After getting off the train, Midorima put carefully the book he was reading in his school bag and made his way out of the station under the astounded gaze of passerby, though he didn't pay attention to it. He had other priorities to think of, and it was his studies for the upcoming exams. Only one week remaining before the fated day on when he planned to take over his red-haired teammate's first place. For this day to come, he had been studying diligently everyday at school and at home, never late on his own revison schedule he had established – two hours and thirty minutes, no more, no less, followed with a series of stretching exercices to keep a good blood circulation, especially for the brain, and only after that he would relax and sleep in peace with a sense of accomplishment.
Down the street, he was marching at a steady speed, keeping his eyes straight and not his nose down on a book as he was noticing here and there some high schoolers reading or certainly revising while walking, which he found the action completely useless and idiotic because it could lead to troublesome situations and wasn't a very efficient way. It gave the impression of one to gain time in their studying but one was more focused on avoiding people than actually learning.
"Look, you can't even do that in pratice, Asaka!"
"Shut up! I can!"
On his way home, high-pitched voices, or rather the familiar name had managed to force him to look on a street basketball court where four boys, who probably ranged from forth to sixth grade, were playing at the said sport. As he watched them, one detail struck him and it was their clothes. They were all wearing the same school uniform that his little sister was attending.
"Bleuh! Almost everyone in the club can do a layup except you! As if you can do it on a higher rim, idiot!"
"Height has nothing to do with it! Even if I can't do it, I can shoot!"
"Everybody can shoot! It's not a cool move! Layups and dunks are the best and the coolest moves in basketball!"
He stopped on his track and turned his head mechanically to the little brat who was talking absolute nonsence, then his eyes slid to the seemingly-most-intelligent boy of the group. The latter was facing the three others, a scowl on his face while his fist were tightly clenched as he beared with their mockers.
"You can only shoot! Even then you miss most of the time!"
"Give me the ball! I'll show you!" The little boy snatched the ball out of the hand and dribbled toward the rim. After passing the three-point line, he stopped brutally and motioned to a shooting stance. While the three other boys had their eyes stuck on the ball, Midorima already knew that the shot would miss and resumed his track. The chesnut haired-boy momentum had been so abrupt that his form had suffered from it as he didn't have the necessary balance to deliver the ball correctly.
The mockery of the trio started again and confirmed his guess.
"See! You suck, Asaka, you loser!"
Still, it was rather unsettling for him to know that those brats attended the same school as his little sister and that they were speaking so badly of his speciality. Little brains couldn't understand the importance of shots during a game.
"Shut up! Even pro don't always make their shot!"
"Bleuh! Only a loser find excuses! You won't..." The little brat looked up before he gaped upon seeing a tall form standing behind the chesnust haired-boy, but his surprise didn't last long just as the spark of lucidity that had commanded him to stay quiet. "What do you want, Nii-chan?"
"I'm here to–"
"Hey, are you stupid to wear a red cape in broad daylight, Nii-chan?" said one of the little brat, interrupting him as he looked askance at the long cape that was fasten around his neck.
"I was speak–"
"What! You want to play the hero! Is that it? Soooo laaame!" cut him off the tallest of the boy, pointing his finger at him.
Although he had been interrupted twice, the trio insolence didn't affect him or at least shouldn't affect him, he convinced himself against those childish remarks. They were only kids. So he perfectly knew that retorting to them in the same manner would only worsen the case.
Midorima locked his eyes on the trio as he waited to regain composure. But the trio continued to make fun of him to the point that his eyes narrowed with slight annoyance, not to say exasperation because the ugly face of Aomine popped on each boys of the trio. Right now, it was like he was facing three mini versions of the navyhead and his patience suddenly ran low when he spontaneously associated them to his rowdy classmate. There were idiots everywhere.
"H-Hey, that Nii-chan is strange. He's only looking at us weirdly..." Having no response to their provokation, the little trio exchanged confused gaze.
"We should go."
"Yeah, he's too weird. He's coming out of nowhere and he says nothing..."
Just like this, the trio abandonned the basketball court and joined the main street from where he had come from.
Seemingly his efforts had been rewarded by Fate. As expected, wearing his lucky item on him increased his luck. Satisfied with this outcome, Midorima exhaled, yet he couldn't help but crack a crooked smile after finally having the calm back.
"If you think a cape makes you a hero, you're mistaken, Nii-san. You're so lame."
