A/N: Thanks to everyone who followed and favourited and reviewed! It makes me very happy.
Here's another chapter, I hope it won't feel like a filler one.
Enjoy!
I hold you in the safest place I keep. Somewhere between memories and scars. ― Nicole Lyons
If I have left a wound inside you, it is not just your wound but mine as well. ― Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood
Dance music is an emotional journey. It's how well you can make people feel something that they haven't felt. – Steve Aoki
Dance is the timeless interpretation of life. ― Shah Asad Rizvi
My passion and fire run deep through my veins, my blood, there's no doubt about that. – Carolyn Aronson
When someone won't let you in, eventually you stop knocking. ― Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Once a brother, always a brother; no matter the distance, no matter the difference and no matter the issue. – Byron Pulsifer
When a friendship crumbles, there are only really two things that can bring it back: a shitload of time, or a sincere apology. ― Dahlia Adler, Just Visiting
Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability. – Roy L. Smith
Haruka couldn't sleep. He was rolling on his bed but sleep wouldn't come to him. He'd had no idea Taiga would actually go as far as punching Peter and he surely hadn't expected the latter to act like a disgustedly spoiled overgrown kid; he'd been shocked to the point he couldn't have reacted. And Helena's intervention, the scolding she'd given her son in front of everyone… They'd left immediately. But he wasn't sure if he'd done it for Aya's sake, or for his own.
Now he finally understood, finally saw, why his kids hated the Fairchilds.
He hadn't seen that face of his long business partners and it disturbed him. What's more, Seth had warned him before, he just hadn't listened, hadn't wanted to see it. Then, did it make him any better than they were? He chose to shut out his own children over the business. Aya was right, he'd never listened.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes. It was pointless to squeeze them hoping for sleep to come. He walked towards his workroom which was connected to his bedroom and poured himself a glass of whiskey. The room was illuminated by the moon and he didn't bother to turn the lights on. He slumped into his chair and rested his legs on top of his huge desk.
For a few minutes he remained sitting there, sipping his whiskey in the darkness. He had no idea what to think anymore. He didn't want to admit his mistakes, after all, he'd only done what he'd thought was the right thing to do. His children were well educated and they didn't know material scarcity. Maybe he had no idea about their friends, fears, joys or hobbies, but he wasn't that terrible. Or was he?
Then his eyes rested on the wrapped gift the twins had thrown away and he felt another surge of regrets hit him like a wave. Reinforced by the whiskey, he took the small package into his hands and turned on a small table light. He was both, curious and scared.
Slowly, he tore off the wrapping paper. He hesitated for a moment and then opened the box. A small, folded card was covering the actual gift.
He took it in his fingers and opened it under the light.
'We found it in a book when cleaning the study room. We think you should have it back.
-Aya and Taiga'
The handwriting on the note was neat and delicate, and he suspected it was Aya's, but he wasn't sure. He frowned and looked at the gift itself.
It was his silver medallion with a thick chain. He gasped and covered his mouth, picking it up with a shaky hand. The medallion had meant so much to him. It was something he and Keiko'd had made right after the twins were born. Matching silver medallions. On the front side there was a depiction of a basketball and pointes. They'd sure been a strange couple; a pro basketball player and a pro ballet dancer… On the back there were a date – 2nd August and words Keiko had chosen to describe their family. At the time she hadn't known how right her choice had been. She'd simply come to love the quote.
Haruka turned the medallion and read the words he'd already forgotten.
'Love conquers all.'
"Eh?" He blinked, realising that tears were slowly streaming down his cheeks. He'd come to think he was incapable of crying.
A desperate chuckle escaped his lungs and he almost choked on it.
"Why was I trying this hard to forget you?" He whispered to the medallion as if it was Keiko herself in French – the language he'd forbidden his kids to use in the house – but the one he'd never forgotten. "When all I needed to do was remember… I'm sorry."
He put it down on the desk and rubbed his face, squeezing his eyes. Everything he was trying so hard to push away was suddenly, crashing down on him like a huge violent wave. All the mistakes he'd done…
Keiko's medallion was hidden somewhere, he had no idea where anymore. Probably somewhere at his parent's place. He remembered putting the medallion away after Keiko had died. He hadn't wanted it. He hadn't wanted any of it… The heartbreak, the hurt, the bonds with the family… But now… He felt a strong need to get it all back.
######
Aya woke up with a headache. She hadn't been drunk exactly, but she slightly overdid it. She sat up, realising that Taiga was lightly snoring next to her and she was in his room, not hers as she'd thought. They were both still dressed and grains of sand which fell off of their clothes dirtied the bed sheets.
She rubbed her eyes, realising she hadn't removed her make-up and glanced at the clock. It was well past nine in the morning – too late for her as she was used to getting up around five AM.
"You alive?" She nudged Taiga with her foot.
At first he didn't answer, so she nudged him again.
He groaned and rolled on his side turning his back on her.
"Taigaaaaa." She whispered eerily and kicked his foot.
"Wh…. Mmmm?!" He blabbered sleepily.
"Rise and shine! We need to practise."
"Mhm… 10 mor' min's."
With a sigh she gave up. She shuffled to the bathroom, took a quick cold shower and treated her wounds like Gabi had told her to. It was too hot outside to do anything, but they needed to practise. The first competition was tomorrow. Her leg hurt but she was determined to win it. She changed into her practise clothes; short shorts, a sports bra and a loose sleeveless t-shirt.
The bruise on her cheek looked scary, but she wasn't planning to leave the house. No need wasting time to cover it up. She left her thigh without bandages too. She wanted the stitched wound to breathe in this hot weather. At least for the time being.
She brought Taiga a glass of water and a painkiller from her room; she suspected he might need one too. After trying to wake him up again (unsuccessfully) she headed down to the kitchen to fetch some breakfast.
"Monkey! Wait for meee!" Kouta's voice and thumping feet stopped her on the staircase. He barely managed to halt on the edge. "Whoah, you look like an Onryou." He shivered. In Japanese folklore, Onryo were one of the most dreaded types of ghost; a vengeful, wrathful and very powerful spirit showing the wounds which caused their death. And Aya with her dark purple cheek, dark circles under her eyes and bruised thigh full of stitched cuts and scratches looked quite scary.
She rolled her eyes. "And I'm here to haunt you till the day you die." She said eerily and walked down the stairs.
"Are you limping?" He asked curiously.
"No! Dammit! What is it with the two of you saying I'm limping?" She flared up. First Taiga, now him… Urgh! "I'm not! I'm just taking it easy because it hurts!"
"In other words, you're limping." He said smugly, provoking her further.
"Oh, fuck you."
"Who will? You?" His voice was cheerful and he was obviously in a good mood. And even if Aya glared at him, he raised his arms in defensive gesture. "Sheesh, I'm joking. Someone sure woke up on the wrong side of the bed."
"Obviously. My whole being hurts and I'm hungry, so if you don't want me to bite your head off, leave me alone. ...at least until I've eaten."
"All right, Monkey!" He saluted and laughed; happily hopping down the stairs like a big puppy. He'd been drinking too, but not as much and he was kind of used to it, so it didn't affect him.
Aya entered the kitchen and her original scowl deepened. Haruka was sitting at the table reading news on his tablet. Apparently he decided for a home office, or a vacation. She couldn't care less. However, what pleased her was Gabriela standing by the stove, stirring oatmeal. She decided to act as if Haruka didn't exist in the space of the kitchen.
"Morning Gabi, is that for me?" Aya sniffed the air and glanced at the food expectantly. To underline her curious gaze her stomach rumbled.
Gabi laughed. She wasn't surprised by Aya's use of Spanish when Haruka was sitting there and she gladly accustomed to it; especially when she saw the big frown settling on Haruka's face. "I'm surprised you want to eat after yesterday. You were cute stumbling up the stairs."
"I wasn't that drunk, Gabi, I remember everything." She grumbled and her nose wrinkled cutely when she frowned. "And I'm starving."
"I don't doubt that." She turned off the stove; the oatmeal was just about done. "Maple syrup, pecans and cinnamon?" She asked.
"Yes please!" Aya sat at the bar table they had, ignoring Haruka sitting at the dining table. "How'd you know I was awake?"
"I heard the water running and I thought you'd enjoy a good breakfast."
"You're amazing! I love you."
Gabriela smiled softly at the girl. She wasn't blessed with a child and so she was really happy when these two ran to her as if she was their mom; though she could probably be their grandmother. "Love you too, Robin."
