Reliability
By: Aviantei
8—Gymnasium II
Free from obstruction, the sky shines a beautiful blue
Saturday, being a half day, allowed for an extended club practice that lasted far into the afternoon. Unlike regular practice, they had a mid-drill break where the members all gathered around Shirogane. With all the boys clustered together, they still could fill most of the gymnasium floor. Megumi was glad she and Higuchi were allowed to sit at the front so she didn't have to see them all. Just thinking about it made her heart pound.
Or maybe that was the nerves from sitting so close to Akashi and Mibuchi, with just her fellow manager to separate them. She hadn't seen much of the interactions between the regulars, due to running around at a near constant pace, but she knew enough to tell the two got along far better than Megumi did with either of them.
Shirogane stepped to the front of the room, and Megumi snapped to attention with the rest of the team.
"As you all know, the Inter-High preliminaries will start in two weeks' time," he said. Megumi nodded, though it wasn't necessary. She didn't have the full tournament timeframe committed to memory yet, but she knew that much. "You all know the expectations placed on you at that time. In order to prepare, we will be taking on a number of practice games. First String, your game is on Thursday. Second String will play on Tuesday. The rest of you will have games against each other over your practices. Even though I'll be supervising both games, those that remain will continue practice. Slacking is not allowed."
A silence terse enough to make Megumi want to puke filled the room. No one needed to respond, because not understanding wasn't an option. Maybe because he had learned to conceal it as an adult it wasn't as obvious, but Shirogane held a presence all his own that left Megumi in sheer awe.
"Higuchi, I'll have you accompany the First String Game on Thursday," Shirogane continued, pacing towards the managers. "Kaizuto, you'll be coming with me on Tuesday."
Megumi's jaw that had been hanging open snapped shut as she became very aware of what had just been said, and she had to try very, very hard not to break down in nervous protests to the assignment.
Not that she needed to, because Mibuchi raised his long arm to the ceiling. "With all due respect, Coach," he said after Shirogane had given him permission to do so, "but is she ready? As I understand it, she's still learning."
Mibuchi didn't sound malicious, nor he did he look it when Megumi glanced at him. That didn't stop her face from heating up, though. On the other side of his Vice Captain, Akashi didn't even bother to look her way.
"She will learn by doing, as all of us do," Shirogane said, putting an end to the matter. Mibuchi leaned back on his palms. Megumi couldn't blame his suspicion—in a position of leadership, he had to look out for the team's wellbeing. And if Akashi couldn't bother to acknowledge her existence, that left the job to Mibuchi.
Megumi clenched her fists in her lap and looked back to the Coach with attention, trying not to let the lack of faith sting too much.
The rest of the meeting related to specific tournament dates and training goals for each string. Higuchi took notes, and Megumi committed the words to memory as best she could. While not all the rules and flow of play had stuck to her yet, she could at least recognize some of the technique terminology. Not that she'd be a good judge of technique yet, but it was something.
It's not good enough, though. I'd be more suited to running an elementary school basketball club than this one.
Once the practice for the rest of the day was laid out, Megumi stood with the rest, ready to get back to her supply routine. She headed to the cart of water bottles that needed refilling, but Shirogane's voice cut her off.
"Higuchi, Kaizuto," he said, with less volume than addressing the whole club, but the same amount of power. Both managers stopped in their tracks, facing their coach. "I believe we should discuss proper division of duties between you two. Come with me."
Megumi glanced to Higuchi, but his expression was as uninformed as Megumi felt. The three of them stepped off to the side of the gymnasium to get out of the way of the already practicing members. Akashi called out instructions, his voice blending into the hubbub of activity. In the chaos of squeaking shoes and dribbling balls, Megumi had come to feel like she had a place in that noise.
Standing in front of Shirogane for a private chat was another matter. Thinking of how she had made a selfish declaration of wanting to be his club's manager in a one on one conversation astounded her.
