Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Kuroko no Basket!
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1st year – Too Academy
...
Mac let Nao out of her bag as soon as she entered the cabin and looked around. The room she was in now was the common room and had a small kitchen in the corner and she could see two doors on the wall opposite her. She walked over to one door and opened it revealing a bathroom with a shower. She turned to the other door and pushed it opened and found the bedroom.
It was two bunk beds there as well as a single bed, so it was obviously meant for more people than just one. She walked over to the single bed in the corner and put her bag down on it and quickly changed into her training clothes.
She had just put on her shoes when there was a knock on the door. She glanced at Nao who was comfortable on the bed and showed no sign of wanting to join her so she left him lying there. She opened the door and found Daiki standing outside.
"You ready?" He asked.
"Sure," Mac said stepping out of the cabin and locking the door behind her. She fell in step with Daiki as they walked toward the gym and Mac once more looked around at the surroundings. The mountain was right there and she couldn't wait until she had a chance to explore it.
"There you guys are!" Abe said. "How do you plan on killing us today, Mac?"
Mac blinked at him, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"It's not Kenzie's fault you guys are weak," Daiki scoffed.
"Daiki," Mac frowned at him when she saw Wakamatsu glare and open his mouth to respond, the others didn't really react as they had grown used to his comments. "Stop trying to rile them up at every turn."
"Hmph," Daiki looked away and shoved his hands into his pockets.
Mac glanced at him and rolled her eyes but couldn't help but notice how handsome he looked standing there all casual and in his training clothes.
Harasawa joined them then and brought Mac out of her thoughts and observations of Daiki. She walked over to him and he handed her the notebook she used for the training menus that he also had access to. She knew he would have made some adjustments and she was looking forward to looking at them.
"I want you to become familiar with the terrain around us today," Harasawa said. "There are several paths up the mountain and each path is of various lengths and difficulty level on the climb up the mountain."
"I have maps here for you and I expect that you all carry one with you and that you do not drift away from the paths," Harasawa continued. "I do not want to be the one to tell your parents that you're lost in the mountain."
Mac felt her lips twitch slightly as she saw the dry humour in the coach's eyes as he looked at them.
"Yes, coach," they said.
"Good," he said. "Dinner is in three hours. You will take turns on making dinner…"
"Until then you're free to explore the trails," Harasawa said. "Going all the way up is around a 90 minutes' walk if you chose trail 1 and 3. Trail 2 is a 75 minutes' walk while trail 4 is a 120 minutes' walk. You can take the cable cars down again."
...
Mac ended up walking with Daiki (no surprise there) and Sakurai and Namamura.
"Come on, let's take trail 4," Mac said.
"Of course you'd want to take the longest one," Namamura sighed.
"You could have chosen someone else to walk with," Daiki scoffed glaring at the other boy.
Namamura held up his hands in surrender and rolled his eyes, "no need to snap at me, I was just saying…"
Mac rolled her eyes as Sakurai apologized but she focused on the trail stretching up in front of her. She noticed that it started rather nice and it wasn't too much of an ascent at first. She started to walk and soon the other three followed.
She ended up walking beside Daiki who looked comfortable next to her and allowed her to walk in silence knowing that she was working on something in her mind. She heard Sakurai and Namamura talk behind her but didn't pay attention to what they were saying.
"It's nice here," Mac said breaking the silence after a while when the climb had gotten tougher and the paths were more uneven and took more turns and twists than it had in the beginning.
"I guess," Daiki shrugged.
Mac smiled but shook her head as she grinned spotting the bridge going over a deep gap. She heard Sakurai sharp intake of breath when he caught up with them and took in the bridge and the gap.
"How far down do you think it is?" Sakurai asked warily.
"Far," Namamura said. "You'll die if you fall down."
"Eeep," Sakurai gulped.
"Don't be so dramatic," Mac said. "You won't die. That's why the bridge is there."
Daiki laughed even as Sakurai went a little pale or paler.
"If you don't want to cross it you can go back," Mac said looking at Sakurai with kind eyes. "There's no shame in it. Not everyone likes heights."
Sakurai swallowed and looked at Mac before looking at the bridge. He took a moment before he seemed to steel himself and Mac smiled.