"The bruise…" Haruka was staring on Aya's cheek with wide eyes. The medallion he actually wore on his neck, hidden under the linen shirt, felt heavy.
Aya turned her head to him and her smile disappeared. "Huh?"
"The bruise," he repeated, realising she had it thanks to him; regretting the incident even more than before. He wanted to apologise. But… the only words coming out of his mouth were: "you should cover it up."
Kouta and Gabi froze, waiting for Aya's reaction.
Shit… He thought immediately after the words left his mouth and he saw Aya's expression turning bitter and scornful.
"…" She took a deep breath and snorted. Why would she expect anything else? "…Right…" She got up, took her bowl of oatmeal and headed outside through a big glassy door connecting the kitchen with the garden. "I'll eat outside with Ivan and the dogs." She told Gabi and left.
Kouta followed after her with his fruit yoghurt. He didn't want to be in one room with the man.
"Smooth." Gabi said witheringly. "You realise you're the one who gave her the bruise. Is it really that difficult to just apologise? Not that the words would mean much to her."
"Tch." He got up and left too.
######
Derek just finished tending to cars. He was supposed to drive Haruka to work in the morning, but instead, he was told to clean the cars. It was 4 cars – quite a lot of work. It took him the whole day. But there was one more he couldn't touch and he was lovingly staring at a very well kept Ford Mustang 1966 fastback he'd love to try driving but it was off limits. The keys were nowhere near the others and he had no idea who drove it; because Haruka didn't seem to be driving it either.
It was evening already and he should head home. He wondered if he'd ever have the privilege to live in the huge mansion like the previous two drivers he'd known about. He liked his job and he wanted to be as helpful as possible. The other two servants were very nice to him and the paycheck was very generous too…
He sighed. "Maybe one day…" He said to the beautiful pitch black car in front of him.
"Wanna take her for a ride?" Aya's voice interrupted his moment and he abruptly turned around.
"Uhm… I…" He stuttered. "Sorry for yesterday miss!" He blurted out bowing deeply. "I didn't want to… I'm sorry!"
Aya blinked at him in surprise. She didn't expect him to do that. She was just passing by the huge, wide open garage after a day-long practise with Taiga and noticed him dreamily staring at their car. That and she impulsively decided to give him a second chance, because his reaction the other day might've been caused by Haruka's presence and she wasn't exactly nice to Derek either.
"That's fine. I know what's being said about me."
"That's not... you're not… I just didn't know how to react! I'm sorry. Damn, I'm an idiot." He blushed and rubbed his face. It was almost cute. Then he peeked at her through his fingers and his hands came down in shock. For the first time he'd noticed the bruise on her face and bandaged thigh. She was sweaty, some of the loose strands of her hair were stuck to her neck and face, her sleeveless top was drenched and her cheeks were still heated. The dogs standing by her left leg were lazily wagging their tails and looking at him.
"What? You're a part of the house now; don't expect me to walk around here in that party dress all the time. You're not exactly wearing a suit either." She said with a grin, measuring his grey t-shirt and loose shorts stained from oil and water. He was barefoot and his hair was a mess. But now she noticed he was surprisingly well build and muscled. Although Taiga was taller and wider, the guy certainly wasn't weak and lanky.
"Ah… Sorry." He looked away. She was younger than him, but not that much, and she was damn hot; he shouldn't have been noticing that.
"Back to my original question. Do you wanna take her for a ride?"
"Her?" He blinked at the car.
"We call her Karasu, Crow. She's Taiga's and mine. And we need to go and deal with all the paperwork regarding our driving licences. So… We can take Karasu and you'll give us a ride."
"Really?!" He asked, his eyes glowing like a little kid under a Christmas tree. He realised how idiotic he must've looked and added: "Ehm…Oh… Will anyone be in the office now? It's too late."
She shrugged. "I know who to call to deal with things when I need. I'll go get ready, I'll fetch Taiga and the keys and we'll meet here in half an hour. You don't need to wear a suit per se, just change into something clean, please."
"Understood." He was so excited he saluted at an attention position.
Aya raised an eyebrow at him. "Military high school?" She asked. "Or a very strict father?"
He laughed nervously and scratched his cheek in embarrassment. "California military Institute… I never knew my father."
"Oh... Sorry."
"It's fine." He shrugged nonchalantly. "He never cared and neither have I."
"You're smarter than me then." She smiled and turned to leave. She wondered if her father made the choice based on Seth's previous occupation. Because as far as she knew, the driver before Derek was some former taxi driver who had gotten fired after Haruka had caught him stealing stuff. Maybe Haruka thought that a guy with military school was more prone to listen and less prone to do shady things. "See you in half an hour." She added over her shoulder.
"Yeah…" He nodded, mystified by the young woman.
Daiki was feeling dead tired after his first shift at his grandma's diner. He had no idea it could be so tiring to run back and forth with food the whole day. And that he'd have to remember all the orders. He'd messed up a few times and grandma'd been scolding him the whole day too. He was supposed to smile, to hell with that. He wasn't someone to wear a professional smile no. 5. His job was to take orders and carry the food and drinks. That was it. She should know it.
He was lying on Klahan's bed staring at the ceiling and waiting for his friend to come back with drinks and snacks so they could start with another video game Klahan had bought. He didn't want to come, but Klahan dragged him here after his shift.
"You look like death." Klahan pointed out when he walked into the room with a tray.
"Yeah? Now you agree?"
"Oh, come on, it's holiday, when else would you stay up late?"
"I'd really like to go home and sleep."
"Who're you kidding? You wouldn't sleep anyways. You're still not used to your old room."
"And why do you think that is?" He raised an eyebrow, trying to make Klahan feel guilty for always forcing him to stay up late and play basket and go swimming, and basically all the activities they did.
"I have no idea." Klahan smiled innocently and started setting the game and two consoles.
With a sigh, Daiki slid onto the ground and seated himself, resting his back against the bed comfortably.
Suddenly a high pitched squeal of Klahan's little sister, Malee, shook the entire house. The whole neighbourhood must've heard her.
"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO SLEEP!" Klahan's mother shouted across the house annoyed by the girl's indiscipline. The girl was barely nine and she had a curfew at ten. It was already past that.
But Malee wasn't bothered by that, she stormed into Klahan's room like a tornado, holding their shared tabled, squealing and jumping in excitement. She even ignored Daiki whom she still considered scary and grumpy.
"Hey, hey, what's up?" Klahan asked with his hands up in a pacifying gesture and ready in case he needed to protect the consoles and games that were already set on the ground from the little stomping and squealing hurricane.
She continued to jump around and squeal for a couple more moments until she calmed down enough to speak. She sat down with her cheeks flushed and her eyes were shining with excitement.
"She has a new video! She has a new video!" Malee rambled. "And with someone new! And those moves… And those… Urgh! So violent, like they are fighting, but dancing… but… but… No one really wins… It is amazing! They got the highest score! Klahan… I wanna do it too! I want to be like her!" She blurted out. It didn't really make sense to them. "And if you saw that..."
"What is she talking about?" Aomine asked perplexed and wondered if he'd ever looked so fiery about his basketball idols when he was a kid. And if so, he wanted everybody to forget about it. But Malee looked like she was talking about her living breathing superheroes she'd never met. It was almost cute.
Klahan shrugged. "She loves dancing, but there are no clubs around here up to her tastes. And around Christmas she discovered this youtube channel with videos of several dancers. It's called… 'pink dreads' or something stupid like that. Profile picture is some weird dreadlock hairdo without a face, but the videos there are solid. Some even commented in English or Japanese with five different subtitles available, not that she understands either of them, but she's been trying to learn dancing from the videos… She has a favourite pair there… uhm…" He didn't really remember the names as he was totally disinterest in his little sister's obsession. "Well… There were no new videos with them since Malee's discovered the channel."
Daiki narrowed his eyes. Dreadlocks and pink… That reminded him of someone very memorable he'd met before. Comments in Japanese and English…
"What?" Klahan asked, staring at his friend. "Don't tell me youknow what she's blabbering about." Daiki certainly wasn't someone who'd know what the word 'dance' means, let alone being aware of some particular pair or channel.
"Huh? Heck no…" He denied immediately.
Klahan narrowed his eyes. "But you have a suspicion."
"Nah, there was this guy with pink dreadlocks, who showed up at one practise looking for Aya, but… It'd be a crazy coincidence if it was his channel..." His voice trailed off.
"Malee?" He interrupted his sister, who was still blabbering about the difficulty and impossibility of the choreography.
