Making their way to the second floor, Ritsu ran ahead Momoi while taking the caution to clear the path for the latter who tried to catch up as she was carrying the big chick bolster boucing at each of her steps. They were late – eight minutes late precisely. The briefing, or rather the girl talk about Akashi's datas, made them forgot about the time as they kept commenting on some information Momoi was having doubt on. They could have kept on if they hadn't look with horror the clock that ticked away so fast. Besides all their doubts would be dissipated after the friendship quiz contest since Akashi himself would give the answers during the second round of the game.
In the distance, Ritsu and Momoi spoted a redhead looking their way with at his side Midorima and Murasakibara who was also waiting along with him.
"What took you so long?" Akashi inquired when they halted before him.
"Aha! Sorry, just some last-minute preparation!" She resumed briefly, while in fact a lot happened in just fifteen minutes. Girls sure talked a lot when left alone...thought Ritsu with amusement.
"Oh, you've also changed, Akashi-kun..." Momoi said, noticing he was in his uniform.
"I can't stay with that costume on me. The weather is rather hot today." He watched the two girls exchanging disappointed looks in silence as if they wanted him to keep wearing the Prince costume. "Do you expect something from me that I cannot accomplish in uniform?"
Both girls smiled at him, satisfying themselves with the Akashi they were familiar with.
"Not at all, you can do it like this! Isn't it, Momoi-chan?"
"Yeah! Actually, since it's our first festival in Teikō and we kind of all become close together, I want to take a photo the six of us!"
Momoi confronted the three boys with a glint of excitement in her big round pink eyes, trying to squeeze out a positive response.
"That's a very good idea." Interested by the idea, Akashi was the first to give in to Momoi's fervour.
"I don't see any problem with it." followed Midorima giving an approving nod to her.
"Me neither. But I don't mind if we're all going to eat ice creams after." declared Murasakibara, taking the chance to get treated.
"I'm looking forward!" chirped Momoi as she successfully gathered the whole bunch except one detail; the response of a certain navyhead was still unheard.
"You didn't find Aomine-kun?" asked Ritsu, looking around briefly.
"No sign of him. He must be roving around the campus." She turned to Murasakibara who shook his head nonchalantly, supporting his green-haired teammate's statement.
"Hum...why don't we call Mine-chin? Momo-chin must have his number."
Four pairs of eyes turned to Momoi who sent a glare at Murasakibara for his suggestion.
"Even if I call him, he won't answer since he'll see my name." She explained nervously, then a slight frown appeared on her face. "But it's okay if he's missing! It's Aomine-kun! I have plenty of photos with him! So he doesn't need to be here! Who wants a ganguro in the picture! Ahahaha..."
Momoi was a terrible liar. Everyone could tell she was forcing herself not to worry them.
Akashi stared at Momoi whose nervousness and faked smile betrayed her thoughts. No matter how hard she denies it, she genuinely wished for Aomine to be here with them.
He then examined the rest of his comrades who also cared about the pink haired girl's trouble.
Even if they did accept to go without Aomine, he wouldn't be satisfied by it because something would lack, and that was the mood. Everyone seemed unsettled by their small quarrel, just a single glance was enough for him to know that. So taking a photo in this kind of mood was possible but very far from the blissful image he had in mind. And so, he had to bring those two together for everyone to have a perfect memory of this festival, him included.
"Momoi, I will provide you help." The redhead declared out of the blue, taking his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Midorima informed me of the quarrel you had with Aomine."
Momoi was at loss of words, just like the rest of the bunch who was startled by his sudden initiative.
"I call and trick him to meet me up in front of the haunted house when it is you, Momoi, who will wait for him." explained Akashi calmly as Momoi became straight as a ramrod at the mention of the event.
"Akashi, can you tell us why the haunted house? It's a ridiculous idea." inquired Midorima, sceptical about his plan that, according to him, was a bit too simplistic and revealed some flaws.
"I disagree. Inside they will have all the leisure time to discuss without any possibilty for Aomine to get away. Moreover it is a fun event. Asaka and I had got our share of amusement in it."
Midorima shifted his gaze to Ritsu, curious and a bit astonished to hear their participation in such event. But despite his mixed feelings, he gave up on any questions that popped in his mind concerning those two, convincing himself it was due to the festival itself. It was plain odd from the start, so he found pointless to question everything that went against his strict and usual routine, especially concerning his vice-capitain. Following that logic, if Akashi had fun in the haunted house, wished to participate in a friendship quiz constest to win a...chick bolster, or wandering in the school hallways with a huge bag of prizes or got hugged; he would stay quiet about it, wondering where the course of fate was leading him by the end of this strange day.
"Aha...that was a real challenge!" Ritsu replied a bit troubled by Midorima's intense gaze and looked away when she noticed Momoi's stiff body. "Something's wrong, Momoi-chan?"
"M-M-Me?... No-no-no-no-no, I'm fine! P-P-Perfectly f-f-fine!" She stammered with confusion.