Despite the remark, Midorima stared back at him silently, focusing on the familiar pair of gray-blue eyes that scrutinized him like he had come upon an alien. He was of the same family as her, no doubt. He had the very same gaze she had at their first encounter.
"But thank you though." said the boy out of politeness and went to fetch the basketball under the hoop. He picked up the ball and glanced curiously at his «savior»'s form as the red cape he wore lightly swayed in the wind. "Nee-san have strange friends."
"You are Asaka Ritsu's brother?" asked Midorima, reacting to one word instead of minding the whole statement.
The chesnut haired-boy bobbed slightly his head and continued to stare at him like an alien. "Oh, you must be Akashi. She told me you're the weirdest guy she ever met. So it's true!"
His lips almost curled into a smile which he tried to hide with the simple movement of adjusting his glasses. As regards strangeness, his rival was indeed an oddity among others – smart with no apparent flaws, not resigning himself to use the word «perfect» to qualify him. Akashi embodied excellence, not perfection; he conceded to this. Nonetheless this superiority was of no threat to him. He aimed excellence as well and spared no effort to reach it. The gap between greatness and excellence was insignificant, nothing that could undermine him and his self-confidence. Those who strived for excellence were generally favored by Fate. Constant efforts shaped one's path and Fate would decide. For him, one's life should be as simple as it : put all the chances on his side to achieve and reap the fruit of his achievements with Fate guidance.
This wasn't a strange path, but rather an obvious one that tended to be forgotten by many as one took everything for granted after a simple stroke of luck – He depised it.
"I'm not Akashi." He replied, lowering his eyes to the small boy.
"Eh, no way?!" exclaimed the smallest and surprised the green-haired boy. "Because Akashi is weirder than a guy who wanders with a red cape and takes himself for a hero!"
"For you guidance, I'm not weird, but Akashi certainly is to some extent."
His incredulous gray-blue orbs were stuck on him, or more precisely on the red cape, hinting him clearly that he didn't swallow one word. Likely, the little boy considered him as an oddity and Akashi as an existence beyond this world, or so this was what he caught from his shocked expression.
"It's not nice to slander other people when you're not better, Nii-san."
The reproach had momentarily cut short any urge to react. He was used to draw attention or to be laughed at by kids because they couldn't understand the purpose of his lucky items; but he had to admit that being reprimanded by a kid caused a mixed feeling within him. For the first seconds, his loss of words manisfested his bewilderment that soon turned to exasperation as his serious nature took over once again.
"True. Still, don't be wrong about me. This cape is my lucky item for the day." He clarified with his ever-serious tone.
"Nee-san doesn't oftenly mention you..." He said in half-heartened tone. "And now I know why she doesn't speak a lot about you...You're the «Midorima»."
Midorima's expression flattened by his bluntness, his lips drew into a thin line, preventing himself to make a comment and thus stop the little boy from running his mouth.
Before his silence, the boy moved past him and approached the hoop in an attempt to make a shot.
"She's kind of amazing to cope up with two aliens. Even her volleyball club members aren't that weird."
Turning a deaf ear, Midorima walked away, trailed by the chesnut haired-boy's curious gaze that had stopped dead on his shooting stance. He placed himself on the side of the basketball court, having his back on the chain-link fence and then he grabbed his green cellphone inside his school bag. After choosing the name under Akashi's, he looked intensely at the message screen, wondering if he had to add salutations or not when texting the girl. Even if he didn't have any affinity with her, this didn't mean that he had to be rude to her, even through a message. However when his eyes fell on the smiley list, it irked him so much that he tapped the content in a flash and pressed the sending button before sighing like this was a chore.
"What are you doing? " The chesnut haired-boy lowered his little arms down and eyed him suspisciously. "You're not leaving?"
"No. I'm contacting your sister and wait for her to pick you up." He said in wait for Ritsu's answer.
"Eh?! Why!"
"A grade schooler shouldn't play outside this late."
As he informed him of his intention, Midorima earned another shout from the boy, which he shrugged off without replying anything else.
"Mind your own business, Nii-san! Don't you have other things to do? It's soon the exam period for middle schooler!"
He quietly adjusted his glasses, having the slight impression of dealing with Aomine and Ritsu combined in one body – Aomine for the loud mouth and Ritsu for the brain. How tiring.
"Of course, I have." The moment he was going to take out the book he was reading on the train, a ringtone interrupted him and read the reply before sending his instructions. Almost instantly he got another message that made him sighed in relief. "Asaka is on her way. You have enough time to play until she arrived."