"What?" She turned at Klahan.
"Can we actually see the video, or are you gonna blabber the whole night? We have no idea what you're trying to describe."
She puffed her cheeks, offended by their lack of knowledge and shoved the tablet into his hands. Klahan shook his head and hit the play button. The video had a short commentary at the beginning. He wanted to skip it, when he realised it was in Japanese and there was a guy in the room who could very well translate for them.
"What's he saying?" He asked curiously.
Malee blinked at Daiki, sudden realisation dawning on her. The big grumpy guy spoke Japanese. Her fears were suddenly forgotten and she launched herself on Daiki's back, her head popping between the guys so she could see the video again.
"Translate for us!" She demanded loudly.
"Huh?!" Daiki growled displeased by the little baggage hanging on his back and shouting in his ear. "Get off you little leech."
"Am not! You overgrown oaf."
A vein popped on his forehead. "Hah?!"
"Now, now… Malee, you don't call him an oaf and ask politely. Or he won't help out."
She rolled her eyes. "Pleaaase!"
Daiki grumbled something incoherent and shook his head, but he didn't try to throw the little annoying girl off his back. He returned the video back to start so he'd finally hear what the commentary was about.
What a softie… Klahan thought and laughed quietly at his friend with Malee comfortably hanging on his back.
"Hello, hello! It's been a long time since my last posting, maybe a few weeks! But! Here's a video of a great pair, my fellow twins entering the acro competition for the first time and dancing together like this for the first time too! Can they win?" The voice announced cheerfully and the video showed a relatively big crowd of people around a small stage. "If you've watched my other videos you might know who I'm talking about!" Now the camera turned, showing two redheads dressed in tight but comfortable costumes. Taiga's was pitch black and Aya's wine red. "No one else than the most awesome Kagami Aya and her brother Taiga!" The camera took them in properly from heads to their taped bare feet.
Hearing the name Klahan looked at his friend, whose mouth were hanging open as he stared at the stunning girl on the screen. Then he turned his eyes back to the screen too.
"Would you stop?" Taiga grumbled, obviously anxious and even Aya seemed to be shifting on her feet nervously, flexing her fingers. She was ignoring Kouta walking around them with his phone. "Oh, nervous, are we, little tiger?" Kouta provoked and quickly took a step back under Taiga's glare. The image went black, but the voice continued. "Well, well. Phew… That was intense. Now let's see their first arco performance. The video was taken by the competition's cameramen; I was just allowed to use it on my channel. If you like it, remember to like and subscribe! I love you guys!"
Malee paused the video and stared at Daiki expecting him to translate. And he did. Of course it wasn't a literal translation and he didn't use Kouta's cheesy antics.
Then he hit the play button himself. He was way too curious to let Malee do it.
The song started slowly. And so did the dance. But it escalated and he couldn't tear his eyes off the screen. It was so… The energy of that dance – even through the screen – was raw violence and aggression and bitterness. It looked like they were fighting yet no one got really hit. And the ease with which Taiga was lifting her, catching her, as if she weighted nothing… No, Daiki couldn't believe the big oaf could do that. Aya, he could imagine, yeah, but Taiga… And the obviously deep trust between them was unbelievable; some crazy things (like Aya jumping around his shoulder and neck from behind, without Taiga looking her way, or Taiga doing a handstand flip and landing his feet on the sides of her head) wouldn't have been possible without it. He wondered how long they had practised it.
Daiki's English wasn't that good yet, but he vaguely understood the lyrics.
The twins pictured the story presented by the song perfectly. Without saying anything, they made it perfectly clear that you don't win a fight, because you both end up on the ground dragging each other down in the end. And the bitter and angry look they exchanged at the end…
When the video ended the boys speechlessly stared at the black screen until Malee broke the stunned silence.
"Told ya! They're amazing!" She grabbed the tablet and ran to her room before mom would lose her nerve and come fetch her.
"The Kagami Aya?" Klahan asked, finally remembering where he'd heard the name before.
"None other…" Daiki nodded gravely.
"Wow… I'd never guess… The dancer… Well… I wouldn't have the courage."
"You don't have to."
That night Daiki binge watched all the idiot's videos regarding Aya. And there were quite a lot of them. She didn't mind that videos from her competitions were widely available and many of them were not filmed by Kouta himself, just taken from somewhere else and slightly edited.
Couple of days later, he received a simple message from Aya:
'Both competitions won. \(^ヮ^)/ See you in two weeks.'
"Aya?" Taiga softly rapped on her door the evening before their flight to the dancing training camp.
"Mhm?" She raised her head from her luggage she was neatly packing.
"Can we talk?"
"Should I worry?"
He shrugged and walked in. He sat on the ground next to her and crossed his legs. He sighed. "…Would you… would you be very angry if I didn't go with you to the UK?" He asked slowly, not meeting her eyes.
"You don't want to go?" She tilted her head to a side curiously. It surprised her, but she couldn't blame him.
"Well…" He scratched the back of his neck. "Suzu is not gonna be there. You're dancing with Kouta and… I thought I'd be more of use back in Japan, practising with my team? I want to win in the winter."
She was quiet for a moment, processing the news. She was already set that he was coming with her, she wanted him there. But he had a point. If he wanted to win in the winter he needed to practise basketball, not dancing, which was his main focus during the past few days.
"All right. Re-book your plane tickets then."
"Eh?" He blinked at her. "You're okay with it?"
She shook her head and laughed. "What? You thought I'd make a scene?"
"…Kinda? I promised you…"
"Nah, it's fine. You've got a point. And I do want you to win in the winter."
"You don't want Ahomine to lose though..."
"Don't call him that." She punched his shoulder in protest but then she shrugged. "I still think he should. You know, just to remember the feeling."
"And you say you love him."
"I do. But I want to know him better too. There's so much I don't know…"
"Like what?"
"Like… How would he cope with a loss? How good is he in fighting? What kind of person is this Klahan? Or his grandma? Why exactly did he grow up in Thailand? Does he even remember it? What relationship did he have with his former team? What scares him? I can only guess, based on Kuroko's and Satsuki's stories, but… He doesn't really talk much about himself."
"I'd be surprised if he did. And there I thought you knew everything you could."
"I don't. I might get how he thinks, or I like to believe it, buuut…"
"Wait… didn't you read Satuski's file on him? You said she had one... I thought she definitely gave it to you."
"She did. But I only read his measures, basketball stats and stuff I needed to make a picture of his skills. Then I returned it to her."
"Why?"
"Feels different when I can figure things out on my own."
"You're weird."
"We both are." She said gravely. "So… I'll see you again in over three weeks?"
"Seems like it."
"Call me once in a while, 'kay? Make sure I haven't throttled Kouta, or anyone else."
I wouldn't mind if you strangled Kouta… "Ray?"
She shook her head. "He isn't coming. And I'm surprised he didn't show up at that Samba competition yesterday. I was 100% sure he would."
"He was on the list, right?"
"Yeah. He was. Maybe the princess got cold feet?"
"Cowards." He snorted. "She knows she can't win so she won't participate. Kinda twisted, eh?"
"She's always been like that. And she's too old to put pins in my shoes now. Maybe it's for the best. Though I'd like to see if Ray improved or not. I think she's pulling him down."
"Do you actually miss him? You argued about everything."
"Except dancing." She nodded with a sigh and leaned against her bed. "Well, I do miss his skill set. Ray was extraordinary. Kouta's great, instinctive, talented… He can hear the rhythm but… I don't know. Ray was the best fit for me."
"Do you want to compete again?"
"…" She wondered. Did she? Sure, she'd just reminded herself what it felt like, but she didn't have a dancing partner and Kouta was studying in L.A. "Definitely not on the world level again... But… Some local competitions… Maybe… Nah, I don't have a partner anyways, so it doesn't matter."
"Heh… I knew you wouldn't stay out of it for too long. Finding a partner is a matter of a day for you."
"I'm used to a certain standard, so no, it's not a matter of a day. And I'm too curious about your Winter cup to have my attention divided two ways. I don't do things half-assed."
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" Haruka's voice thundered through the closed door on the Monday morning. "LINDSAY! COME HERE!"
"Yes?" She peeped as she poked her head into his office, staying half hidden behind the door. He wasn't violent or anything, but given his current mood, she wouldn't be surprised if he threw something against the wall. She just wanted to be sure she was out of the shot.