Ritsu was dubious. Was she possibily afraid of the haunted house? Since Akashi decided on this rendez-vous point, she was being very quiet. As she stared at her, some pieces of her memory came to answer her inner question. This morning, when they were touring around the festival, Ritsu had mentioned once the haunted house as they were looking for an event to do together but Momoi had immediately drawn her attention elsewhere and took away the festival program from her hands. After that, both of them, never ever mentioned it.
"Are you afraid of the haunted house?" She asked to be sure. At the question, Momoi's speech was so confused that they didn't grasp one full word. At least, she got an answer to her question. She was afraid of it.
"Do I need to change the rendez-vous point?"
"No-no-no! Don't! If you said it's fun, then I'll go! A-Anyway, I have to do it to suggest Aomine-kun to take the photo with us!" Momoi flapped, shooking quickly her head. "D-Don't worry, I'll do it! The photo is more important than my fear!..."
Akashi cropped up a little smile.
"B-But, Akashi-kun, what if he doesn't go?"
"He will or I'd rather say he must." He still hadn't forget the uproar he made with Himeno during the play. "I know a way to bring him there and accompagny you in the haunted house."
The group stared at him silently as his lips was slowly stretching into a smirk.
"I call him now."
Akashi dialed his number and put the phone over his ear waiting for Aomine to pick up. Everybody's attention was on him, or more specifically his phone, but all he got was his voicemail. He tried again and the result was the same.
"Apparently you are ignored as well, Akashi-kun." The latter looked up to Ritsu and smirked silently. He put away the phone and began to tape a message to him. Midorima and Murasakibara, who was the closest to the redhead, curiously took a peek on the message contents and spared a thought at their idiotic teammate to test Akashi's nerves.
[There won't be a third time, Aomine.] was what they read on the screen before he sent it to the poor guy. He clapped his phone and waited for an answer.
"Maybe Aomine-kun didn't hear it. Does he have his cellphone with him?"
Momoi nodded when a ringtone was playing on. Akashi looked at the name on screen and took the call.
"Aomine. Glad to know you got my message. I want you to meet me in front of the Haunted House. Immediately. No, I'm not joking. As for my reason, I'm sure you have an idea of it. Don't make me wait." Behind the phone, they could hear Aomine barking loudly something but Akashi hung up on him. His message relied, the rest was of little importance. "The rest is in your hands, Momoi."
"Ah...er...Thank you, Akashi-kun." The pink-haired girl was slightly perplexed by the flow of their «conversation» on the phone, if she must say. But now, she had the perfect opportunity to patch up things with Aomine, she felt relieved. "I hope he won't run away when he sees me waiting!"
"He won't because he will be the first to arrive."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Lurking in the shadows for the prey to come and pounce on it at the right moment. That's a common rule in hunting. It is meaningless to show ourselves first when the other party might run away at our simple sight." His explanation left them dumbfounded. Ritsu who asked the stupid question only expected one on the same level, but she was very far from it. At least, she learned that this alien was on the predator side, as expected. "We will lurk somewhere and send Momoi when he arrived."
"Aka-chin sure thinks of everything."
"«We»?" Midorima didn't like the use of this pronoun which was probably including him in this trap.
"I was talking about Momoi and me. I will wait with her and give assistance if the situation calls for it. Aomine can be quite hard to predict when he gets wary but I hardly think he would try something against you, Momoi."
"What about your participation in the friendship quiz constest?" The pink manager was a bit uneasy at the thought of involving Akashi in her problem when he had had other plans.
"They are currently in the middle of a session. Our participation has to wait. Is it alright with you, Asaka?" Those reassuring words brought a faint smile on the pink-haired girl lips who sent a sorry gaze to Ritsu.
"I don't see any problem at all. In any case, I was late so I don't really have a say about your decision." She shrugged it off, and couldn't help but feel happy about his initiative. It seemed the imposed fifteen minutes break had improved his mood. She faced him as she noticed a little glint of mischievousness in his eyes, displaying openly a side of him that kept growing in her more and more. This sight of him behaving like a simple teenager was somehow a very comforting feeling – because in this state, he was within her reach.
And to bring more innocence to this usual formal attire, Ritsu raised her arms above his head and put the crown of white flowers she received in Momoi's class café on his head. When she lowered her arms, she contemplated the result and it went beyond her expectation. There were quite a contrast with his face and this magical item.
"I-I had doubt about the result, but...you're strangely cute with this...!" She was unable to look at his face any longer.
"I did tell you that a crown of flower could suit me." replied Akashi in a serene voice.
"This sight is very disturbing." Midorima mumbled to himself as he fixed oddly the redhead with the crown of white flowers. He didn't even protest against it and let the girl do everything she wanted. He knew that the compatibility between Aries and Sagittarius was excellent but that didn't allow anything. "Asaka, why did you suddenly do that?"
"I just wanted to see it. It suits him so well that I wonder if he shouldn't wear it for the photo."
"Oh, nice idea, Asaka-chan! We all wear one for the photo!" Momoi agreed raising her arm in the air. She first looked at Akashi who gave his approval, then Murasakibara who nodded once and lastly Midorima who seemed at his wit's end.
