"Um… Yakumo-san?" The red-eyed beauty's co-worker attempted to wake her up from her slumber as she went off to sleep in the middle of work… yet again. This time, however, he managed to wake her up from her sleep.
"…H-huh, Editor-san?" Yakumo tilts her head up slowly, reassessing the situation.
"I'm sorry Editor-san, it seems that I fell asleep again…" Yakumo apologized to her co-worker.
"It's okay Yakumo-san, you're lucky I'm the only one catching you sleep here. I completely understand though, I remember talking to Tazawa-kun about it when you suddenly fell asleep here when submitting his manga." he reassured.
"Thank you, Editor-san." Yakumo replied.
Yakumo tried to recall that time, maybe it was when she woke up and saw Harima laying down beside her? It was another late-night session and she accidentally dozed off in the middle of work. To her surprise though, Harima finished his manuscript and stayed with her until she woke up, refusing to leave her alone, even for just a moment.
Yakumo cherished that memory, yet still, sadness still haunts her when thinking of him.
Why did he have to mention him? Now, Harima won't get out of her mind, at least for the rest of the day. It was hard enough to worry about where he had gone to since the reunion. It has been a long time, hasn't it? It's almost half a year since they went to America for the reunion.
"How is he, by the way?"
Yakumo flinched at the unexpected question that was thrown her way.
"To be honest, I really don't know. The last time I saw him was half a year ago in America." She answered truthfully.
"Really? That sounds just like him, though." The editor responded. "I wouldn't be surprised if one day he walked through these doors and just pretended like nothing happened."
Yakumo stared at the editor in surprise. She thought about what he said once more, and she agreed with him. Knowing Harima, he'd probably do the most unexpected and make it seem like it's normal.
"You're right. Thank you, Editor-san." Yakumo smiled, as she started to resume on her work.
Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!
The whistle sounded, as the game came to a close. Harima and his new teammates celebrated as they won the local tournament. It turned out that the group of boys that Harima approached in the basketball court were trying out for a local team participating in the local tournament. Although they didn't understand Harima at first, they let him play with them since he was on the verge of tears as he remembered the time where he and Tenma played high school basketball. However, seeing the talent, hard work, and determination coming from Harima, the boys let him join their team to participate in a local tournament, where rumors were piling up that a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity can be given to those who stand out.
"We did it, and it was all thanks to this dude over here!" one of his teammates pointed at Harima.
Harima simply stood on the center of the court, taking in the feeling of nostalgia from playing basketball.
'Yep, this is what it felt like, when I was playing with Tenma.' The feeling of exhaustion, the smell of the rubber ball, and the sweat dripping from his body, triggered the memories Harima held dear to him.
"We did it, Tenma-chaaaaaaaaaan!" he suddenly shouted, much to his teammates surprise.
"Who's Tenma-chan?" "Hey buddy, you okay?" "Pretty sure no one here's named Tenma-chan, bud"
Harima ignored these comments from his teammates, mainly because he was too much in the moment, and too much entranced with his memories. After all, these memories are the only ones he had left of the good old days, nothing else matters to him.
"Hello there, son. I would like to speak with you for a moment." A tall man dressed in a suit approached Harima.
Harima was frozen stiff, as if he was shocked about something. It took a while for him to respond.
"Y-you're my father?" he said. His English was getting better from hanging around with his teammates.
The tall man laughed. "HAHAHAHA, I forgot you are a foreigner." he replied.
"In America, we call any man younger than us as 'son'. Sounds confusing, I know, and I'm sorry for the misunderstanding." The tall man clarified.
"O-oh, is that so? Hahahaha!" Harima laughed as well, pretending to understand what the man just said.
"I would like to invite you to train under our facility, you are just the kind of guy we are interested in having in our team."
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!" Harima's teammates exploded out of excitement for their new friend. To the Americans, being chosen to train under a team's facility means that you are being chosen as a prospect for the NBA draft. Your whole name will be made known all across the United States if you were to be chosen in the draft.
'What the hell did this man just say?' Harima thought. Although he had a grasp of the American accent from exposure to his teammates, he still did not have a good time trying to understand it.