"I'll cross it," he said.
Mac patted his shoulder. "If you're sure."
She was the first one to step out onto the bridge. It wavered a little as she did and she felt a thrill of excitement and adrenaline going through her. She had no doubt that the bridge was safe, but with how narrow the bridge was it was easy to see straight down and to be fair it was a long way down.
She inhaled with a smile as she continued over and too soon found herself on the other side. She turned and saw Daiki coming over having waited until she was over before he started. She wasn't sure that was necessary but maybe it felt safer.
She looked at Sakurai who looked pale and looked like he was shaking slightly. She felt a stab of worry go through her; maybe she had been too casual about the bridge. He really didn't look like he liked heights and the bridge was obviously scaring him. He looked over and met her eyes and she tried to give him a reassuring look full of confidence.
"You can do it, Sakurai!" Mac called over.
He nodded and grabbed the railing on both sides as he stepped onto the bridge and paused. He closed his eyes and Mac could see even from where she was standing that his knuckles had turned white with how tightly he was gripping the railings.
Namamura and Daiki were both watching Sakurai with close attention and Mac knew both of them were worried but also proud.
"Come on, Ryo!" Namamura called. "You can do it!"
A minute passed without him moving and Mac wondered if she should make her way over but then he opened his eyes and looked straight ahead and met her eyes.
"That's it, Sakurai," Mac nodded. "Look at us and just walk."
He took a step and then another. Slow and steady did he make his way over and when he finally reached them he sank down and would have crashed into one of the poles supporting the railings if not for Daiki catching him and helping him to sit down.
"Good job," Daiki said quietly and Sakurai's eyes widened as he looked at Daiki.
Mac smiled and reached out to squeeze his shoulder. "Daiki's right. Good job."
Sakurai smiled and looked pleased.
The rest of the way went fine and without more bridges to cross, but there was a rather steep climb the last kilometres until they reached the summit.
...
They had reached the top and here there were more people, they had obviously not taken one of the popular routes to the summit. A large portion of the summit was covered by a patio of sorts with different viewing points and a kiosk was located close to the cable cars.
Mac walked to the fence on the edge of the patio and took in the view. It was breathtaking.
"Wow," she said. "Daiki! Look how far you can see!"
Daiki stood close beside her and glanced at her with a small smile on his face. They were on their own for now as Sakurai and Namamura had gone over to the kiosk to buy something to drink.
"Is that Tokyo over there?" Daiki asked as he noticed the silhouettes of tall buildings and an obvious city.
"I guess," Mac said. "It's really freeing up here…"
She let out a small sigh and smiled as she leaned against Daiki who put an arm around her shoulder holding her close. She smiled when she felt his lips against her temple feeling content.
They were unaware of being observed by their two companions who had bought the drinks and were on their way back.
"I can't really believe that is the same Aomine as the one we know," Namamura said. "He's so…different with her."
"I guess he really cares for her," Sakurai said. "They have known each other for a long time."
"Still strange," Namamura muttered as they watched Daiki say something that made Mac laugh and look up at him with a light in her green eyes that they rarely saw before he leaned down and kissed her.
...
"Food!"
Mac smiled as she heard the loud exclamation for food just as she entered the dining hall. She took in the large room and the long tables inside, it would be room for way more than their team in here, she thought.
She followed Daiki and the others to the table nearest the door leading to what she assumed was the kitchen and sat down next to Abe who grinned at her. Daiki took the spot on her other side.
"What trail did you choose?" Abe asked.
"We went up trail 4," Mac said. "It was fun."
"That's the longest one, right?" Yamaguchi asked from across the table.
"Yeah," Mac nodded. "It's the longest and most challenging one, I think we could really do something with the training on that trail."
"Do you think about anything but training?" Abe asked.
"Of course I do," Mac deadpanned. "I think about the matches."
They stared at her and she struggled to keep her expression blank even as Daiki snorted next to her.
"They'll think you're serious," he said glancing at them.
Mac broke and laughed. "Of course I'm thinking on other things as well. I just like basketball so it's easy to think about that. And I do want us to become stronger." As long as it won't break us.