"Don't look so gloomy, Midorima-kun."
"No, even if Akashi lets you do everything to him, it is not my case."
"...Are we going to take the photo in Murasakibara-kun's class?" After getting Momoi's positve answer, she came closer to Midorima and whispered something in his ear. Ignorant of what she was telling him, the three others saw the green-haired boy's eyebrow twitched nervously. When she moved away from him, he adjusted his glasses and said :
"By no means, I want to take a photo with a crown of flowers but if I must..."
Momoi and Murasakibara's eyes slid to Midorima from Ritsu, proud of herself.
"Asa-chin, what did you tell Mido-chin?"
"Something embarrassing." Ritsu answered in a chuckle.
"This conversation can wait later. We have to go, Momoi." Akashi returned straight to the business.
"Hm! Let's go!" She said in a determinated way as she was already looking forward to that unique photo. "Oh, Asaka-chan, can you keep with you the chick bolster?"
"No problem. But can I tag along? I don't have anything to do before the start of the next session."
"It might certainly be better this way. At least, I'm sure we will be on time this time." Ritsu rolled her eyes as he didn't forget her lateness.
"By the way, Asaka-chan, you don't have any of our numbers to contact us, do you?"
"I only have Murasakibara's."
"Murasakibara-kun? Why do you have it?" Momoi was surprised to hear the purplehead's name.
"That's...a long story." The reason was related to the «scheme» against Akashi weeks ago. She was unable to give a proper answer when the victim of this incident was present.
"...Then, let's exchange our numbers quickly! I'll give you Aomine's too! Ah! Hurry, Midorin!"
The group drew closer, their heads lowered on their phone's screens while exchanging their numbers.
"Done! We can exchange mails now on!"
"Sure."
"Then, off we go!"
Momoi and Ritsu led the way, quietly followed by Akashi and unexpectedly by Murasakibara and Midorima.
"You're coming with us?"
"I'm interested in your participation in the friendship quiz contest. So, I'll stay with you." The green-haired clarified, boring a sullen face.
"Asa-chin still hasn't buy me the snacks you promised me after the photo with Momo-chin." The giant boy fidgeted.
"Ah, okay...These are good reasons... So Murasakibara-kun, what do you want to eat?"
"Hm, a lot of things."
"Er...You can only chose one thing."
"Huh!...you're really boring."
"You can't expect Asaka to buy you everything, Murasakibara. You're being excessive."
In the middle of their conversation, the three of them marched ahead of Momoi and Akashi.
"Momoi, take this with you. In case, Aomine is being relunctant." He extented a folded paper that seemed like, on what she read in pink characters, a flyer to an event destinied for...couples. "Tell him to read what's written on the back."
She blinked, incrudulous as she grabbed the piece of paper. Was he trying to set them up? Momoi shook her head, trying to clear this silly idea out of her mind. Aomine and her? Akashi playing matchmaker? No-no-no, impossible! As she was currently locking eyes with him, she tried hard to read his intentions. The redhead sometimes could think in a way that went beyond everyone's expectations but he wouldn't do something as absurd as this matchmaking ‒ On second thought, it was a possibility, Akashi's idea often sounded strange at first, though they eventually proved to be very resourceful. Was he thinking of a potential development between Aomine and her?
At this point, Momoi's brain overheated and went completely blank. She could never see herself in a love relationship with her ganguro childhood friend, whatever Akashi saw in them.
Cursing Akashi under his breath, Aomine arrived at the rendez-vous point inspecting the hallway without feeling the presence of his vice-capitain. He cursed him again, he was the one who called and he wasn't even here. On the lookout, he crossed his arms behind his head, beating nervously the ground with his foot, his blue eyes focused on the huge banner on which was written «Haunted House» in calligraphied characers. Reading it, he pondered on what Akashi reserved him in it. Would they even go inside? He never said anything about going inside or more generally his intention. The only thing he knew was that he was there for his punishment. Apparently he didn't pray enough, even the clutz princess didn't manage to deviate his attention.
Waiting, Aomine heaved a sigh, as if he wanted to be punished now and in front of a freaking haunted house. But he complied since act of rebellion didn't work on Akashi as the more opposition he was confronted to, the less options the other party was left with. Put it bluntly, he would eventually be cornered by Akashi sooner or later; and the more one tested his patience, the more one were tested during the punishment. However good-natured he was in private, this fellow rarely let slipped any disobedient behavior in something he was deeply involved. First it was a simple advice, second a warning and three coercion. But rare were the time he actually went to the third option. Fortunately, he could say. A warning from him was enough to understand that he was not joking at all.
"Tch...! Go to hell, Akashi!" He groaned as he began to get irritated by the very fact of him waiting obediently the latter and his punishment.
"Dai-chan!"
"What do you want, Satsuki? Ah?! Satsuki!" Upon seeing the pink haired girl, he jerked his head back and forth, apprehending the arrival of a certain redhead who was nowhere around. There was only his childhood friend. Averting his eyes nonchalantly, he asked in a flat voice : "What are you doing here? I'm busy right now. So, go away."