"I'll translate him for you, Harima." A familiar voice chimed in from behind Harima. A hand rested on his shoulder as he turned around to determine the source of this familiarity. A blonde-haired man with sunglasses donning a red leather jacket met his eyes.
"Harry Mackenzie?!" Harima blurted.
It was Harima's old schoolmate from high school. Harima knew he was an American exchange student, but he didn't really go out of his way to learn from what state he transferred from. He also didn't stick around school for long to say farewell to him when the time came when he must go back to the States.
"Hello, Samurai-san. Even though you do not have the hairstyle anymore, you still showed a Samurai's passion for the game just then." Mackenzie greeted Harima. "Basically, this good man here said that you are chosen as a prospect for the upcoming NBA draft."
Harima gave Mackenzie a confused look, as if he didn't know what he was talking about. But, knowing Harima, maybe he didn't really know what he was talking about. Basketball wasn't as popular in Japan as in the States.
"If you continue to interest them, you might be selected for the upcoming NBA draft and be known all across the United States." Mackenzie continued.
Harima's eyes widened on the idea of becoming a generic name across the United States. Surely, this would lead to Tenma noticing him more, right? Harima clung on to the hope that Tenma would divert his eyes from Karasuma and direct it to him, instead. Maybe, just maybe, she'd look his way instead if he became an NBA superstar.
"I'll do it." Harima responded to the man's offer.
"And I'll be his agent. After all, I'm the only one that you can understand." Mackenzie said, offering Harima no choice.
Hail Mary Airlines flight no. 724 landed at Mitchell International Airport of Milwaukee. The airplane parked beside one of the docks at the airport and commenced the dismounting of passengers.
"Thank you for choosing Hail Mary Airlines where all flights start and end with a prayer." Eri said as she said goodbye to the passengers.
"Good work, Eri." Eri's senior complimented her on her work.
"It's always a pleasure working with you, ma'am." Eri returned the compliment as she picked up her purse and turned to leave the plane.
"Wait, there's something I've been meaning to ask you – Will you be willing to attend to a private aircraft?" Eri's senior said as she stopped the blonde from walking down the flight of stairs.
Eri turned around to listen to what her senior is offering her. She still remembers the reason why she became a flight attendant – to search for the guy that disappeared that fateful day of 2-C's reunion. She knew he was still in America, there was no way the idiot could get a plane ticket by his own to go back to Japan. However, she also knew that his love for Tenma is too strong for him to go back to a country with no chance to see the love of his life.
"Whose private aircraft is asking for a flight attendant right now?" Eri asked for clarification.
"Well, it's the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team. Their personal flight attendant took a maternal leave and so they've contracted us to provide them with a temporary substitute." Her senior answered.
"The Milwaukee Bucks?" Eri questioned, not knowing who they were.
"Yeah, the Bucks are an NBA team and they are very popular here in the United States. Basically, you'll accompany the team from state to state for their games."
Eri contemplated about her decision. If she accepted, she might have a higher chance of seeing Harima, since she'll be roaming the United States along with him. They're bound to meet eventually, right? Eri's heart has already decided, yet her mind still stays unsure of what to do with the situation.
"I'll think about it, ma'am" was the best response she mustered.
"Okay, but you need to decide until the end of the day, else we're going to give it to somebody else." Her senior said, as she walked away.
Eri stared as her senior exited the plane. She needed to think fast, what was stopping her from accepting the offer? Wouldn't it be simpler to have accepted the offer just then? She was about to, but something stopped her. Maybe she was scared of living in a country full of strangers?
Eri exited the airport and went to the flight crew's hotel just across the street. The hotel staffed opened the door for her and greeted her with a smile.
"Welcome, Ms. Sawachika. You are with the crew of Hail Mary Airlines flight 724, right? This way, please." The hotel concierge directed her to her room that was just beside her senior's room.
"We hope you enjoy your stay, ma'am." The concierge said as he handed Eri the keys to the room.
Author's Note: Yeah, I adopted the parallel world in which Eri became a stewardess and Yakumo an editor. But fanfictions, in a way, are also parallel worlds right? Once again, thanks for reading and I hope you stay for the following chapters!