The dinner was served and Mac couldn't help enjoying the meal filled with chatter and laughter. It was fun and while she would always hold her first team close to her heart this team was also starting to work their way in.
...
"Ooh, look at this!" Wakamatsu said and held up a bag of sweets. "It's still closed so it should be safe to eat…"
"Oh, what is it?" Abe asked skipping over to him. "Caramels? I love those!"
"Me too," Wakamatsu grinned before looking around. "Mac's not here so we should get away with eating it even if we're supposed to be walking the trail around the cabins right now…"
"I can't believe she ordered us to walk or jog now right after dinner," Abe groaned. "She really is trying to kill us all."
Wakamatsu nodded and opened the bag of caramels.
"But this makes it worth it," he said and took one of the caramels and held the bag out to Abe. Both boys grinned and ate as they walked slowly forward. They had lagged behind the others who seemed to want to get the round over with before they went back to the cabins.
"These are so good," Abe said. "I can't believe our luck…"
"We best finish it before we meet Mac again," Wakamatsu said and took another and popped it into his mouth.
"You're absolutely right," Abe agreed.
They munched on the caramels not really paying attention to how slow they went of the surroundings around them other than staying on the path. So when they suddenly heard a voice they jumped and blinked as they took in the tall, like really tall, boy with purple hair that reached his shoulders and wearing casual training clothes walking toward them and scanning the grounds.
"I lost it… I lost it…" he was muttering. "Muro-chin gave it to me! I lost it… it has to be…"
Wakamatsu and Abe exchanged looks and yelped when the boy almost walked straight into them but they managed to jump to the side. The yelp brought the boy out of his search or whatever it was he was doing and he looked around and they noticed that he had purple eyes as well as hair.
"Oh," his mouth popped open and he blinked. Then his eyes zoomed in on the empty caramel bag in Wakamatsu's hand.
Wakamatsu and Abe both paled when the aura around the other boy suddenly darkened and the childlike air around him disappeared so fast that it was almost enough to question if it had been there at all. He glared and reached out and grabbed both boys by the collar of their shirts and lifted them up. Actually lifted them off their feet like they didn't weigh a thing!
"Oi! Let go!" Wakamatsu shouted and pushed at the hand holding him but he didn't let go.
"Let go," Abe pleaded. "I don't even know you, man! Come on, let go!"
The boy stared at the caramel bag, "you ate my caramels!"
Wakamatsu and Abe paled. "Um…n-no…no, we didn't!"
The boy narrowed his eyes as he leaned closer and sniffed. "I can smell the caramels on you. Muro-chin gave me those! You ate my caramels. I'll crush you!"
"No. Come on… let us go."
Both Wakamatsu and Abe struggled to get out of his hold but this boy was seriously strong! Wakamatsu couldn't believe that even he struggled to get free from the hold.
"Hey!" They suddenly heard a familiar voice call and they didn't know if they were relieved or mortified by her showing up now. "Murasakibara! What are you doing with my friends?"
Murasakibara? Wakamatsu and Abe blinked as they looked back at the boy who had stilled as well when Mac called out and looked away from them to Mac who was standing just a few steps away looking at them. She arched a brow as she met the boy's eyes.
"Mac-chin," Atsushi said and Abe blinked because of the fondness he picked up in the boy's voice. Wait, Murasakibara was the name of one of the players from Teiko… This was one of the Generation of Miracles! "You're here?!"
"Yes," Mac said patiently.
"Oi! Get him to let us go!" Wakamatsu snapped impatiently. "He suddenly just grabbed us!"
Mac glanced at them and Abe couldn't fail to notice the way her eyes zoomed in on the bag of caramels and he was almost certain that he heard a soft sigh leave her as she looked back at the tall giant that was holding them.
"They ate my caramels!" Atsushi scowled. "I'll crush them!"
Mac stepped forward. "I'm sure they didn't know the caramels were yours, Murasakibara. Come on, let them go."
"But…my caramels…Muro-chin gave me them… he got them sent from America!" Atsushi pouted.
Abe felt his eyes widen and he cursed himself for eating those. But how was he supposed to know that someone would come looking for it after losing it? He glanced at Mac and saw her watching Atsushi with pensive eyes.