The girl pouted her lips. "Fine! But it's Akashi-kun who sends me here."
"Ah?" He let out that indignant shout. "What for?"
"He wants us to go inside the haunted house."
Something fishy was going on, that was his hunch. He couldn't comprehend the involvement of Momoi as his subsitute, and even less Akashi's choice on this creepy place.
"Why do you listen to Akashi? You're afraid of haunted house, silly."
"I don't care about it! I just want to–"
"I'm off." He interrupted her, perfectly knowing what she was about to say. As always she read too much into a simple quarrel and tried her best to patch up things when they really aren't anything to apologize for. "Since Akashi's not here, I don't need to do what he says."
As he began to stride away, he was quickly pulled back by Momoi.
"I won't let you! Akashi-kun requests us to go to the haunted house!" She gripped on tightly his shirt, pulling him toward her with all her strengh.
"Dream on! Like I'd listen to his stupid request! He's just making fun of us!"
"He would never do– Aaaah! I almost forget!" Momoi relaxed her grasp, which cause Aomine, who wanted to get away, to stumble forwards. Thanks to his agility, he avoided to fall head first in middle of a crowded hallway.
"Oi, Satsuki! What's gotten into you?!" He barked at her.
"Here. It's from Akashi-kun." She handed him a folded paper that he seized with annoyance and unfolded it. Skimming through the flyer, his eyes widened in disgust.
"The heck! What's this stupid event?! Don't tell me he wants us to do that too?" The flyer was about testing a couple affinity through several trials.
Momoi paused, kind of happy to not be the only one to be creeped out by Akashi's idea.
"No-no, you have to read something on the back. That's what he said."
Aomine clucked his tongue and flipped over the paper on which were written a message from Akashi. As he skim-read it, he pressed his lips, repressing the urge to shout out his frustration. That fellow was one step ahead him!
"Tsk! We're going inside!" He crumpled the paper in his hands and tossed it away.
"Huh? Why the sudden change?" His childhood friend, who caught up the crumpled flyer, unfolded it and gasped in surprise when she read the contents. "But why Akashi–"
"How the hell should I know? He can be really twisted! Tch...Let's get it over with!" He roared, advancing toward the host who welcomed him all smile, which annoyed him to no end.
"Finally decided?" The host asked as he witnessed their little spat.
"Yeah,yeah. Like I have the choice."
"So which course do you want to do? Friends or lovers?"
"Aaah?! There's a choice?"
"Hm, Akashi-kun didn't specify anything about our course choice." Momoi said, reading again the redhead's message.
"We'll do the Friends's path, of course!"
"But if you cross the lovers' path, you can win the ultimate treasure."
"I don't give a damn! We're going through the Friends's course!"
"Good luck then!" He opened the door to the haunted house and Aomine was the first to step inside.
"Satsuki, don't stand there! Together we'll find those keys quickly and show Akashi what it is to make fun of us!"
As usual, Aomine was true to himself, not caring one bit about their previous quarrel. Momoi nodded to him in joy and followed her childhood friend's footsteps. Deep down, she thanked Akashi for his curious initiative. Although she was somehow unsure of his true intention, she was certain of one thing, he couln't be ill-intentioned. Admittedly, Akashi was weird regarding his way of thinking, but he was basically a good boy.
Meanwhile, behind a corner, four heads spied on the two childhood friends. They saw Momoi gestured to them with a radiant smile, raising her thumb up to inform them of the plan success; then she vanished inside the haunted house following Aomine who had already entered.
"Akashi-kun, what was this flyer about? When Momoi-chan gave it to him, Aomine immediately changed his mind." Ritsu turned her head to the red haired friend standing behind her.
"A message from me."
"Ah, that explains everything." She paused and went on in a deadpanned voice, persuaded there was something behind it . "And what did you write?"
"I request him to bring me the five winning prizes." He replied in all honesty.
"Huh, Aka-chin didn't win all the prizes with Asa-chin?"
"I won them all." He slightly bent down to grab his bag full of prizes laid on the floor. "However, I just wanted to give them a purpose inside it. If I didn't, Aomine would have stormed the haunted house without caring about the challenge or Momoi, but since teamwork is needed for him to find quickly the keys in order to get the prizes, he has to rely on her. Consequently, they are bounded to interact together."
"You think so far ahead in just a few minutes...? That's very impressive." Ritsu gaped, amazed by his quick mind. Undoubtedly he thought fast, but it went beyond any of her expectations.
"Akashi, next time do your explanation without that crown of flowers. It's hard to take you seriously."
Since the time she put it over his head, he had yet removed it.
"That's because you can't fully appreciate his innocence, Midorima-kun. This crown suits him pretty well!"
"Stop joking, Asaka."
She brushed it off with a chuckle. What else could she say? She wasn't joking at all. This crown of white flowers was the best item to honor this sweet side of him. Whatever accessories, whatever the majestic costume, to her eyes, nothing could match this heartwarming image of him.
"Shall we move on? We have a chick bolster to win."