Higuchi and Megumi fell into position side by side as Shirogane crossed his arms before them. "I assume there are no objections to the upcoming week."
"No, sir," Higuchi answered before Megumi could even get her mouth working again.
"Kaizuto?"
With that, both sets of eyes were on her. Considering the amount of time she had been around them, Megumi shouldn't have felt so overwhelmed; she had adjusted to Choukou and Kenta faster than her own club associates.
"I think Mibuchi-senpai's right," she admitted at a whisper. It was a wonder the others could even hear her. "I'm…nervous. I don't know if I'll be able to help the team the way I need to."
"Are you backing out?" Higuchi asked.
"No, of course not!" Megumi clenched a fist to her chest, trying to let the pressure distract the thousands of other sensations running around in her brain. Akashi's words from the day before were still fresh in her memory, and Megumi felt very much like she was drowning. "I want to be able to do this, but I don't want to let anyone down because I don't know what I'm doing." Higuchi had said it himself: he agreed with Akashi's assessment, and he wouldn't step up to defend her if their captain disapproved.
I don't want to leave, though!
Shirogane cleared his throat before Higuchi could provide a response. The managers fell silent again and waited. "Kaizuto, there is a reason you are going with the second string and myself," he said. "Normally, I would let Higuchi handle them on his own while I ran practice. Instead, I'm trusting the reverse. Do you know why this is?"
Megumi shook her head, too afraid to venture a guess and have her voice shake.
"The second stringers aren't the only ones getting practice from the game," Higuchi said for her. Shirogane didn't object, so his answer must have been correct. "I told you that understanding the members' strengths and giving them an input to grow is part of being a manager. If the Coach is with you, then he'll be able to guide you in the right direction."
"It's critical that all members of this club understand the visions we're reaching for," Shirogane continued. Megumi nodded; it was why every single member was present for the meeting they had just held. "When we all work for the same goals, we all walk unified on the same path. You are starting a bit behind the others, but we will provide the path for you to catch up. Actually reaching us is up to your own effort. Higuchi."
"Yes, sir?"
"I want you two to take the rest of today's practice to make sure Kaizuto understands the basics of what she'll be expected to do on Tuesday. I'll have Akashi and Mibuchi direct clean up." Higuchi nodded. When Shirogane looked to Megumi, she did the same, not able to tell if the tears she wanted to cry were from anxiety or relief. "I'll see you both Tuesday."
That time, Megumi managed to respond with clarity.
After changing back to their uniforms, Higuchi took Megumi to his classroom to keep away from the bustle of after-school activity that took place near the club buildings. Unlike the common sight of students stuck at their desks for incomplete homework at Megumi's middle school, Rakuzan had no such stragglers, and the room looked like it could sparkle from the cleanup job.
Being on the third floor, it also gave Megumi a view of the sky out the open window. Both the fresh breeze and the expanse of blue helped clear her mind.
The layout for the manager's duties during a game held simple, and even more so for practice affairs. Megumi would still have to tend to the basics of water and towels, as she already did, but it would also be important to keep an eye on how players were performing and if there were any weak spots in their play. In the event of minor injury, as sometimes happened, the manager would also have to escort the player to the infirmary for treatment.
Noting Megumi's hesitation on recognizing player performance, Higuchi had her pull out the Second String's player guide. Using his own notes as a guide, he started noting basic abilities and areas to look out for in the typical starting lineup. Megumi copied the information down, easily taking up several pages of her school notebook.
Next time I get some allowance I'll have to get a book just for this. It would make it easier to access, too. Maybe one of those books with adjustable pages for better organization.
The main problem with opening her bag to keep up was that Higuchi noticed the reference texts.
"I didn't account for you not having at least basic knowledge…"
Megumi apologized as best she could, but Higuchi moved on to quizzing her over the rules. She started getting stuck when it came to fouling opportunities, but she had remembered more than she thought she would. At the very least it seemed to be enough to observe a practice game with, though Higuchi lamented the loss of the learning goals he had bothered to compile for her.