"I am sorry the two ate your caramels," Mac said. "But I'm sure they didn't know it was yours and just thought it was lost. If you would be so kind as to let them go I will make you some sweets myself, Murasakibara."
"Mac-chin will make me sweets?" Atsushi repeated.
"Yes," Mac nodded. "So let go of my friends."
"Fine," Atsushi said as he let go of Wakamatsu and Abe who both inhaled deeply and stepped away from Atsushi.
...
Mac allowed a relieved breath escape her as she saw Atsushi let go of the two idiots. Seriously she should have just let Atsushi do as he pleased but it would cause too much trouble. She blinked when she suddenly was lifted from the ground and hugged tightly.
"Mac-chin is here," Atsushi murmured into her ear and she laughed slightly as she circled her arms around his neck and hugged him back. "I missed you."
"I missed you too, Murasakibara," Mac said and pulled back but he still held her so she was still above the ground. "You look good."
He smiled and nodded.
"Muro-chin takes care of me," he said.
"Good," Mac smiled. "Now, put me down."
Murasakibara pouted but did as told and she found herself on solid ground again. She glanced at a gaping Wakamatsu and Abe.
"Come on," she said. "Get moving. I came looking for you because you were taking too long."
"Ah, um, sorry, Mac," Abe said and Wakamatsu nodded.
"No worries," Mac smiled but it was a wicked smile. "You'll make up for it tomorrow."
Abe and Wakamatsu groaned.
"We're dead," they both moaned.
Mac snorted and turned to start walking back before she yelped and found herself in the air before she somehow was settled on Atsushi's shoulder.
"Oi! Murasakibara!" Mac protested. "Let me down!"
"No," Atsushi said.
Mac sighed but stopped protesting and looked around. Well, she did like heights and Atsushi was tall…
...
"Where were you?" Yamaguchi exclaimed when Wakamatsu and Abe finally joined them.
"Um…are you okay?" Sakurai asked timidly noticing their pale complexion.
"We thought we were going to die," Abe moaned pitifully.
Imayoshi arched a brow amused as he looked at them.
"And where's Mac?" he asked. "She did go to find you."
Wakamatsu and Abe both looked behind them but the other two weren't in sight yet, but they knew they would be soon. And it was then they noticed that there were more people around now than there had been before they left.
"Who are they?" Wakamatsu asked forgetting that Imayoshi had asked them something.
"Yosen High basketball team," Susa said. "They are also renting cabins here for training."
"Oh," Wakamatsu said. "So that's why…"
"I asked where Mac is," Imayoshi repeated and there was a slight note of irritation in his voice now making Wakamatsu balk.
"Um, she's right behind us," he said. "She just…um…met a friend."
"Who?" Namamura asked.
Daiki scoffed and looked like he knew who it would be.
"I thought he would kill us," Abe said seriously. "If not for Mac I think he would have…"
Daiki looked at them.
"You ate his candy, didn't you?" he asked.
Both looked wide-eyed at Daiki who stared at them blankly.
"Well…"
The rest of their team and even some of the Yosen players were looking at them just as they heard laughter and turned to see Atsushi and Mac coming around the bend in the road. Mac as still on his shoulder and seemed content enough position there as she talked to Atsushi.
"Is he really carrying her?" Yamaguchi blinked.
Daiki scowled but didn't say anything.
"Atsushi!" Himuro called and got the attention of both Atsushi and Mac.
"Muro-chin," Atsushi said.
"Why are you carrying Potter-san?" Himuro asked.
"It's fun," Atsushi said before helping Mac down and she smiled a little exasperatedly at him. "And she's going to make me sweets. Mac-chin makes the best sweets."
Daiki rolled his eyes as he stepped up and grabbed Mac's hand and pulled her closer to him. He ignored the knowing look he got from Mac.
"Murasakibara," Daiki greeted.
"Mine-chin," Atsushi said.
Mac sighed as she rolled her eyes at the greeting. Seriously, you'd think it would kill them to actually say more than one word to each other.
As it turned out, Yosen basketball club had also rented cabins there to participate in a training camp. It was not really in Harasawa's or Mac's plans that another basketball team would be there, they hadn't known that it was rented out to more than one team, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing either.