"Hey, Nii-san, have people already told you're not funny?"
"I don't need to be funny."
The chestnut-haired boy threw him a hopeless look that he returned back silently. Dejected, the smallest swung around and resumed with his shot attempts in wait for his sister.
Although Midorima busied himself with the book, he couldn't help but keep an eye on the boy's clumsy shots and focused on his shooting form that revealed some imperfections. With the correct adjustement, his chance of making a shot could increase. However, this wasn't his job to teach a kid. Following this thought, he kept silent and only observed distantly the little boy.
Meanwhile, after a twenty-minute commute, Ritsu ran down the main street and reached the outskirt of a residential area, knowing precisely the direction. The basketball club that his little brother had freshly joined was in this district, she sometimes came there to fetch him when their schedules coincided.
Even after twenty minutes passed, she was still a bit suprised from Midorima's message and precisely his encouter with her sibling. The possibility for them to meet was one out of a million, such coincidence couldn't happen without a twist of fate. She didn't see that coming, certainly the same for Midorima. While running, she was struck by a fit of chuckles, merry of imagining their confrontation. Her sibling was blunter and more incisive compared to her while the green-haired boy already had trouble to deal with overly straightforward people, and the least she could say about it was that patience wasn't his forte when it came to people in this particular category.
Well, Midorima wasn't basically a bad person and her brother may had a sharp tongue most of the time yet he knew how to behave with people. In any case, even if he didn't, Midorima wouldn't keep the conversation very long and stayed quiet.
At the sight of a green and chestnut duo on a street basketball court, she slowed down and gazed at them. It was as she guessed. Midorima was standing straight like a pole and reading a book while her little brother played basketball. She made her way to them and stepped onto the court.
"Shōhei!"
Upon hearing his name, the chestnuthead perked his head up to the source of the call.
"Nee-san!"
As she walked up to her sibling, Midorima closed his book and did the same.
"You're finally here."
One silly detail on him had drawn her attention and she forgot all about the formalities.
"...D-Don't tell me you wear this red cape all day."
"I do."
"Even during basketball practice?"
He slightly hesitated to answer the question, though he kept glaring at her. "...Don't be a fool, Asaka. It wouldn't be convenient to play with it."
"...Or rather Akashi-kun was against it." She swore she saw him cringed as she probably nailed the truth. His reaction brought a soft smile. He was as distant as ever. Ritsu and him kept looking at each other silently, then the greetings done, she dropped her gaze to her little brother.
The little boy's eyes swept from her to Midorima and the other way, a little intrigued by the strange flow of their conversation.
"Are we going, Shōhei?"
"Ah! Nee-san, can I play a little more?" He said as he pleaded her with his eyes. "I'm getting a hang of my shots!"
Ritsu gave in, motioning him to make the most of it. "Not for long then. It's getting late."
Her brother bobbed his head happily and resumed his activity. After then, she glanced at Midorima and smiled.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Midorima-kun. And thank you for watching over my little brother."
"Don't mention it." He returned back to his previous spot and his eyes slowly drew to Shōhei's practice. Ritsu followed his motion with her eyes as she soon stepped in the same direction as him.
"You're not going home?"
"Are you expecting me to?" He shot a sidelong glance at her when asked twice the question. First the little brother, second her.
"Kind of. Nothing holds you back here now. I can keep an eye on Shōhei, don't worry about us."
"By the time he finished playing it will be already night. I can't go home like nothing and leave a girl with his little brother alone when it's getting dark."
Ritsu pressed her lips with surprise and gawked at him.
"...I wouldn't have a clear conscience about it and that would keep me from studying efficiently."
Somehow a distant echo from the their second encounter rung in her head. Just as now, he wouldn't admit his concern toward her, yet the second part of his explanation was so full of honesty as she could easily imagine him be annoyed if he wasn't in perfect condition when starting things.
"I can't even tell if you're being awfully honest or not." She gasped and Midorima just coughed awkwardly to her comment.
"Then don't question it!"
In a second, Ritsu moved to surprise from laughter. She didn't mean to stir him up; unfortunately she was part of those who had the knack of getting on his nerves.
"S-So...! What are you doing around here...?" She changed the subject while trying hardly to suppress her fit of laugher despite the dark glare.