"I'm sorry I wasted your time," Megumi said while Higuchi added rough adjustments to the margins of the sheet he had planned to give her. "I know you're busy with preparing for entrance exams. I can learn on my own, so you don't need to go through the trouble."
"Preparing you to act in full capacity is part of my duties, too," he said, voice blurred between assurance and frustration. Learning a whole sport's worth of rules in a short span of time seemed to be a time management problem, even for him. "If you're so worried about eating into my time, then become efficient as soon as possible."
"R-right…"
"Work with this for now. I'll give you an updated version later."
They spent the rest of the practice time with Megumi asking for clarifications that reading books couldn't give. Higuchi, ever efficient, answered each with such clarity that Megumi had no doubt he had earned his position as one of the top-tier upperclassmen.
He even walked Megumi to the station, then split up when their trains went separate directions.
Megumi set up her table next to the open window and spent the rest of her Saturday in the warm breeze doing some prep work for her weekend homework, reviewing the next three learning goals Higuchi had given her, and practicing the lines she would no doubt need to say to fulfill basic manager requirements on their trip. At least the second-string was a reasonable group, even if they did amount to an average size school's complete basketball club membership.
With Sunday came an onslaught of messages from Choukou during breakfast, along with the summary of said messages from Kenta: an invitation to study together. Megumi had been planning on spending her Sunday alone, but there wasn't any reason to object, so she offered her apartment up and made sure everything was tidy.
The table to the window setup didn't work so well when three people were going to be seated at it, but Megumi made sure she had a good view out her window. The sky was clear again, beautiful and blue and full of sunshine.
"I'm gonna make today a good one," she promised it. "And then I'm going to do my best on Tuesday and surprise everyone. I bet even Akashi-kun will be shocked!"
The last part was an empty promise, but it was something to strive for. The tea kettle whistled from the stove, and Megumi got to work on finishing setting up the tea before her guests arrived.
"Kentaaaaa, I don't get this word problem. Do it for me."
"You're never going to learn if that happens. You'll drop down to 2-D next year for sure."
"No fair! That's, like, two whole classes down." Megumi threw her ramen bowl shaped eraser at her cousin, then turned to Megumi. "Me-chaaaaaan, you're in Class 1-A, help me out!"
Megumi paused in the middle of her English homework—why were split infinitives such a big deal? What an arbitrary setup—to look at her friend. She had been excited to be studying with friends, as it was another thing she had never gotten the chance to do. But Choukou's flighty enthusiasm meant the girl couldn't concentrate on one assignment for more than ten minutes. Or, she could, given her class ranking, she just chose not to.
Megumi double-checked the sentence she had just translated before setting her pencil down and tugging over Choukou's assignment. "I'm not doing it for you," Megumi warned at the other girls' grin, "but I'm going to show you how to put the pieces together yourself. Show me the formulas you're studying right now."
With a diligent nod, Choukou flipped to a page in her notes—much neater than expected, though they were all in flowery hiragana. Class 1-B seemed to be a few days behind in lecture from where 1-A was, but the higher the class meant the tougher the curriculum. "Who decided we needed to combine words with numbers anyway? I can solve problems just fine."
"You're not going to encounter math problems just laid out for you in real life," Kenta criticized without looking up from his own work. "You gotta know how to build the problems yourself."
"Here, I'll guide you through it," Megumi offered, scooting closer to Choukou's side. The other girl nodded, pencil at the ready. "So you usually start at the end of the problem where it tells you what you're looking for. So in this case…"
With a few guided questions that let Choukou fill in the blanks herself, the problem had been solved in a matter of minutes. "You're super good at this stuff, Me-chan," Choukou complimented, twirling her pencil. "Then again, I guess you said you were good at analyzing information and stuff, so this is no big deal, huh?"