The place was big enough for both of them and they wouldn't necessarily go in each other's way. Mac even predicted that practice matches would be helpful for both of them.
...
The next day found Mac eating breakfast by herself being the first one up from her team when suddenly there was someone sitting down opposite her and she blinked when she saw a big and wide boy with a rough face and brown hair stare at her. He blushed when she looked at him.
"Hey…" Mac said a little warily because she was not sure why he had sat down opposite her like that. She suddenly wished that she had waited for someone from her team before she ate, but she had just wanted to finish breakfast so she could continue to go over Harasawa's notes and work on the training menu for the team.
"You play basketball, don't you?" he asked.
"Yes, I do," Mac said and looked at him. "You're Okamura Kenichi, right?"
"Yes," he said. "You know who I am?"
"You're on Murasakibara's team," Mac shrugged. "I did my research and found out who his teammates are."
"I see," he said and looked down shyly.
She waited but he didn't say anything and she looked down to see the plate of food in front of him.
"You should eat before it gets cold," she said after a moment and when he looked up she motioned to the eggs on his plate.
"Oh, right," he said and stood to get up.
"You don't have to move, you know," Mac said and he blinked at her.
He smiled and it somehow made his face soften. She just nodded and continued to eat. She could feel him looking at her but she was not sure why he was.
"How's Murasakibara doing?" Mac asked.
"He's lazy," Okamura said.
"He always has been," Mac sighed.
"Himuro seems to have him handled," Okamura shrugged. "Did he always eat so many sweets?"
"Yeah," Mac said before smiling fondly. "He will eat nothing else if you let him."
Okamura nodded as he continued to eat.
...
Atsushi yawned as he followed Himuro to the dining hall where breakfast would be served. He wanted to go back to sleep… but Himuro wouldn't let him.
"Come on, Atsushi," Himuro said. "Coach will not be pleased if you're late for breakfast and therefore practice."
"But, Muro-chin…" Atsushi complained.
"Nothing," Himuro said. "Come on, maybe your friend Potter-san is there."
Atsushi perked up and Himuro shook his head a little. They reached the dining hall the same time Daiki and Imayoshi did, with Susa right behind them.
"Mine-chin where is Mac-chin?" Atsushi asked.
"Probably eating," Daiki said. "If she's not done already and working on our training menus with the coach."
"I want to see Mac-chin," Atsushi frowned.
Imayoshi looked amused but didn't say anything as he followed them in and stopped when both Daiki and Atsushi froze.
"What is he doing?" Daiki asked.
"Okamura-chin…I'll crush you," Atsushi said darkly.
Himuro blinked and looked over to see Okamura talking with Mac who nodded at something he said. Their captain was smiling goofily and was blushing. Uh-oh. That was…not good. He glanced at the identical dark scowls on Daiki and Atsushi's faces and wondered if they would still have a Captain at the end of breakfast.
Himuro could do nothing but follow Atsushi and his friend as they stalked over to Mac and Okamura who was talking about heights? Himuro blinked.
"There's a bridge on trial 4 that is really high up and you can look straight down and feel like you're looking into the abyss." Mac was saying.
"Really? That sounds awesome," Okamura said.
"Kenzie!" Daiki said and he was scowling.
"Hey Daiki, finally up?" Mac asked ignoring the scowl.
"Mac-chin," Atsushi said and Okamura looked over at the tall centre.
"Murasakibara," Mac nodded. "Ah, and Himuro-kun, good morning."
"Morning," Himuro nodded politely but blinked when Mac got a pensive look as she stared at him. Just why was she looking at him like that? Like she was considering something, but before he could ask she looked away and back at Daiki.
"Are you going to eat or not?" Mac asked.
Daiki glowered at Okamura who was frowning and looked dejected was now as he had lost Mac's attention.
...
The training went surprisingly well and Mac enjoyed pushing herself harder than she had been able to do in a long time. Now that she didn't have the OWLs exams to think about and need to stay focused for she could let go and just focus on her training. She really wanted to win something with this team. So she wanted, needed, to be stronger and to help them get stronger as well.
They were running up the mountain along trail 3 which was a long one but not quite as long as trail 4, but this one had more curves and the terrain was challenging enough, it offered really good training.