"Why is this signed?!" He was staring at Aya's leaving form. There was his signature approving it, but he didn't remember she'd talked with him about it. Truth to be told, she wasn't talking with him at all. "I didn't allow her to leave the company?!" She was still a part owner, and was getting part of the profits but she'd decided she wouldn't work there as a 'part-timer' anymore.
"Uhm… Because you signed it?" Lindsay reminded him. "She probably put it on the pile of papers on your desk. You don't always read everything… Especially if it's from HR."
"You're supposed to go through it before me!"
"And I did. I put the checked file with my sticky notes on your desk on the Friday evening." She defended herself. "It's not my fault she has keys from everywhere." But she's a clever girl…
Haruka took the paper and intended to tear it apart.
"Stop." Her voice halted him. "Are you sure you want to wage a war with her? She has a right to leave the job if she wants."
"I can't lose someone who does the perfect job!" He blurted out. Then he blinked, surprised by his own words. It was something he hadn't realised before.
"Why don't you try talking with her about it? Like a father? Or maybe like a boss, if you can't do it any other way?"
He snorted. "She's completely ignoring me." He admitted with a sigh and slumped into his chair, all of his anger dissipating. He couldn't really blame her for doing this. He had no idea how to make things right. It was too fucked up to just apologise; he didn't know how to and she probably wouldn't listen anyways. He had no idea what to do. "And they left on Saturday."
"Where to?" Lindsay asked. She walked into the office and closed the door behind her.
"I have no idea." He said and rubbed his thick stubble. He hadn't shaven since the party at Fairchilds; he could barely sleep and it was starting to take its toll.
Lindsay sighed and decided for honesty. She still had her job after all. "That's sad." She said and sat opposite him. "You know, I don't keep in contact with my father. In fact, I hate him for all the wrongs he did. He is a bad person who only ever cared for himself, who used us, stole from us, never cared… We lived in a trailer. I tried, I really tried to see some good in him, but I was only disappointed. So I closed the door." She went quiet for a moment, staring right at him. She wasn't ashamed about her past anymore.
He looked at his assistant with renewed interest. He didn't know. When he was hiring her, he was only interested in her education, abilities, language skills and representative looks. He needed a loyal assistant he could trust and depend on.
"But you're not a bad person. You just got drowned in self-pity and gave up on them while they were trying to reach out to you, Kagami Haruka-san." She continued. "Still, I think Aya-chan hasn't fully closed the door. I think she tried to slam it, but it bounced back and is left ajar. I think she's more disappointed and angered by your passivity than anything else. And so is, I believe, Taiga-kun. Saddened, hurt, angered and disappointed. I'm not saying they'll ever rely on you like they did before. They've learnt how to live without you. But if those two are all you have left of your own family… Isn't it worth trying? Isn't it time for you to try and throw them an olive branch? If you read the e-mails, you'll see how many of those branches they threw to you."
"Not like it'll be easy." He grumbled, unconsciously touching the medallion hidden under his shirt.
Lindsay frowned at him. "You can't bring back eight years with one word, or any word for that matter."
It was his turn to frown. "You know awfully lot."
"Gabriela-san called me last week…" She said. "For some reason, she thought you might listen to me."
Haruka stared at the young woman for a few seconds and she calmly withstood his stare. Then he waved with the papers he was still holding in his hand. "Get me some coffee."
"Right away."
"So you're going home earlier?" Klahan was sad to hear the news. Daiki'd been there for barely three weeks, and he was leaving again. "Maaan… the time just flew by…"
"Yeah… But we have a training camp starting in five days. I want to be with the dogs a bit too. And I want to finally sleep." He yawned and rubbed his face.
"You'd better. I can't believe you caught the burning hot frying pan with your bare hand, because you were tired."
"It seemed easier than catching the idiot who pulled it off the stove… what was her name again?"
"Oh come on! It's Kim! Three letters! The second most beautiful girl in the neighbourhood who works in your grandma's diner and you don't even remember her name?!"
Daiki picked in his ear with his pinkie and yawned again. "First of all, her boobs are way too nonexistent… Second… She isn't bad looking, but she ain't that pretty."
Klahan rolled his eyes; he was having a crush on Kim for quite some time. And there was Daiki, who'd worked in the diner for a few days and won Kim's heart by saving her from the scorching frying pan, without caring about it or realising it. Daiki simply didn't care about anyone else besides Aya and he probably hadn't noticed Kim's secret stares and useless attempts to start a conversation. What an idiot… "Burn in hell."
"What? Why? I haven't even talked with her."
"Whatever man… I hope you'll finally get to kiss your girl, because you're unbelievable. I wonder what she sees in such a thickhead."
Daiki shook his head, smartly deciding to keep his mouth shut.
"Alright then," Klahan shrugged and hugged Daiki quickly, "bring her with you next time. I wanna meet her and Malee would be beside herself if she met her living breathing superhero."
"Maybe… I won't be back till next summer though. Try to get better."
"I'll beat your ass next time. I promise."
"Good to hear that." He smirked. For some reason he took Klahan as a serious opponent, even though the boy was far from his level. But he hoped Klahan could really get better, after all he'd gotten better in those few days they'd played basket together, so maybe… "Well, see you later."
He boarded a longtail boat which would get him from Koh Yao Noi to Phuket, from where he could take a flight home.
"See ya!"
"Damn! How can she do it?!" Taiga swore. He seemed to be unable to learn how to properly use chopsticks with his left hand. Unlike his sister, he was originally right handed and he'd never had the need to become ambidextrous. Aya had been too hyped and too eager to know everything back then. Now, he kind of regretted it. He should've taken up on her challenge.
"What are you even doing?" Kuroko asked him with a raised eyebrow. The half of all guests in the restaurant was staring at Taiga's pitiful tries to eat with his left hand, dropping his food and making a mess around his plate.
He was just trying to put a piece of broccoli into his mouth when he looked at Kuroko. And the treacherous green vegetable slipped from his chopsticks and fell onto the ground. "Aaargh! Shit! I've had enough!" He shouted and leaned down to pick up the food.
"Seriously, what's wrong with you man?" Kawahara asked him curiously.
"He said he needed to train his left hand…" Furihata explained with a shrug. He didn't really understand the wild redhead.
"…and my legs to endure continuous high jumps. Yeah, I need to get better in aerial battles." Taiga added, when his head appeared above the table again munching on the broccoli he picked up. "What?! Three second rule." He said innocently when Kuroko gave him one of his emotionless but slightly disgusted looks. Taiga wondered when he'd learned to distinguish those blank expressions...
"Urgh." One of the guys voiced his disgust but then shook his head. "What are you doing this weekend?"
"Oh, yeah, it's our rare free day."
"I usually just sleep in."
"I've got an idea!" Furihata said cheerfully. "What about this?" He fished out a poster from his bag and presented it to everyone. A streetball event, 5-on-5 matches in a park. He wanted to go.
"Huh? Streetball competition? On our precious day free of basketball?"
"Where is it even? Can we still enroll?"
"It's about 30 minutes by train and it says we can enroll on the same day too." Furihata explained. "And besides…" He looked at Taiga and Kuroko, sitting opposite him. "You two are regulars, but we don't get to play in matches. We want to compete too."
"Okay." Taiga shrugged, he was now eating with his hand, completely giving up on chopsticks. "Let's go then."
"Didn't you say you needed to get better in using your left hand?" Kuroko asked him perplexed.
"Urgh… I'll ask Aya for advice later on." He muttered grumpily.
"Where is she even? I'm surprised she hasn't come to check up on us yet."
"I've returned alone. Aya's in the UK, in her training camp. She should be back in 5 – 6 days? And she'll head straight to Touou's summer camp."
"Oh… too bad. I thought she'd be watching the competition." Furihata looked at the poster with dejected expression. Aya-san was too cheerful and energetic for him to feel comfortable around, but she was a nice person. And the senpais seemed to be fond of her as well.
Taiga shrugged. "I should've been with her you know… Nothing to be done about it."
"Daikiii!" Michiko shouted at him from the laundry room, sounding pissed off.
With a deep sigh he shuffled to her. If he yelled back, she'd get angry for real. "What?" He asked and leaned against the door frame.
"Could you go through your pockets before you throw your stuff to the laundry?" She huffed with a frown, throwing him a small roll of money.
He caught it with a frown. "My pockets were empty. And I surely wouldn't forget this there. What is it even?" He zoomed on the money, unrolled the stock and started counting the bahts. "Shit… I told her I didn't want any money."
"Language! Grandma gave it to you?"