How perfect he was.
As sparks flitting into the evening sky, the colorful bunch watched the peaceful scenery unfolding before their eyes filled with wonder. Like them, groups of students were contemplating quietly sweet couples dancing around the big fire that set aflame their young heart with the last remnant of the festival.
Burning high in the hazy sky, this fire was a reflection of the festival, seethed with excitement as life breathed anew in those usually quiet hallways, in those studious classrooms and in those plain courtyards. This was what every students would rememeber; whether first, second or third year, they would remember. Because everything had to come to an end. However sad and hearbreaking this notion was to innocent minds, young and brave hearts could only hope when they beheld such a flamboyant view – A fire that would burn away and a flame that would last ever after. A festival was a fleeting dream, but what they gained from it was real and could be felt deep down, or else who could explained those tears, those smiles or those laughs echoing under the uncertain night sky? This treasure was nothing more than memories of a blissful past and hope for a brighter future.
And the smiles Akashi saw on the photo he was holding brought again a soft smile upon his lips. It was perfect. This unique word said it all, he couldnt be more satisfied, or rather happier than he was right this instant. He didn't need mere photos, what he sought was true memories. And so, if by one single look, one could be stirred with emotions upon seeing it, then it only proved its sentimental value.
Currently, he couldn't withhold his heart tingling with joy like a little child, marvelled by simple things. But truthfully, when he examined it, they were all radiant, almost dazzling. Every one of them shone with their own light that was so peculiar of them.
On the photo, he was holding the shiny yellow chick bolster while standing quietly between a relunctant Midorima who was decided to stay at the very back but was pulled to the front in the very last seconds before the picture was taken by Ritsu who was beaming a broad smile at the camera holding the green-haired boy's right arm and gesturing a victory sign; and Murasakibara who also gestured innocently the same victory sign, standing like an electric pole amidst his smaller fellows while shoting a little smile with his casual expression. By his side stood Aomine who was strangling a dark red chick bolster and in front, Momoi. Just as Ritsu, the navy haired boy, decided to play a last-minute prank to Momoi who was requesting everyone to smile at three at this moment, but two seconds before the flash, the tanned boy leaned playfully on his childhood friend, putting his left arm around her neck as he was suddenly jerking his head forwards; and let the camera captured this sweet moment as he was grinning very proud of himself. While the poor Momoi bored a surprised face, her eyes were wide-opened with her mouth gaping at the sudden move, motioning her right hand to the crooked crown of flowers that fell over her forehead almost over her right eye and squeezing to death the pale blue chick bolster because of the abrupt impact.
How beautiful. They only took one as they were more or less all happy with the result. Rightly so, this photo captured the very essence of the festival. Simple yet so meaningful.
"Today was really fun!" said Momoi, playing with the ghost key chain she won with Aomine. "Except the haunted house...that was really scary."
"I thought you didn't care, silly." snorted Aomine and hit her gently over the head with the pale blue chick bolster. "Oh by the way, Akashi, I heard from Asaka she tried to pin you down in the haunted house, is that true?"
The rest of the colorful bunch gawked, the absurdity within this one sentence was so ludicrous that none of them would actually believe it.
"Oh, you too Aka-chin? She was really mean today." Murasakibara broke the awkward silence with his statement that led to another blank.
"...What do you mean, Murasakibara?" Akashi gave an inquiring gaze to the latter.
"She made me trip when I just wanted to talk to Momo-chin and her."
"That's because she thought you were a pervert!" When Momoi tried to make amends for her friend, Aomine burst out of laugh at the comical image of Murasakibara being a pervert lurking for cute girls. "Aomine-kun, that's not funny!"
"Asaka tends to jump to conclusion rather quickly. So this kind of hazardous incidents have a high probablility of occuring." Akashi affirmed, casting an eye over the all smile ash-blond-haired girl on the photo, that stretched wider his faint smile.
"Aries are specifically known for impulsiveness. The main reason it's hard to deal with her resides in this simple truth."
"If you're a Cancer, she doesn't like you very much too, Midorin!" Momoi said as a joke, clasping and unclasping her hands like crab's pincers.
"Ah, that may be a fact. Asaka hates crabs." Akashi supported the pink-haired girl in her joke.
Midorima glared at the two, marking a blank and gave a sigh when facing this unusual duo. "...It is irrelevant."
"Hehe! Did Asaka-chan told you about it, Akashi-kun?"
"Not quite. It's all thanks to your datas, if I must say."
"Eh?" Momoi tilted her head, she never shared any datas concerning Ritsu to Akashi.
"Not long ago, you lost them, right?"
"Yeah, I searched for them everywhere that day and they suddenly reappeared the next morning on my class desk." Having a vague reminder of that moment, she blinked for a short instant; but as she connected his words with her memory, she cried aloud. "It was you who left them on my desk!"
"That is accurate. Actually, I should apologize for my peeking into your notes. I was a little curious of your information gathering method since they revealed to be very helpful during the preliminary games. Those are very organized and complete much to my expectation."