Mac was in the lead along with Daiki who grinned at her and she saw the challenge in his eyes. She smirked and ran a little faster trying to get ahead from Daiki but she could feel him right behind her, no now he was right beside her again.
Finally, they saw the summit and Mac sped up feeling how her body worked, how it hurt, but she ignored it as she pushed on and just focused on reaching the summit. She wanted to beat him.
"Yes!" She cheered as she reached the summit first and heard Daiki right behind her. She ignored the looks she got from some of the tourists that were there as she allowed herself to fall to the ground and laid on her back staring up at the clear blue sky.
Daiki sat down next to her and smiled at her, "I guess you won."
"No guess about it," Mac grinned. "I beat you."
"Hah," Daiki shrugged but he smiled slightly and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and she saw that he was breathing a little harder than normal.
Daiki was breathing harder and felt exhausted. When was the last time he had pushed himself that hard? He wasn't even sure why he did so now… well, it was probably because of the girl next to him. He glanced at her and fought hard to not stare at her noticing how her t-shirt clung to her body and her chest rising up and down rapidly. He forced himself to look away and swallowed trying to direct his thoughts away from that.
She was breathing much harder than normal herself as well and she felt a little gross with how sweaty and wet her t-shirt felt as it clung to her body as her chest went rapidly up and down. She felt parched but she wasn't sure she could get her legs to obey her in order to go and find water.
"Here," a voice said and she looked up or rather to the side to see Harasawa looking at her and Daiki holding out water bottles. "You're the first ones here."
"Thank you, coach," Mac said as she accepted the bottle before he tossed the other one to Daiki who grunted out; a thanks. "I know we lost the others a while back."
Harasawa nodded.
Mac opened the bottle and took a deep sip from the water feeling the cold liquid hit her throat and felt much better as she started to gulp it down. She really hadn't realised just how thirsty she was. She didn't stop drinking until the bottle was empty.
"Good job you two," Harasawa said smiling. "I shouldn't be surprised that you were the first ones up and you beat the record doing it."
Daiki grinned but tried to look like he didn't care, making Mac chuckle and shake her head a little as she looked back at Harasawa.
"Thanks," she said. "It felt good to really push myself again."
...
"Hey, Mac!" Okamura greeted when she and the rest of Too came back down the mountain and into the gym where Yosen were doing some exercises. "You back already."
"Hey, Okamura," Mac nodded. "I guess so."
Daiki grabbed her hand and pulled her away making her blink confused and it only went up when she saw Atsushi glaring at Okamura as well. She sighed. They were being overprotective again for some reason she couldn't even fathom.
"What are you doing, Daiki?" she asked.
"Nothing," he grunted. "Just we should get started with the practice. Right?"
Mac stared at him.
"Okay, who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?" Mac asked.
Daiki scowled at her making her smile as she turned her attention back to her team who was still grumbling over how tired they were and how their legs felt like they were going to fall off. She felt her smile widen.
"Come on, guys!" She said. "Let's play!"
"Mac…you're inhuman…" Abe mumbled. "How can you even think about playing now?"
"Easy," Mac said. "Come on. It's not that bad."
They gave her looks of different variations of incredulousness but she just smiled.
They split up in two and Mac (in agreement with Harasawa) told one team to work on defence while the other was going to work on the offence, and after a while, they changed.
...
Araki glanced over at the other side of the court where Too Academy had just started their practice. She had heard Harasawa order them to get to the base of the mountain after breakfast so she guessed they'd had some sort of exercise in the mountains. She had considered having her team running up some of the trails herself.
She pushed a strand of her dark hair out of her face as her dark brown eyes landed on the girl on the other team. Her reddish dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail but even from where Araki was standing she could tell that some loose strands had escaped and was now framing her face. Her complexion was on the pale side but it looked like it had a healthy flush in her cheeks, probably from running outside.
Araki was…curious. Oh, she knew who she was. How could she not when all Atsushi was talking about (besides his sweets of course) was Mac and how she had promised to make him more sweets. But yeah, Araki knew who she was. Potter Mackenzie of Teiko, of the Generation of Miracles. She was the brains behind them, the one who pushed them and made them so strong.