"I guess." He shrugged. "I helped around the diner. And what's with that?" He took out a small note from his grandma saying 'You earnestly deserved it – use wisely. From Grandma ^.^'. He read it out loud.
And Michiko's jaw almost hit the ground. "Since when can you read the script?!"
"Aaah…" He scratched the back of his neck with a slight blush. "Klahan forced me to… So we could exchange e-mails, or something like that."
She laughed. "It was about time you learned. Well, isn't it good? If mama gave you that much, you must've really outdone yourself. I'm proud of you."
"Yeah…" He grumbled and looked away. There was the usual sadness that flashed in her eyes he couldn't understand at all.
Michiko quickly shook off the sudden wave of longing and smiled cheerfully. "Maybe you could buy a birthday gift for Aya-chan with that, eh? It's the first money you earned by yourself."
"Hey! I earned my scholarships by myself too." He protested.
"But it is different!"
He sighed. "Maybe later. I'll take Shiro and Kurome out." He said, slipping the money into his pocket, he should go and exchange it for yens soon.
"Didn't you want to go to that streetball event? It's close by…"
"Nah, it's no challenge. And watching those pathetic guys thinking they know streetball… I'll pass…"
She frowned. Daiki didn't usually talk with her about basketball, but his point of view worried her. For a moment he sounded so arrogant. "You sure no one interesting might show up there?"
He shrugged. "Maybe I'll give it a look for a bit. But I should rather stop by our gym… Satsuki will complain I haven't shown my face there at all…"
"Oh, yes. You definitely should go."
######
"Ho, the tournament's grander in scale than I thought." Fukuda commented when they entered the park, with Taiga, Kuroko and #2 in the lead.
Taiga didn't seem to be affected by the atmosphere and anticipation which was all too obvious among the crowd that was slowly gathering here. The feeling he got was more nostalgic than exciting. But there was something, or someone ticking him off. He narrowed his eyes at Kiyoshi who was tagging along; the only senpai in the group.
"Why are you here?"
"Mm?" Kiyoshi raised his eyebrows and smiled goofily. "Why not?"
"I don't mean that… Where's Kawahara?"
"He's down with the flu." Fukuda explained with a shrug.
"Hah…" Kuroko sighed. He was just as surprised by Kiyoshi's presence. He couldn't really guess what the senpai was thinking and it disturbed him.
Kiyoshi laughed. "Just relax and enjoy! I've come to back you up!"
"Yes." Kuroko muttered and they headed towards the booth to sign up for the competition.
…Feels like the states… Taiga thought and unconsciously played with the ring on his necklace. It really brought back memories.
They met the Seihou team by the booth. Both teams were shocked by the encounter, but they ended up eating snacks together and discussing their practises.
"What?" Taiga blinked at them, when he learned that Seihou's third years had already retired and Seihou wouldn't participate in the Winter cup.
"You're clueless about that?" Seihou's PG sighed and decided to explain. "The two teams representing our prefecture are chosen out of the top eight teams from the Interhigh."
He sighed, he kinda hoped for a rematch and another win. "So we won't compete against you again?"
"The teams from our block competing in winter are just Seirin and Shuutoku." The captain joined the explanations.
"So after we lost to you in the heats, we bade our club farewell. We're studying for university entrance exams now and doing basketball for fun." The PG said and got up. He was sad about leaving the club, but he wasn't regretting it. They all knew the clubs were only temporary and they had joined mainly for fun. Plus, they could still play in these kinds of events if they so wanted.
Captain Iwamura looked at Kiyoshi with obvious challenge in his smile. "If we're lucky, we'll finally settle the match that never happened last summer." He referred to the match right after Kiyoshi had gotten his injury.
"Ahaha…" Kiyoshi laughed. "Please don't be hard on me." He pleaded. He knew Iwamura as a fellow player for quite some time and he respected him.
"People don't forget grievances easily. Whatever bad blood there is, we hope we'll fully settle it." The PG smiled foxily. The rest of his team nodded and got up to leave as well. "We don't have all of our regulars here, but today, help us clear all debts and leave at peace so we can study."
"Well that was unexpected…" Taiga said and his hand reached for the necklace again. At least on the holiday he didn't need to hide it beneath his clothes. His thoughts drifted off and he didn't listen to what his teammates were discussing. He was looking around, observing people in the crowd as if he was looking for someone familiar.
Kuroko was observing his light carefully. There was something different about Taiga ever since he'd returned. "What are you thinking, Kagami-kun?"
"UH, WHOA!" He shuddered, letting go of the ring. Kuroko's voice coming from behind startled him. "Nothing much, it just brings back memories. The tournament's air feels the same here."
"Does it have something to do with the ring?" He asked curiously.
"Huh, why?"
"You've been fiddling with it. This ring, I've noticed that you keep it with you at all times." The ghostly boy said and everyone was suddenly looking at Taiga, expecting some back story.
Taiga sighed. Kuroko sure was very observant. Maybe he could try and explain… "This ring was a gift from someone I played basketball with. A very important gift to me."
"…You two must be close."
"Aaah… three of us, actually. Aya has the same one too." He touched the ring again. It helped him sort out his thoughts. "How can I describe before anyone misunderstands... The guy's not dead. Perhaps you could say we're close, but we just happen to have very different temperaments. He taught us basketball and sometimes we taught him as well. He's someone… someone whom I want to play against one more time and never again."
Kuroko stared at the redhead, who suddenly didn't look like someone wild and impulsive. A side of Taiga they didn't really know just popped up.
"Argh." The redhead shook his head. "Let's go, or we'll be late."
When they finally reached the court there was a huge commotion. It was the first match, Seihou's match. And the team that gave Seirin such a hard time in the Interhigh lost by full 19 points. Even Tsugawa, who was probably the best in defence, couldn't defend against one guy on the opposing team. He was devastated.
"How can that be?" "Who's that?" "How come he's so good?" The questions were repeated among the shocked spectators. Seiho was known as one of the kings, it was strange they were losing in a random unofficial match.
"What? Someone managed to defeat Seiho by a wide margin?"
To all those questions Taiga added one more. "…and why is he here?" He asked with wide eyes, knowing the unbeatable player very well. "Why the hell is he here?!" He repeated.
"…?!" Kuroko stared at him in surprise.
Iwamura and his team are no pushovers, and yet?! … If that bag is his… a player from Yosen? Kiyoshi thought, staring at the guy with pitch black hair covering half of his face.
"Tatsuya?!" Taiga pushed his way onto the court, his team mindlessly following after the impulsive redhead. There was a break after each match, so no one really cared. "What are you doing here?!" He switched to English immediately, surprising his whole team.
Tatsuya? They'd heard the name somewhere before. Kuroko was certain of it, he just couldn't remember where.
"Taiga?" Tatsuya smiled at him. "I've never expected to see you here. What a surprise."
Taiga snorted. "Huh… You don't look surprised at all. Still wearing that poker face of yours..."
"I'm not hiding my feelings though." Tatsuya said calmly. "I'm just expressing them in my own way. If you paid attention, you'd know. Just like Robin."
"Leave Aya out of it." He bristled. He hated when Tatsuya got his sister involved in their arguments. She had nothing to do with that stupid match and rivalry. It was their dispute, not hers. And every time Tatsuya unconsciously pulled her in, she was the one getting hurt the most.
"Oh… protective much?"
Taiga took a deep breath. "Why are you trying to provoke me?" He asked. It wasn't like Tatsuya at all. Hadn't Aya said they made up somehow, that they were still friends? Taiga didn't get it.
"Provoke you, little brother? Aren't you the one who ran away like a coward?"
"Tch… and what's the point of beating an injured idiot?!"
"Your friend?" Kiyoshi asked, feeling the atmosphere was getting tense between the two although he only vaguely understood the context. They were speaking too quickly and with an accent he wasn't used to. "Uhm… Is it …Tatsuya-kun, Kagami's friend?" He tried to use English too.
"Ah, sorry. I'm Himuro Tatsuya." Tatsuya apologised. "It's okay, speak in Japanese. We're just used to English… Wouldn't you agree, Taiga?"
Taiga huffed and looked away. He really didn't want to meet him out of all people. Maybe I somehow invoked him…
"Thank god." Kiyoshi sighed in relief. "That helps a lot."
"I'm not really his friend. If you must define it, I'd say I'm his big brother." Tatsuya answered the previous question. "Their... perhaps." He sighed.
Taiga scoffed. "Yeah…"
Taiga's team was staring at him expectantly.