"It's only datas, Akashi-kun!" Praised for her hard work, Momoi blushed in embarrassment, cupping her hands over her cheeks. "We can work together whenever you want, I'd be glad to share them with you! Together I'm sure we can improve the team stats!"
"Your devotion is truly admiring, Momoi. I appreciate it."
"Tehehe! Asaka-chan was right..." muttered the pink-haired girl when she looked upon the ever quiet redhead softly smiling as he shifted his gaze to the fire.
«When you look at his back, you're admiring; when you look him in the eyes, you're aknowledged; and when you look at «him», you're watching over him. Quite simple, isn't it?»
It was simple, indeed. As friends, they could only care for him, no more no less.
"At least, you won your prize, Akashi-kun!" She enthused, lowering her pink eyes on the chirpy yellow chick bolster placed together with her pale blue one.
"It has a cute face."
"Contrary to the one I won. Who had ever seen a chick with strange eyebrows?" added Aomine very casually as an image of the chick popped in his mind.
"There weren't eyebrows..." Momoi retorted flatly. "But Asaka-chan really likes it!"
"I don't understand girls taste. It's damn ugly. Bah, if she's happy wi–"
Aomine stopped in midsentence at the presence of the Princess, marching with confidence in their direction.
"Hello. Am I interrupting something?" She greeted them, currently feeling the nervousness building up inside her when she faced them, and more specifically Akashi.
"No, you aren't." The latter met her eyes that seemed clear of all doubts.
"Ah, Akashi-kun! I...er...need to tell something important...But before all, I need to apologise to you...for my selfish behaviour on the stage...It was as you said...It wasn't the right place to do that...so, I'm very sorry for everything..! I-I also apologise to everyone...T-They were very surprised when I did...Aahaaha...They took me to the nurse office..." She tapped nervously her fingers together, gathering her courage to speak to him in poised tone but under Akashi's gaze, she couldn't control her intonation that was either going very high-pitched or barely audible. Although she saw a warm glint in his eyes, she couldn't help but remember her painful experience on the stage. Without noticing, she met Momoi's gaze as she unconsciously averted his eyes from him when she apologized. The pink-haired girl gave her a faint smile and cheered her on silently. At that little push, she returned to him and exhaled deeply. "B-B-But since the play is over...Can I have another chance...? Ah..! Maybe we should s-speak a little before...ALONE! So, would DANCE with me...?"
A blank ensued, the girl tormented herself during this long minutes, wondering whether he would accept or refuse her offer.
"Sure. Why not?" offered the red-haired boy in a very simplistic manner.
"R-Really?" Himeno couldn't believe her ears at his positive answer.
"Yes, it would be my pleasure."
As she held his hand and pulled gently toward the big fire, Akashi spared a smile for her courage.
Gazing upon the same scenery, Ritsu was sitting around chatting with the members of the volleyball team whom she decided to join after she ate ice creams with the colorful squad. There were eight of them including her, all reunited to enjoy together the end of the festival.
"I tell you, you got tricked when they gave you that chick bolster, Asaka. Those eyebrows or whatever those are, are not cute at all. Look, he had a nasty look because of it." declared a orange haired girl, examinating the dark red chick bolster from all the different angles. Staring intensely at the puny round eyes of the chick as if she started some gaze contest with it, she held her chin thoughfully when a frown went twisting slightly her baby face. "I can't even call it a chick. There's something fiery emanating from it, like it says «I'm going to destroy you all! Grrrr!»"
"«G-Grrr?», but that's a chick, Ugai-senpai." Ritsu replied, her lips twitching as she hesitated in laughing or shortening the conversation with her senpai, Ugai Komaki.
"It's that thing aura."
"Y-You read too much into things. To me, it has its own charm as a chick. And those are not eyebrows." She raised the dark red chick bolster to her eyes level and looked happily at it.
When they seperated with Momoi, Akashi and her finally went to participate in the friendship quiz contest. At last. No infuriated admirers, no techical problems, no missing friends, their path had been cleared of all troubles. Everything went well during the first round as Ritsu expected since she was partenered with the smartest student of Teikō.
For Akashi, the first round which was on general knowledge was merely child's play. Thanks to him, they obtained a perfect score, the red haired boy showed no mercy to the other candidates who was left incapable of outmatching his intelligence nor his speed in answering. However, the second round was where things had complicated for the duo because of a pair of best friends that proved to be real challengers in this round. Although this factor decreased their chance of victory, Akashi seemed even more stimulated to win and his answers regarding his partner were truly scary – Well, from her point of view, to say the least. Momoi was one thing since she was aware of her abitily, but that Akashi himself knew so much about her was very disturbing. So far, they didn't talk much about private matters...There was no point in dwelling on this since they won their fierce battle against that demonic pairs of best friends. Besides, all in all, Akashi would had certainly chosen another person if he had judged their affinity not high enough to enter the contest.
"No one cares whether it's a chick or something out of this world." sighed Hoshino, tired from running around the entire day. The huge girl let out a long yawn without minding her manner before her teammates and collapsed on the grass, outstretching her limbs like a starfish. "Right now, I only see it as a bolster. Ritsu, give me that, I'll rest a little."