"Speaking of," Kenta said. The boy had set his work aside and stretched his arms towards the ceiling. "How's that wacky basketball intel going for you? You haven't asked too many questions the past few days, but since we're here I can help however I can."
Megumi nodded, casting a glance at the clock. They had been working for a while now, and a break was well due, even if Choukou was plunking through her progress. "It's been okay," Megumi answered. "I ended up trying to review the sports rules, so I haven't had much time to focus on the manager aspect." Not that any of the Rakuzan Basketball Club leaders seemed to judge her struggles as reason to pause.
Not that they needed to.
Choukou slumped onto the table, right on top of her workbooks and stationary as bubbly as her text messages. "That's why I preferred running. No complicated rules—just don't cheat and run to where you need to go."
"Oh, is that why you run your mouth all the time?" Kenta asked.
That earned him a stuck out tongue. "Better than not being able to make a decent move in shogi when it counts."
Megumi smiled a bit before steering the conversation back on track. "I did have something I wanted to ask, though." She had just forgotten in the commotion following Higuchi's impromptu tutoring session. "Actually, you might be able to help with this, Choukou-san. Do you have any advice for leading a practice meet?"
The Yoshida cousins exchanged a glance of wide-eyed confusion, swapping to excitement within the next second.
"Whoa, you're gonna be managing a practice game, Me-chan?" Choukou grabbed onto Megumi's hands, almost knocking over the table in her dive. "That's super exciting news. Way to go!"
"I'm glad for you," Kenta said, his soft smile deepening Megumi's already red cheeks. The support was overwhelming, but not in a bad way. "You did just join this past week, so it makes sense you'd be concerned, though. In the Shogi Club our cross club meet-ups tend to be more of exhibition matches since we can all practice off each other. But it is important to track victories and losses so you can discuss them later."
Choukou nodded, backing up to scrunch her eyebrows in thought. "Well, I wasn't managing anyone, but I can remember practice meet-ups for track, too. We did a lot of mock races against each other, and would compare techniques afterwards." She snapped her fingers with a grin. "Our managers always went around and made sure everyone wasn't pushing themselves too hard so we could do the best of our ability."
Megumi got the distinct impression Choukou remembered that because she had been one of the runners going too far. The look on Kenta's face all but confirmed that suspicion. Overall, though, it gave her another piece of information to work with.
"So I should keep track of everyone's wellbeing…" Not that she had any data to compare to. On the contrary, this was a good time to gather data in person without the pressures of a real game. "Pay attention to play mistakes, keep everyone hydrated and cool, be prepared for injury…" Taking a moment to retrieve her sheet of club notes, Megumi added the new thought to the bottom, committing the itinerary to memory.
"When's the game, anyway?" Kenta asked.
"Tuesday."
"Good, you'll get that taken care of before the tournament swing hits." Kenta tapped his pencil against the table. "And I think once that's clear, it'll be time for exams. I know you're dedicated to this manager thing, but keep up on your studies, too."
"You're such a hardass," Choukou complained, then flashed Megumi a brilliant smile. "Just do your best. It'll be great. Just don't go pushing yourself too hard, okay, Me-chan?"
[Author's Notes]
In which Megumi makes some progress. Kinda. I'm trying really hard not to give my characters easy victories. Is it working?
Thanks go out to Fantasua666 (Guest), The PJO Fan Girl, Emma (Guest), toledor, larasseu, and k4p1o3p for the favorites and follows since chapter 7! I'm super honored by the response over the past week (especially since my update times have been awful). I hope you'll all continue to support Megumi, wherever the heck her relationship with Akashi ends up (upupu~)!
Megumi has some good mental and organizational skills that suit her to be a manager, but when it comes to basketball knowledge, she's rather lacking. How will what she's learned serve her when it comes to managing her first practice game? Well, naturally, all I can say is tune in next week to find out!
Please look forward to it!
-Avi
[06.04.2018]