"Okay," the redhead groaned, "we met by chance seven years ago. I was bad at making friends and I only ever hung out with Aya. But she had her competitions, her practises. My English wasn't all that good then and I used to drag my feet home every day after school. I wondered if I was just uninteresting, I wasn't special in anything. And one day… This guy popped up, chasing after a stray basketball. He invited me to try it out – they were missing a player."
Tatsuya chuckled. "Yeah, that's how our friendship began. Soon after he brought Aya to the court. Their father was a former professional player; despite that, they were pathetic back then. But they learned quickly and Aya could draw him out. You wouldn't believe it, but he used to be quite shy and closed up around strangers; especially after their mother's death."
"Oi!" Taiga frowned at him.
"What?" Kiyoshi asked blinking at Taiga. "You didn't tell us."
Taiga, still glaring at Tatsuya, shrugged. "You didn't ask."
"You don't go asking people around if their parents are alive… And you told us she was gone, we didn't think…" Kuroko muttered, looking at his big friend with curious eyes. There was so much more they didn't know about their ace.
"Oho? So it's not just Aya, who's keeping things to herself."
"Why are you such a dick?" Taiga asked. "I don't go around talking about your 'dirty laundry'."
"Sorry, sorry…" He shook his head. "I was certain they knew. Anyways…"
"At some point Tatsuya became our 'older brother'. We've never had an older sibling and somehow… Tatsuya felt like one. So he was drawn into the family. He bought the rings for us from some street stall selling cheap jewellery. And then we bought the chains, because it was inconvenient to play basketball while wearing a ring."
"Then I moved further away, so we met only once in a while…" Tatsuya continued smoothly. "And Taiga was getting better and better at basketball without my realisation."
"Then we figured out we joined opposing teams, which played a match each week for the right to use the court. And we started competing. That day was the first time I won against Tatsuya."
"Yeah, that felt really bad." Tatsuya hummed. "I was defeated by my little brother, who was getting taller than me. But our skills weren't that far apart and I won the next game. We played like that every week, losing and winning. The competitions continued for… give or take two years… Sometime during that I got closer with Aya…" He glanced at Taiga, asking for permission.
Instead, he decided to be the one saying it. "To the point of dating her. I had no clue, so it caused some arguments and disputes among us… Anyways we got to the point where there were 49 wins and 49 losses for each. Then another match he decided that if I won, he wouldn't be my older brother anymore."
"How could I call myself his older brother if I kept losing? It would be a shame. That's how I felt then and that's how I still feel."
"But his shoulder was hurt. I noticed he was acting strange, that his plays were off. And in the last deciding seconds when I should've and could've stopped him. I didn't."
"I missed that shot. But it wasn't just that, was it?" Tatsuya asked, observing the redhead. It was strange they managed to retell the story together. Nostalgia filled his veins and he actually missed the big loud gluttonous boy. Still, he believed he was in the right and Taiga had cowardly run away. "Not only that… They got the last attack. And Taiga purposefully missed the shot he could've made. Just so I wouldn't lose. He failed his team, because he didn't want to become my truthful rival. He looked down on me that day."
"There was no point in winning against an injured idiot! You couldn't give it your all, so why should I? We fought about it afterwards and you tore the necklace." Taiga said staring at Tatsuya's chain. "I'm surprised you still have it."
"It'd be pointless to bet on it and then throw it away, wouldn't it? Didn't Robin tell you?"
"Yeah…"
"Well," Tatsuya cleared his throat "I decided to treat the match as a draw and bet on our rings. If Taiga loses the next match we'll act as if the rings have never existed, if he wins, I won't be the older brother anymore… But there were other matters and they left L.A. soon after..."
"Other matters? Don't you remember what happened? You two broke up. You hurt her too. And you had the nerve to involve her in our fight. Like there wasn't enough on her plate. Older brother or not… I can't forgive you for that yet, even if she did." He said bitterly.
His team was watching both guys speechlessly. They were giving off rivalry, but also a deep bond that had once existed. Neither of them thought they were in the wrong.
Kiyoshi couldn't help but think that Tatsuya actually took advantage of Taiga. He knew Taiga only for a short period of time, but despite his wild looks, Taiga was a good guy who deeply cared about his friends and family and team. And in this 'bet' there was no way for Taiga to win. He'd either have to act like the rings had never existed, or he'd lose a brother. There was no win and Tatsuya didn't let him to have any word in it. It was shady and Kiyoshi wasn't surprised about how big the dispute had gotten. He felt that Taiga was deeply hurt by his best friend, his brother, and he wouldn't be surprised if this argument added to the break up either. He somehow admired how calm the redhead managed to be while telling the story. So he is similar to his sister after all… Maybe I should keep a better eye on him.
"Very good then." Tatsuya nodded with an unreadable smile. "We might settle it out right now, don't you think? I hoped we'd face off there, but there's never a day too early."
Kuroko was frowning. He was thinking something very similar to Kiyoshi senpai. He considered this dispute more serious than the drift which had opened between his former teammates. They didn't have bonds that close and they unanimously decided they wanted to compete and see who was the strongest. But Taiga didn't have such an ambition when it came to Tatsuya; he probably just wanted to mend the broken bond… But…
"Isn't today the best time to fulfil our promise?" Tatsuya asked.
"Tatsuya…"
"Yes?" He looked at Taiga who had a really troubled expression on his face.
"I, um… Despite all… You…"
Kuroko's had enough. He picked up #2 and the dog stuck his paw in Taiga's face as if punching him. Taiga jumped backwards and swore. He didn't mind #2 anymore, but he didn't like to have the dog's paws in his face. God only knew where those paws had walked…
"Ouch! What was that for?!" He glared at Kuroko.
"You're annoying when you're indecisive."
"Huh?!"
"I think I get what's between the two of you. But listen… No matter what you felt, it's wrong for a sportsman to lose on purpose."
"But you know what's going to happen if I win!" Taiga protested.
"Yeah," Kuroko looked at Tatsuya in scolding. "You'll never call him your big brother and you think it's wrong to call that match the final one when the other party wasn't even fit enough to play." Tatsuya averted his eyes from Kuroko's unwavering stare. "But isn't basketball something you're both supposed to love? No one can walk away satisfied when your greatest rival, your best friend gave the game away on purpose. And so what if he isn't your 'big brother' anymore? Won't you still be important to each other?"
If only it was this simple… "I guess I like basket because I can face a lot of strong opponents... Well… I haven't thought about it that way. Thanks." Then he turned to Tatsuya again. "I'll face you as an opponent, Tatsuya. So if we meet in the match, face me like the strongest player."
"You bet!" He smiled and his eye shone in determination. Taiga was a big softie, but he could be really strong too. "But before that… You…" He looked down at Kuroko. "Excuse me, but do I know you?"
"I'm Kuroko Tetsuya. Nice to meet you."
Kuroko Tetsuya, huh?... "I see… You've found yourself an interesting partner, Taiga!"
"Huh? ... Oh, right…" Taiga remembered who else was on the Yosen's team. He'd never met Murasakibara, but Aya had told him about the Yosen's team. Tatsuya must've heard about Kuroko from him then.
The other matches taken quite some time, and finally it was the time for the last match between the best teams. It was Tatsuya's team and Taiga's team.
They took their stand facing each other. Tatsuya stretched his shoulder; it was fully healed and didn't hurt at all. Still, he wondered if his team could win. He'd joined an unknown team that was short one player. So far it was him winning the matches. And Taiga's team seemed to have a solid team play with their roles long settled in. Still… He didn't feel like he'd lose in one-on-one.
Kuroko narrowed his eyes observing Tatsuya as he'd been doing the whole time. "Kagami-kun? There's something I was thinking about when you mentioned your past… The two of you were on par in middle school, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Please, listen calmly – I mean no insult –"
"What?!" Taiga cut him off after hearing that.
Kuroko sighed. "Shall I say – this guy gives me a feeling like those of the generation of miracles, at his present state, there's no way he'll lose to you one-on-one."
Taiga snorted. "Is that all, idiot? I thought you'd have some scary revelation, not that… Don't worry, I've noticed." He feels like a different person…
A referee whistled and threw the ball up.
And it was stopped.
Someone put an Umaibo on top of the ball as it reached its pinnacle and then plucked the ball from the air, leaving everyone dumbfounded.
Taiga couldn't believe there was a guy so much taller than him in Japan. And he was most likely just a teenager like them. He's over two meters… But what's with the purple hair?
"Sorry, did I make you wait?" The newcomer drawled.