"...I'm living in this neighborhood." He replied, hinting clearly his exasperation. Still in the process of regaining her composure, Ritsu had her mouth covered with her hand, hiding her smile to not stir him more than she already did; and stared silently at him. Midorima turned a blind eye to her effort and returned to somebody more serious, that is to say Shōhei. "Your brother is going to the basketball club of this area?"
"...S-Since it's not very far from his school, it was the best choice. You know about it?"
"I was in this club. I first learned basketball there." He answered curtly, not caring to enter into detail, and went on calmly. "By the look of things, it's the same for your brother. He seems new to it."
"So you can tell." Ritsu vaguely tilted her head and rested her gaze on her little sibling.
"He's not playing volleyball?"
"He should?"
"Never mind."
It was easy to tease him, but better to keep it low, thought Ritsu.
"More seriously, Shōhei is not interested in it. Apparently volleyball doesn't seem to provoke something in him, the same goes for other sports. He tried many, but he didn't feel any real interest in every of them. So I suggested him to play basketball since it was fun the last time I played against Aomine-kun."
"He told us you never scored against him."
"Well, outside P.E classes, I've never played basketball. So you can't expect me to win against a regular of the basketball team." She rationalized her poor play against Aomine as she gave him sheepishly smile. However, from his long gaze, the latter was seemingly waiting for another answer. As nothing came, he sighed.
"I don't understand what is fun about losing, Asaka. Don't you have any sense of pride?"
"There is nothing funny about it. It's just the game in itself that was." She replied, knitting slightly her brow, which didn't escape Midorima's attention. "Because for you, if there is no win in the end, it's no fun?"
"You should strive for victory in whatever you're doing. That's what brings the fun instead of some plain satisfaction from such a pathetic play."
Ritsu sighed deeply in defeat then made a eye contact with his firm gaze. Midorima was true to himself like always to say to the least – never looking back and keep track of his own path. His ever-serious mindset had been established within him long before she met him and forced him to keep a narrow mind to concepts that he seemingly considered as secondary on this path to the top. Something so strongly rooted couldn't be changed, it was as Murasakibara's nonchalant character, there was nothing to do but accepted it – no matter how divergent their opinions were regarding some aspects of life.
"I can't beat your solemnity...Though I can understand your opinion. Nevertheless it was only a friendly game. Aiming victory when there is no actual purpose for it seems a bit absurd."
"...At the festival, you fought Akashi with all your might despite the fact it was a mere play. Do you think it was absurd to aim and fight for victory at this moment?"
Her eyebrow arched up when Midorima prompted her this carved memory in her heart. She gaped momentarily, astounded to be asked this out of the blue. Looking aback, this urge to stand on equal to ground to Akashi had been so powerful and extremely natural to even have the time to call it into question. How strange...
"No..."
"Yet, you still had fun." As he reached this conclusion, she was at a loss of words. They both stared at each other silently.
"Really, I always thought you were kind of strange but in actual fact, your way of thinking is rather ordinary, Midorima-kun."
Because she grasped the view he had of the word «fun». For him, fun only stemmed from one's best efforts. It was a rather common thought that had lost its meaning due the banalization of the word «effort». Everybody could do effort, but rare were those who didn't give up on them and worked hard in hope to achieve.
"So,you'll do everything possible to reach your goal. That's amazing to keep at it so fervently."
Midorima broke the long eye contact and smiled faintly. "«Man proposes, God disposes.»"
Her eyes faintly widened in surprise. At this precise point, he lost her on the conversation. Catching a little glint of incredulity in her gray-blue eyes, he went under explanation with a certain relunctance of speaking the obvious.
"It's true that I will do everything possible to fulfill my goals. However I will also push all my chance on it. With these two conditions together, I can assurely tell you that Fate is on my side."
"F-Fate...?!" She cried aloud in utter shock, drawing the attention of the little boy who eyed them suspisciously.
"With my daily commitment to my own purposes, I don't have to worry about my luck. Fate favors the victors, that is to say those who accomplished."
In just one explanation, Ritsu had finally understand his dedication to Oha-Asa Horoscope and his lucky item. Fate was one of the factor that he had talked about during the study session. He would aimed for the top with every means possible and let the outcome into Fate's hands. Now, everything became clear...especially on his quiet approach concerning praises. This wasn't indifference nor humility, but Midorima's acceptance to fate's choice, whether the outcome.
"I-I take back what I said. There's still a part of strangeness in you."
The latter remained in his silence after he finished what he had to say. Sharing the same feeling, Ritsu had her fill of emotions for the day and left the conversation as it was.
