayed at hers briefly, but it was long enough to make her heart ache even more.
"I appreciate it Nijimura-san", the redhead, who was silent the entire exchange, finally spoke – everyone's focus now on him. Facing his ravenhead senior, his lips curved slightly upwards, which then fell back to a thin line, as he addressed the new recruits, "Be back in exactly fifteen minutes. You must all be warmed up by then because as soon as you arrive, you will be doing a special set of drills."
"Yes, captain!"
With the recruits scrambling outside, training resumed.
Nijimura proceeded to drink water; and on the way, he hit the sides of his fellow third-years, Sekiguchi and Kubota, who were snickering at him. On the other hand, Akashi began his drills, earlier than scheduled. That was her cue to shake her thoughts and feelings off for now, and truly focus on this practice. Since Akashi was busy with his drills and since Coach Sanada and Midorima are yet to return to the court, she has to do her best in observing the members and in thinking about the special set of drills for the new recruits, who were about to return in fifteen minutes.
.
.
.
Now that's a lot of work to do for her distressed and heartbroken self.
But maybe the heavens somehow pitied her and sent an angel to help her out.
As if saving her some of the trouble, Akashi finished the first part of the drills in less than fifteen minutes. Instead of going to his water bottle, he went straight towards her.
The 'angel' came in the form of a boy with blood-colored hair and eyes, which was ironic since the color is usually associated with the 'devil.'
"Irosuzuka", he said in between breaths; and the way he said her name with more air than usual convinced her that such pleasant sound could only come from an angel.
The beads of sweat on his forehead urged her to begin moving, "Ah – wait. I'll get you water and a towel."
Akashi stopped her by gently grabbing her wrist, which was holding the clipboard, "That's not necessary."
The quick breaths he softly let out say otherwise. Tsumiko raised her eyebrows at him; but he seemed to disregard this and went on. From her wrist, he moved his hold to the clipboard, with his fingers lightly brushing hers in the process – making her release the clipboard out of mild surprise.
"I'll be handling the new recruits."
Despite the apparent firmness his statement held, a certain softness was present on his gaze. Now, she definitely appreciates this initiative – she actually needs this, especially at this moment. However, she's aware of the work he needs to do, as well.
"But, what about the rest of your drills?"
"I can manage to do them later."
His breathing became more even, "Besides, I was the one who mentioned a special set of drills. Hence, it's only proper for me to facilitate."
Truthfully, she knows she's not in the best state right now to do all these duties. She wonders if he noticed this and was being considerate, especially since he always seems to know a lot of things. Or he's just being logical and fair, since he was the one who brought up the special drills thing. Deciding it was the latter, she was about to express her agreement, when sounds of scurrying shoes and panting males filled the gym – the new recruits back from their little punishment.
Relieved at the now-reduced number of sweaty boys she has to deal with, she let out a sigh. With her spirits lifted a bit, she cracked a playful smile at the sweaty boy across her – as she tapped his shoulder.
"I'll go get you that water and towel."
The ikebana was almost done. The sliver-haired girl wiped off the tiny beads of sweat on her forehead and checked on the arrangement. As she did some adjustments, her phone rang.
The caller ID showed a name that caused her to instantly clutch her phone. While she expected him to contact her, she didn't expect him to call – especially since they'd never talked through the phone before.
As soon as she picked up the call, his gentle voice met her ears.
"Good morning, Irosuzuka."
Concluding that he sounded pleasant through the phone, she became as bright as the sunflowers.
"Good morning, Akashi-san."
A/N:
Oh? Something's seems to be brewing (lol)
Well, just wanna say thank you again for reading this fic! I'm really gonna try to continue this because of y'all T-T It means so much to me that people are appreciating this work. Don't hesitate to comment BTW, I'm happy to interact more with everybody.
Stay hydrated everyone~