Tatsuya sighed. "You're late again, Atsushi."
"Yeeeah, my bad. I got lost again."
"It's been a while, Murasakibara-kun." Kuroko greeted his old teammate.
"Oh, if it isn't Kuro-chin." Atsushi looked down on Kuroko. "You look dead serious as always… So serious… makes me want to crush it." He said in almost a bullying tone and patted Kuroko's head with his huge hand. Then he squatted to be on Kuroko's eye level and a silly smile settled on his face. "Nah ~ Just kiddin'!"
A vein popped on Kuroko's forehead and he slapped Atsushi's hand away. "Please stop that now."
"What, you angry? Soooorryyy~ I said."
"I thought you weren't coming." Tatsuya walked towards the center with his hands stuck in his pockets.
"You're bad… Changing the meeting spot all of a sudden! We've come here because you said you wanted to go sightseeing, and there you are playing basketball!" He complained with a pout.
"Oh, really. Sorry! But it looked like something interesting was up, so I came here to check it out."
The referee whistled, scolding Atsushi for interrupting the game while not being a part of any team.
"Aaaah, you can't play, Muro-chin…" He said, cutting the referee off rudely. "Yosen doesn't allow us to participate in non-school-related competitions. I stopped you just now because of that."
"Huh?" Tatsuya blinked at him. "Do we have such a rule?" He wondered, but Atsushi probably knew better.
"Mhm. No choice." The huge boy nodded, spun Tatsuya around and started pushing him off the court. "Now, let's go."
But Taiga didn't let it slide. He had to go and taunt Atsushi into playing, thankfully, Atsushi was childish enough to take the provocation seriously. After some more bargaining with the other team and the referee, Atsushi was given a t-shirt and allowed to play. The t-shirt was tight, but he didn't seem to care about it. And there was that weird senpai who claimed to know the giant. Maybe he was a bit curious too.
The tip off was stolen by Taiga, which really surprised Atsushi as he'd never lost a tip off before. And even the first points were scored by Kiyoshi.
The crowd cheered.
"Nothing to be done if you forgotten about me." Kiyoshi said with a sigh, he'd never though Atsushi would forget him, but whatever... "except making you remember with my basketball…"
"Huh…" Atsushi looked at the other center properly. "No... It's alright. Sorry, but I think I remember you now. Kiyoshi Teppei. You make me want to defeat you. Later, you'll wish I'd just forgotten about you."
Tatsuya frowned. If Atsushi got seriously provoked it wouldn't end well. "Sorry Atsushi, but you can perform later. This is a makeshift team, so let's decide the positions. You're on defence and for offence; I'll take points off them."
"Haaaai~ Do your best Muro-chin, whatever that means…"
And with that, Atsushi stayed right below his basket not attacking at all. It was the style which best suited him. Instead, Tatsuya got the time to shine. He passed Taiga effortlessly and shot a three pointer in a beautiful form.
It was so smooth it looked like he'd done it in slow motion and everyone watched it in awe. Taiga couldn't reach it even if he wanted to. He was too far away and too amazed to react. That one shot carried all the years of Tatsuya's practise and experience.
Taiga went for a quick counter attack, almost clashing with Atsushi when it suddenly started to rain. And it wasn't just a rain; it was a sudden heavy downpour. It was dangerous to play on the slippery ground and the competition got called off.
But Tatsuya didn't forget to give Taiga a 'gift' – showing him the mirage shoot he'd shown to Aya – before they left.
"Murasakibara-kun?" Kuroko stopped him to ask something. "Do you still think basketball is boring?"
"Huh? If you bring it up again, I'll crush you down even if it's you Kuro-chin." Atsushi frowned at the ghostly guy. "I've never been sure if basketball is fun or not. I do it, because I'm talented, what's wrong with that?" He turned around to leave. He hated rain. "Well, if you want to talk me out of thinking it, feel free to try! At the Winter cup!"
######
"Eh? Aomine? What are you doing here?" Kano asked when Aomine walked into the changing room looking for a shelter from the rain.
"Huh?" The ace looked around noticing all the guys who'd just finished their practise.
"Weren't you supposed to be somewhere away?" Naito asked with a yawn. The sudden rain drained away all of his energy.
"I returned yesterday. Wanted to say hi to Satsuki." He said with a shrug and shuffled to his locker to take a clean dry t-shirt he had stored there.
"Oh, so you two are all good now?" Kano asked cheerfully. Satsuki seemed to be in a better mood these past days and he was sure she'd talked out everything with Aya-chan and Aomine. "I thought you'd be angry at her for much longer."
Aomine narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
In all sincerity, Kano answered truthfully. "Well, she told the coach to take you off the match and you blamed Aya-chan instead. She'd been in a better mood lately, so all's good, right?"
The ace froze; his drenched t-shirt was half over his head. "…What?" He asked slowly, his anger slowly bubbling up all over again.
"Oh, boy…" Naito muttered and face palmed. "I think he had no idea…"
"Huh?" Kano blinked at his friend. Then the realisation of his loose tongue dawned on him. "Oh, shit."
"What the fuck?" A very dangerous expression settled on Daiki's face when he took off his t-shirt and hastily put on the other. "It was Satsuki?! AND YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT NOW?!" He spun on his heel and left to find the pinkette to get an explanation why she'd kept quiet this whole time, while she knew damn well he'd blamed Aya. Oh and how compassionate she'd acted, saying he wasn't in the wrong… Though he did notice something was off about her, he just never thought…
"SATSUKI!" He yelled her name through the rain when he spotted her heading towards the school building. He ran through the rain to catch up with her. The dry t-shirt was quickly drenched again, but he couldn't care less.
"Aomine-kun! You showed up! How nice, we can go home together." She smiled happily, but seeing his enraged expression, her smile was quickly drained from her face.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THE MEANING OF THAT?!"
She jumped backwards under his loud and angry voice. "W-what are you talking about?" She asked, trying to play cluelessness, but she knew all too well what he was talking about. She'd really hoped he wouldn't figure it out…
His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, but he took a deep breath so he wouldn't yell at her that much. "Oh, don't give me that fake innocence. It was you, wasn't it?"
Satsuki averted her eyes.
"Do you realise what you've done?!" She kept avoiding his gaze and it ticked him off even more. "I DON'T NEED YOU MEDDLING IN WHATEVER I DO! I WASN'T THAT INJURED IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
That felt like a slap. "But it was Akashi-kun! Do you know what could've happened to you if I haven't done it?! Aya-chan was too eager to let you injure yourself! You may have–"
"THAT'S WHAT I MEANT WHEN I SAID I DON'T NEED YOUR MEDDLING! Y'RE NOT MY GUARDIAN OR ANYTHING! AYA WAS READY TO HELP ME! SHE FACED ME, WHILE YOU RAN TO THE COACH LIKE A COWARD!" He shouted at her.
"DON'T YELL AT ME!" She shouted back, her voice jumping several octaves higher. "I DID IT TO PROTECT YOU!"
"I DON'T NEED YOUR PROTECTION!" He roared at her then he bit his tongue to tune down his voice. "I thought I could trust you! I called Aya a liar and traitor, while you are the one who deserves those words, not her. Get lost! I don't wanna see your ugly face again!" He pointed out into the rain. His finger was shaking with rage.
Tears appeared in her eyes. Those words hurt. All the more because she knew she deserved them, but she also felt a sudden wave of unfairness. She meant well, why was he so angry at her? She'd done it for his good!
She threw her notes into his face. "YEAH! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU ALREADY! YOU AND YOUR UNGRATEFUL GROTESQUE FACE!" She screamed on top of her lungs and ran into the rain.
"OI!" For some reason she made him feel bad even though he was in the right. "Dammit!" He punched the wall unfortunately using his burnt left hand. "Ouch, fuck."
Katsunori watched the scene form a safe distance to avoid getting involved. I've warned you, Satsuki… He thought and shook his head taking out a pack of cigarettes. He'd last smoked with Aya in the hotel room. He leaned against the wall and lit a cigarette. The downpour like this made him remember the day when he and Keiko had gotten caught up in a similar one. She'd been so beautiful that day… The memory and the rain made him feel depressed and lonely. I'm really getting old…
######
Satsuki ended up in Seirin's gym, where she completely surprised the second years and Riko. They offered her a change of clothes and let her wait for Kuroko-kun she wanted to see. It took some time until she calmed down her crying enough to talk.