She wanted to know more about this girl who seemed to love basketball just as much as she did. If only she had been thinking straight back when she had gone to recruit players... She should have done something to make the girl join Yosen and follow along with Atsushi to their school. Their team would be really great then.
But there was nothing she could do to change that now. But to think, that she had ended up in Too Academy and having Harasawa as a coach? It was inconceivable. He was such an arrogant bastard and only victory was on his mind.
Could he really see Mac as a worthy player? She wasn't only a bench warmer, was she? No, Araki was pretty sure she had seen her name mentioned as one of the players during their match against Rakuzan in the Inter-High Finals.
So, how had Mac ended up at Too Academy? Maybe she had followed that friend of hers? Aomine Daiki was a strong Ace, there was no denying that. But that didn't explain why Harasawa seemed to rely so much on Mac.
That jerk. He loved messing with her head, and never could admit that she was good and a strong player! Just because she was a girl…
The memory of the first time she met him back when she had finally made the women's national team came back to her. She remembered being so excited and she could barely sleep because of it. She had met the men's team before their match started and while Aida Kagetora and Takeuchi Genta had been kind and welcoming, Nakatani Masaaki and Shirogane Eiji had been more reserved but had greeted her politely enough, it was Harasawa she remembered best. And not for a good reason. He had glanced at her before he had looked away without saying a word and just went back to his conversation with their coach. Dismissive. Like she wasn't worth his time.
Oh, she had fumed about it for hours. The other girls on the team told her that it was just how he was, arrogant and had a one-track minded, they told her to let it go but how could she when he looked at her like she wasn't worth the national jersey?
Arrogant bastard.
So why would he allow a girl on his team? And not only as a manager? Just what was so special about her that even cut through Harasawa's ridiculous principles?
She looked back at her team and sighed as she saw Atsushi glaring at Okamura who was glancing over at Too and probably to Mac. Araki sighed again. They were going to cause trouble. She just knew it.
"Oi! You two! Get back to training before I make you run 50 laps around the resort!" Araki yelled.
Both Atsushi and Okamura paused and then paled before they hurriedly got back to their training.
Araki grumbled as she walked to the sidelines and picked up her notebook and made a note in the margins. She noticed Harasawa standing a few feet away from her watching his team but didn't seem to want to interfere.
...
"Harasawa," Araki greeted her voice cold.
"Araki," Harasawa glanced at her before his eyes went back to watching his team. "You seem to have your boys in order."
"They still cause trouble," she muttered.
Harasawa's lips twitched a little but he didn't say anything as he reached up and twisted a strand of his dark hair around a finger. He still had that habit, she noticed from the corner of her eyes. She had seen him do it a lot when he was thinking.
"You're not going to go and direct them?" Araki asked unable to stop herself. She just had to know.
"Hm?" Harasawa glanced at her almost absentmindedly.
"Your team," Araki rolled her eyes. He was just pretending not to understand what she meant. She was sure of it. "You're not going to direct them or tell them what to do?"
Harasawa smiled like he was amused. She felt a twitch develop. "Does it look like they don't know what to do?"
"No, but…" Araki frowned.
"Potter-san has it handled," Harasawa said. "She is more than capable of making them do this. Actually, this is her exercise."
Araki arched a brow surprised despite herself. "You let her decide your training?"
Harasawa actually laughed as he glanced at her and then back at Mac who had stopped what she was doing and was now scolding Daiki and Wakamatsu who both was glaring and looking away from each other.
"She's very talented, Araki," Harasawa said. "Not unlike you yourself back in the day. Potter-san can reach far in the basketball world if she ever wants to."
Araki fought the oncoming blush at the unexpected compliment from Harasawa. She had not expected him to say something like that to her, but she refused to blush and allow him to see that the comment actually pleased her. So Araki looked over at Mac who seemed to have handled the two boys even if they were still glaring at each other.
"I would never have believed you to be one to allow so much freedom to one of your players, Harasawa," Araki said. Especially one who is a girl.
"I do oversee her training menus of course," Harasawa said. "She's still a student and I know she has a lot to do, but the way she thinks, the way she can see the players with their strengths and weaknesses… it's meant to be nourished and developed. It's fascinating to watch her develop and grow both as a manager and as a player."