"No." She refused flatly. "This is a present."
A present from Momoi to be precise. As they won the Akashi's chick bolster, they were congratulated by Momoi and Aomine who had returned from the Haunted House in one piece and, Midorima and Murasakibara. After that, they all decided to go take the photo but when Momoi noticed that Ritsu didn't get one chick bolster even after two participations, she felt the sudden urge to get one for her. Though she tried to turn her down, Momoi already signed in for the next session with Aomine as her partner, in spite his reluctance. And so they won the dark red chick bolster.
"You little...! First Rin, now it's you. It's my last festival there, damn it! Be kind to me at least!" She whined loudly, still laying like a starfish on the grass.
"Eh, your grades improved so much for you to even consider graduation, Hoshino-san?" The tease of a certain girl with long auburn haired neatly tied in a ponytail forced the latter to leap on her feet and pointed her finger at the smaller girl, Kazehaya Rin.
"Riiiiin, you jerk! That's how you're talking to your senior?!"
"I don't think I was being rude." Kazehaya retorted. "And if I may, hierarchically speaking, I have a certain authority over you since I'm your vice-capitain."
"Tsk...You're a total jerk as always! I didn't forget what you did this afternoon! You ruined my forty-seventh victory against Shūzō at the track and field club event! Why did you interrupt our duel?"
"Firstly, you weren't fast enough. Secondly, I also snacthed victory from Nijimura-kun since I won the race. Thirdly and lastly, why should I even bother of your stupid duel when you two were partcipating in an open event?"
The two girls stared each other out of contenance, forgetful of the others.
"What, Hoshino-senpai didn't participate in the Stamp Rally Competition?" Sitting a bit farther behind Ritsu, Yagami asked the other members, completely ignoring Hoshino and Kazehaya bickering. "She pestered Tomoe and me with it for a whole quarter of an hour."
"You as well, Yagami?" Ritsu turned the head to the navy blue-haired girl.
"Does that mean she also came to you, Asaka-chan?" Sat up with cross legs beside Yagami, a girl with hooded eyes asked in a soothing voice despite Hoshino's loud voice in the background – Yūzuki Tomoe.
"Yes, unfortunately, I ran into her, or rather she found me...but she didn't take that long with me. Fifteen minutes, that's pretty long..." Both Yūzuki and her began to laugh together.
"Tell me about it!" added Yagami as she heaved a sigh, starting to get tired just by looking at Hoshino. "Because of her, we missed the light music club performance! She jabbered on love and other nonsense. And now I hear, she didn't even participate in the stupid competition...What was she doing with the basketball captain anyway?"
Tomoe patted Yagami's shoulder in sympathy.
"From what Kisa told me, she tried to drag to him into the Stamp Rally Competition and as you may suspect, he refused. She challenged him to a game in three rounds with the condition of him being her parner if he were to lost." Aside the two bickering girls, the rest of team listened dumbfounded to their captain's quick explanation. Hibari was standing near Ritsu, watching the fire and the couples dancing in circle with more or less interest. "She had lost the first one, win the second and lost the third. And so she challenged him to another game with her win but Nijimura couldn't settle down with the result...Well, you can guess the rest. That's Hoshino Wakana for you."
"Eeh, Wakana-san and Nijimura-san can't help it, do they?" Yūzuki gave a knowing smile to Hibari.
"Uwa...How many challenges did they do? Sounds so tiring." Ugai exclaimed.
"Fifty-nine, with Nijimura's win! They've been running around the school campus since noon." A girl, who had platinum blonde hair and a trim looking figure, answered in a chirpy manner. She was Hareki Kisa, their manager.
"And she still has the strength to pick a fight with Kazehaya?"
"Well, in the team, Wakana is the one who has the best stamina. She's a pain but in a good way." Hareki agreed wholeheartedly with Hibari's claim. "But thanks to you Asaka, the Stamp Rally Competition went rather smoothly for me."
"Er...did I miss something?"
"You sent her to Nijimura, right? Wakana told me it was a great suggestion of yours. You didn't want her to take away the little vice-captain of the basketball club from you." Her captain grinned proudly as four pairs of eyes suddenly shifted their attention to Ritsu, the latter suddenly laughed it off nervously. "Way to go, Asaka!"
"It's not what you're thinking. Akashi-kun and I were –"
"OH! Now you mention that red midget, he tricked me! I ran three times around the campus before I actually find Shūzō who was not at that freaking table tennis club!" Hoshino stopped her bicker with Kazehaya and lowered her eyes to Ritsu who was fully aware of his trick.
"T-Three times...?" Ritsu repeated with astonishment.
"Hey, Asaka, since you're so buddy-buddy with Akashi, tell him that next time I see him I'll give him a piece of my mind!"
"Woah, you'd better not, Hoshino." Ugai cut in. "Something's telling me, it's not a good idea. His aura is rather strong for a guy of his stature."
"Oh, cut the crap, Komaki! The hell I care about his aura! My honor is at stake!"