When the boys returned from the streetball venue, she launched herself around Kuroko's neck and retold them the whole story. With all the tears, she looked like the victim.
"That's what happened… I… I think, Aomine-kun hates me now…" She sniffled.
Taiga, hearing the story from both parties frowned. "I wouldn't blame him if he did." He said coldly. "Besides, didn't you say you loved Kuroko? What are you doing here whining about Aomine? Especially when you deserved it."
There was a stunned silence in the gym.
Tears welled up in her eyes again and her chin shook. "You're right, but you got it wrong!" She cried out. "I only ever meant well. Aomine-kun would get himself in huge trouble if I wasn't around."
"Aah… you made the girl cry." His team muttered unanimously. "Baaad guy~"
"Kagami-kun, you should've deal with this more delicately." Kuroko told him with a sigh. Then he approached Satsuki and patted her head. "Aomine-kun said things he didn't mean out of anger. There's no way he'd ever hate you. We should head back; he might be looking for you."
Kuroko teaching him about girls?! A vein popped on Taiga's forehead. He's had enough of this. All the unfairness from the past days bubbled out and materialised in form of Satsuki. And those tears ticked him off even more.
"Go on, pat her head more. Make her feel like she was in the right and she'll stay the spoiled brat she is!" Taiga said angrily.
"What's up with you?"
"What's up with me?!" Taiga threw his hands in the air. "Oh, I don't know. She goes behind Aomine's back to withdraw him from the game he could've played just fine, keeps it a secret from Aya on whom Aomine took out his anger that day and when Aomine finally figures it out and gives her a piece of his mind, she runs here crying how badly wronged and hurt she's been! Without even trying to apologise to either of them! Am I the bad guy?! Really?"
Everyone remained silent and Satsuki avoided his burning red eyes.
"Lost your voice?" He cocked his head to a side. "What was with that lame birthday message you dared send her, huh? You run here crying about how my sister and Aomine rightfully scolded you but you don't really care what you've caused to them, do you? Have you even wondered that Aya, you claim is your best friend, might've cried because of what you've done? My sister isn't bulletproof, you know. Tch… At least Aomine had enough sense to swallow his pride and apologise to her."
Satsuki gulped. She didn't dare answering out loud, because she already guessed the answers. Taiga was scary when he was furious. But this was more than that, he was furious, but he kept his voice calm and composed. It was his eyes that were scary.
"I'm sorry…" She muttered under her breath, suddenly feeling small and so very ashamed when Taiga worded it like this.
"Don't say that to me!"
"It's not that simple!" She bristled.
"What's not simple?! Postpone it a bit longer and Aya won't care anymore." Taiga said eerily. "And trust me; it's better if she's pissed than not caring. I'd know that."
"Hey…" Kiyoshi meddled in. "Are we missing something?"
"Hm?" Taiga blinked at the senpai, suddenly self-conscious. "Errr… We used to be inseparable friends when we were kids." He pointed at Satsuki. "Before we left to America."
"What, for real?!" Riko asked in disbelief. "How much more is there we should know?"
Taiga shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. "Not much more. I believe Kiyoshi-senpai will tell you about today's events." He said with a frown.
Riko raised an eyebrow at Kiyoshi who gave her a small nod. She sighed. "Whatever. It's dark out already, you should go home, Momoi-san." You've caused enough mess in my team…
"Ah… sure…" The pinkette bowed. "Sorry for –" She started, but cut her words when she noticed Taiga's withering look. This was worse than Aomine-kun's yelling. Because Taiga didn't yell…
"I'll accompany her home." Kuroko offered himself. "You should cool off, Kagami-kun. Have something else happened to piss you off like this?"
"Tch… None of your business." He grumbled and turned on his heel to leave too. Those stares were getting on his nerves. He shouldn't have shown them this side of his.
"I didn't mean to cause a commotion in your team." Satsuki looked at her feet.
"Err… I wonder… In exchange, tell us something about the teams in the winter cup. Something we don't know." Hyuuga demanded, and he wasn't that much against Taiga's treatment anymore. The redhead surprisingly had a valid point. And that cold stare made chills run down his spine. He'd never seen Taiga glaring so coldly at anyone or being so frighteningly angry.
######
Daiki's phone buzzed. It was Satsuki's mother, he couldn't ignore it.
"Yes?" He picked up.
"Are you with Satsuki by chance?" The woman on the other side asked worriedly. "She was supposed to be home already and her phone's turned off. I swear I'll kill her for that when she gets home…"
"She's not with me. We kinda argued." He said.
"Huh… Still… Do you have an idea where she could be?"
"Not really." He felt a bit worried too. Satsuki, despite all, was still like a sister to him. He got worried about her. "But I can go look for her."
"That'd be nice." The woman said and hung up.
He stared at the phone for a couple of seconds. What's that with those two women making you feel like shit even though you've done nothing wrong! Then he shook his head and got up taking Shiro's and Kurome's leashes.
"Feel like going for another walk?" He asked and both dogs sprang up with their tails wagging.
######
Satsuki sent Kuroko home when she was close enough to get home safely on her own. The new move Kuroko-kun had shown her on their way home shocked her. She'd never thought that Kuroko would learn how to dribble past his opponents. The boy had never done anything like that before.
She was so occupied by her thoughts that she didn't notice Daiki walking towards her, until she bumped into Shiro who whined huffily and walked back to her master.
"Oh…" She took a step back.
"Your mother called me." Daiki said neutrally. He was still pissed. But now he finally knew what had really happened…
"I'm sorry!" Satsuki squealed immediately and bowed deeply before she'd lose all the courage.
"You'd better be." He grumbled.
"I'm really, really sorry! I didn't mean to make the two of you argue!"
"Yet you did."
She peeked at him feeling guilty. She couldn't lash back at him when he wasn't yelling at her; still, he was making it perfectly clear he was still very annoyed.
"Here." He handed her the notes she threw into his face in the afternoon. The moment she took it, he turned around and headed in the direction of Satsuki's house. "Now, let's deliver you home before your mother blames me for kidnapping."
"Aya! Focus!" The ballet teacher scolded her for the nth time that day. She wasn't used to see Kagami Aya making mistakes. "What happened to you? You're way too distracted these days! One perfect performance! Am I asking for that much?!"
"No. I'm sorry." Aya bowed her head in apology. The teacher was right; though all the scolding wasn't helping her. "I'll do it properly this time."
"You'd better!"
Aya took a deep breath. She felt like her toe nail was coming off and she hated the feeling from the bottom of her heart. Her thigh wasn't fully healed yet either – it didn't have the time to heal. Her stitches had torn again on the first day of the camp and she hadn't bothered to go have it redone this time. She just treated it daily and prayed it would eventually heal. But with all the practising the scabs that had miraculously formed every night kept opening up during the day.
She was tired. She missed Taiga and she really wanted to visit Suzume and to see Daiki.
But she loved dancing and her responsibility was too great to just pack up and leave. So she gritted her teeth and forced her mind to go blank. Then she slowly imagined the music and every single step and pose she had to make. She was dancing the choreography in her head perfectly. And once the imagination stopped, her body would repeat it flawlessly. She knew. No matter the pain. No matter the issue.
The teacher watched the process with approving nod. She'd known Aya for years. And even though she knew the girl wasn't pursuing the ballet career, she kept pushing her to her limits, because Aya was a polished diamond already and she was able to do everything a professional dancer was required to know and even more. It was a shame the girl liked contemporary, acro and Latin dances more.
"See?" She asked when Aya finished her dance. "That's what I want you to do at all times. At midnight, if I decide to drag you out of your bed."
"Yes." Two more days… She repeated in her head like a mantra. She'd arrive at the Touou camp later but she was leaving this camp a day sooner anyways. She had to if she wanted to visit Suzume…
A/N: I hope no one was OOC and I hope the chapter was enjoyable. I tried to stick to the manga as much as possible but I had to make some changes to fit the background I've created. I've always thought that Taiga was right with his comment when Satsuki ran crying to Kuroko and the other guys treated him a bit unfairly.
As to the dance (I'm no dancer), I was inspired by Andres and Charity, who competed with the song (Kaleo - Way down we go) and the choreography in the world of dance. Hence, it belongs to Andres and Charity, I've just tried to describe the feeling I got from it, because I loved it. I hope you don't mind; you can go and watch it if you want ;)
Aaaand... the summer training camp starts in the next chapter. (I'm only halfway done with it, but I should make it in those two weeks.)
Let me know what you think and remember, reviews are appreciated, but never necessary.
S.