"I see," Araki said. "Curious."
...
Mac had dinner duty and since Yosen was making dinner at the same time they decided to join forces so to speak and just prepare the food together. So she found herself working alongside Himuro.
"You can cook?" Mac glanced at the way he worked; he looked more secure than some of the others who were looking at the vegetable in a way that made Mac wonder if they had ever even seen a carrot before.
"Yes," Himuro nodded. "I enjoy cooking. It was something I did together with my grandmother; she would teach me a lot of Japanese traditional meals."
Mac smiled and nodded, "I see. Are you from Akita?"
"No, I'm from Tokyo," Himuro said. "But I lived in the States for many years before I moved back at the beginning of this school year and decided that I wanted to attend Yosen. They're a boarding school so it fit with what I wanted."
"So, your parents didn't move back to Japan?" Mac asked curiously as she glanced at him.
"No," he said.
Mac wondered why he moved back here. Suspicion rose in her mind but she didn't voice it. Not yet.
They worked in silence for a while and both seemed content enough doing that. Mac was eventually pulled away to help Yamaguchi and Nakano with their tasks and had to leave Himuro for now, but she made a mental note to make sure to talk to him more before the training camp ended. She wanted to be sure she had the right idea about him.
...
Mac was grateful that there was a convenience store close by so she could buy what she needed to make the sweets she had promised Atsushi. She grumbled a little but it wasn't that big of a deal. She had made it before so it wasn't that difficult. She was glad that there was a kitchen in her cabin so she didn't have to ask Harasawa in order to borrow one.
She quickly had it done and put in the fridge in order for it to freeze before she picked up Nao who had been watching her and making her way out of the door. The sweets should be ready by tomorrow.
...
Atsushi yawned as he sat beside Himuro on a bench outside the building the dining hall was in and the mountain was in the background of their activities. The laughter and chatter rose up toward the mountain witnessing of life and cheerfulness.
"Mac-chin…" Atsushi pouted. "I want to see Mac-chin…"
"You're so impatient, Atsushi," Himuro commented.
"Where is your friend, Murasakibara?" Okamura asked looking around.
"Oh, Okamura-captain has found a target for his search for a girlfriend," Fukui smirked.
"Sh-shut up," Okamura blushed.
"Oh? You fancy the Too manager?" Liu asked in a disinterested way.
Himuro wasn't sure if he should laugh or if he should warn his team to run because Atsushi had gone quiet and had even stopped munching on his chips.
"Um, guys?" Himuro said. "I think you probably should stop talking now…"
"Eh? Why?"
"I'll crush you!" Atsushi growled and grabbed Okamura's shirt and even if the other boy was tall and strong Atsushi managed to drag him closer. "Stay away from Mac-chin!"
"O-oi," Okamura protested.
"Mac-chin is…" Atsushi started to say before he was interrupted.
"Oi! Murasakibara," Mac stepped in having walked upon them without their noticing. "Why are you grabbing everyone left and right lately? I told you; it's not polite."
"Mac-chin," Atsushi whined but let go of Okamura who straightened his shirt as he glanced at Mac and smiled at her. She nodded politely to him but looked back at Atsushi again with an arched brow.
"Kenzie!"
They all turned to see Daiki standing a few feet away, glowering a little as he glanced at Okamura before arching a brow at Mac.
"Well, see you later," Mac said to the Yosen and patted Atsushi on the arm as she jogged over to Daiki who smiled at her and pulled her to the seat next to him and the others on their team.
...
...
AN: What do you think? XD
So, the training camp will take place over two chapters. Not really the plan but I didn't want to rush it, so it will be two chapters rather than one. I hope you liked Murasakibara entrance in the chapter. I liked the point some of you made in the comments/reviews that he doesn't get as much attention, so that's why I chose him. :)
Hope you liked the chapter! XD Thank you so much for reviewing, favouriting and following to my story! I really appreciate it! :) It always helps me to stay motivated to keep writing even when I feel tired and don't feel like writing. But thinking that people like it and are waiting for updates really helps me to push myself to keep writing. And I can't believe that the story has reached 80 chapters... XD So thank you!