The two teenagers carried on watching the chestnuthead dashing to the hoop in a vain attempt of scoring with his highest jump, which didn't even reach the net.
"Oh. He stopped with the shots." Noticed Ritsu in a casual manner. "He'll soon get tired of playing."
"Talk about half-measure."
"It's only a kid, you know. At his age, it's quite hard to keep an interest for something very long unless he finds the thing that will trigger something in him." Upon realising her own words, the ash blondhead slowly turned to Midorima and her eyes examined him down until they stopped on the red cape, which gave her a curious idea. "...Maybe you could do a little demonstration. You're a player of the famous Teikō basketball club, Midorima-kun. Shōhei might come to like a little more basketball after seeing you play."
The suggestion made him react mechanically. Meditating, he lifted his hand and put one finger on his glasses to adjust them, after then he eventually spoke.
"Why should I show your brother how to play basketball? I don't have free time for this."
"It's just a little demonstration. I don't ask you to do something crazy, just do something you usually do during practice." Midorima didn't seem up for it. "Moreover, it's rather easy to impress kids."
"Then, how come he didn't like volleyball?" pinpointed the green-haired boy with perspicacity.
"I don't know." She offered him a sheepishly smile. "You have an idea?"
"That's what I'm asking you!"
"Really, I don't know. Perhaps he didn't feel anything from my own passion. But with a character like yo–"
"Nee-san, let's go home." Cut off in mid-sentence, she dropped her gaze to her little brother who stood in front of the two with no apparent glint of satisfaction or fun in his eyes, only plain disinterest as he already put aside basketball for today. She sent a look to Midorima who certainly had took notice of the same thing.
"You don't want to play the hero before removing your cape forever? You know Shōhei likes superheroes." She insisted one last time.
"Why are you saying it like that? I'm not some helpless dude." replied the chestnut-haired boy, clutching the basketball between his small hands.
Midorima stared intensely at the latter. Shōhei frowned to be outstared silently, wary of his intentions. But as long as the silence went on and that nobody moved a inch, Ritsu decided to broke it.
"I'm sor–"
But she had been unexpectedly interrupted by Midorima himself.
"Don't expect too much from it, Asaka." The green-haired boy stepped forward and halted near her brother. "You're Shōhei, right? I would like to borrow the ball."
Still wary of him, he shot a glance to his sister. Ritsu motionned her head to make him pass the ball.
"What does he want?"
"Just look. Midorima-kun rarily shows off, so you better watch carefully."
Shōhei looked askance as his eyes followed the same direction as his sister. Midorima was standing in the center of the court. After some mental preparation, he started to dribble straight to the hoop, but stopped dead on this track before the three-point line just as immediately he entered into a shooting stance and released the ball soon after. The ball soared toward the hoop in a perfect arc and went easily into it.
Although she didn't mention it to his brother, this was also the first time she watched Midorima playing basketball. He was quite amazing. All of his motions were perfectly timed like he had practiced them over and over to get the correct synchronisation to link his movements.
"That was surely a stroke of luck..." pouted Shōhei, sceptical of his performance.
Midorima who was still standing behind the three-point line overhead him and looked at Ritsu.
"You heard him." She simply said to him.
Much to her delight, he went to fetch the ball and replaced himself at the same spot as he made another three-point shot. The ball went inside the hoop in a swift motion as if it was naturally attracted by it.
"Are you still thinking it's a mere stroke of luck?" asked Midorima, confronting the little boy who ran up to him.
"Do that again! You can't possibly make three three-point shots in a row!"
Midorima executed himself and proved the contrary to the boy.
"No way! Again!"
Another easy shot.
"Again!"
Ritsu observed the exasperation building up inside Midorima yet he still continued to impress the little boy like a hero.
"Woaaaah! Soooooo coooool!" When this full-of-admiration cry echoed on the basketball court, she smiled at Midorima who had nicely done his part. Shōhei was all excited from the greenhead's seemingly unmissable shots. "What's your name again?"
"Midorima Shintarō."
"Oh! Midori-nii-san! Show me how to shoot!"
"It's Midorima."
"Come on, Midori-nii-san!"
The latter heaved a long sigh as the little boy fidgeted happily around him. Today, he wouldn't be coming home early.
At the thought he darted a glare at the responsible of this strange situation. Ritsu just exulted quietly without helping Midorima or bringing a stop to her little brother's excitement.
She only watched them in the distance.
«Akashi will be back.»