"See?" Hareki jerked her head backwards smirking to the two first year member. "As I told you, better watch out of small things! This is one universal rule!"
"Again with that weird rule?" Yagami said. "It makes no sense since it depends on one's height, Hareki-senpai. Look, Hoshino-senpai is the tallest girl of the team, without saying of the school. So following your «universal» rule, does it mean that in her eyes we are all vicious to the core?"
"Yeah, you catch on quick, Yagami-kun! That's what makes her strong! She doesn't underestimate anyone since she expects the worst from any opponents smaller than her, that is to say, mostly everyone." Hareki crawled to the latter and ruffled her hair to praise her for her right guess.
Yūzuki let out a gasp. "Wah, your logic is completely screwed up, Kisa-san."
"Really? I thought it was obvious."
"As the smallest girl among us, you ought to know. This rule also applies to you." The auburn haired girl glanced at the all smile girl.
"Hehe, thank you!"
"That wasn't a complime– "
"Oh, look the Prince is going to dance with the Princess." cried aloud Yūzuki upon seeing the surprising couple.
Ritsu widened slightly her eyes as she looked on Himeno and Akashi was walking in direction of fire, ready to join the dancing couples. Seemingly things were somehow going well for them, she was sure the day after next their dance would be gossip material in their class.
"Ah, you're talking about Ritsu's class play? You two went to see it?"
"Us three!" The orange-haired girl replied to Hoshino's question, pointing Yūzuki and Yagami. The rest of the girls didn't come to assist the play, all busy at the said moment.
"How was it?" Hareki raised the question that everyone awaited to ask.
"Hoshino, you would have been proud of Ritsu if you were there!" The short dark haired girl raised a brow. "In the play, Asaka played the witch and she fought with the Prince who was none but the «red midget»."
"Eeh...You're picking my interest! Tell me more!"
"Aha, they were like going at each other's throat. You should have seen their duel, it was so damn cool!" Faking to hold a baton, Ugai gestured reproducing some movements of the fight scene to show.
"Yeah, totally. Asaka-chan challenged him afterall. But it looked very painful whenever he managed to hit her."
"Asaka-kun did that? Our sweet Asaka?" Hareki was a bit surprised to hear about her wild behaviour.
Ritsu didn't hear anything of the conversation, her full attention was directed to Himeno and Akashi giving off a peculiar feel when she saw them dancing together. Even in the distance, she couldn't missed her bliss that showed through the smile she shared with Akashi. Such a romantic view, and to say she was the cau...the reason behind this. She was happy for Himeno yet a tingling feeling somewhat held her back in fully appreciating the sight.
"You're not going to ask him for a dance, Asaka?" Ritsu snapped out of her thoughts and raised her head to Hibari. By the looks of it, she seemed to have noticed to whom her gaze was.
"Ah...no, that would be pretty awkward if we dance together. I'm taller than him."
"What, it's just about that?" Hibari shrugged her shoulders.
"More or less. A petite girl like Himeno seems a better choice. Actually they fit pretty well together."
"Do they?..." The captain eyed her for a while, waiting for a response that never came. She took Ritsu's silence for an answer - one that only confirmed her first impression of her. "You're too soft-hearted."
"It may be the case."
"No, you are. That's why you're still lacking of that particular glint."
Ritsu didn't answer anything to her captain, she didn't expect one at that moment. It was a mere observation.
Maybe was she too kind-hearted when she looked on again the dancing couple. If she really wanted to, she could fit this beautiful image and got rid of that strange sensation regarding him. But there could only be one happy ending, and she let go of that chance for being too kind.
Her happy ending had yet to come.
Yeah, I know, those two chapters were oversentimental (sorry for the randonnes of some events and the rushed events). But well, that's the end of the festival. When I was writting, it was kind of hearbreaking to know that it finally comes to an end. It felt like I finished writting one big installment which is not the case...
But I hope you enjoyed it much as I do. Next chapter, we'll come back to daily life.
By the way, I'm sure some of you might have been confused at the sudden introduction of all the volleyball team members but I thought it was the right moment to do that because they do exist even if they don't always appear. So to help you remember them (you better because they will be playing a major part in Asaka's character development, but I don't force anyone of course), I listed their name, position and year.
Hibari Masame 雲雀・正芽 (setter / captaine) - 3rd year
Kazehaya Rin 風早 ・凛 (middle hitter / vice-captaine) - 2nd year
Hoshino Wakana 星埜・和叶(outside hitter) - 3rd year
Asaka Ritsu 朝果・律 (outside hitter) - 1st year
Yagami Kimiko夜神・ 企美子 (opposite) - 1st year
Yūzuki Tomoe 夕月・委依 (middle hitter) - 2nd year
Ugai Komaki 宇涯・駒基 (libero) - 2nd year
Hareki Kisa 晴氣・紀佐 (manager) - 3rd year
Their name are not chosen by random by the way, it sort of hints their role in the volleyball team or their character.
Well, that's all for tonight, guys.
Feel free to leave some review!
See you soon!