Howdy, Readers! The update is finally here! :D
As usual, I will post my replies here…
Rinfantasy: Well, the hint is there… but don't worry things will work out in future chaps! Thank you for reviewing btw! :D
Kurosaki-Shiba Mitsuki: Thank you for your review and liking the chaps! Of course you will know more about AkaKuro in later chaps ;)
Another observer of the world: Thank you for dropping a review and liking my story! LOL, I forgot Readers out there have different time zones… XD Anyway, I understand how you feel about the 'best friend', but don't kill him just yet… he might appear in future chaps… :D
Catalina Luna Moon: Thank you for your review! Please enjoy the update! :D
Flameelement: Thanks for the review and support! Hope you will like it till the final chap! :D
Okay, now, let's move on to the story! Happy reading and enjoy! XD
Chapter V
Eiffel in Winter
"Kurokochi! Why didn't you come yesterday? Do you hate me?" The blonde complained with fake tears, clinging to him.
"Like I told you in the message Kise-kun. I had library duty." He replied as he tried to push him off like usual.
"But I went to the library yesterday and it was locked!"
"What time you went there?"
"07.00 pm"
Kuroko sighed. He could guess the guy in front of him never uses library before. "Our school library closed at 06.00 pm." He stated deadpan
"Eh? Really?" He blinked.
"Yes. I believed it was mentioned during induction day." The blonde model sweat dropped and laughed nervously in return.
"Kurochin shouldn't come yesterday~ *munch munch Because Minechin was scary~.." Murasakibara said while munching rice crackers.
"Hey! It's not my fault in the first place! He started it!" Aomine protested.
"What happened?"
"Well, Haizakichi was teasing Momochi and she yelled out loud. I have to say Haizakichi went too far." Kise explained.
"Haizakichi? Momochi?" Kuroko is confused. He doesn't know this two people.
"Momochin is Minechin's wife~…" Murasakibara said lazily.
"Hey! She is not my wife! She's just a childhood friend!" He protested at the taller guy. But the purple ignored him and kept munching, earning a glare from the ace.
Kise sweat dropped, looking at them. "Err… anyway, Momochi is Aominechi's childhood friend and neighbor. She sometimes comes to our practice and helped out. But last few months she was busy. I guess that's why you haven't seen her around."
"And who is this Haizaki-kun?"
"Haizakichi is a second year. He is quite tall and has sand brown hair. I think he is in class 2-2. Although, he often skip classes but he is not expelled since his parents donate big sum of money. His grades are not bad either. Putting that aside, he is a very talented player. But during his last game in junior high, he got injured and later on, his attitude became worse. Then I met him in high school. He challenged me in a match out of the blue. Then later for some reason, he quit the team. I don't understand why though. Maybe, it's because I won the match." Kise sadly explained.
"Tch! That guy just can't stand losing to you! Don't mind that arrogant bastard! He is a good for nothing guy who often play around with girls and skip practice. He's lucky he got a way without a bruise!"
"You were lucky he's not interested in fighting you!" Kise scolded him. The other retorted back but the blonde ignored him. Kise turned his attention back to Kuroko. "Just be careful if you bump into him, Kurokochi. I heard he is a violent guy. Last time, I heard, he nearly beaten three people to death by himself."
Kuroko turned the rooftop door knob. He squinted his eyes because the sunlight. He blocked it with a hand and closed the door. There, he found someone leaning against the railings. He seemed to enjoy the view.
"Good afternoon, Akashi-kun." Kuroko greeted first.
The red haired captain turned and smiled a little. "Good afternoon."
Kuroko walked and stood beside him.
"How was your day?" Akashi asked.
"It was good. I finished a book and start reading a new one."
"I see."
"How was yours? You were busy right? Are you sure it's alright to spend some time here?" Not tearing his gaze from the clear view upfront.
"It's alright. Taking a break for a few minutes won't do any harm."
There were silent for awhile until Kuroko decided to speak. "Akashi-kun, may I ask a question?"
"Go ahead."
"Do you know Haizaki-kun?" Kuroko was now looking at him. Akashi also did the same. He didn't answer Kuroko right away. He was looking at those blue eyes and trying to figure out what the owner's thought.
"I see… you must have heard the incident from Ryouta." Akashi stated, which the later nodded. "I guess Ryouta must have told you. But to sum it up, He will be expelled from this school."
"What? Expelled?" Kuroko is surprised to hear that news.
"A few days ago, police notified our school about a group of violent students in an arcade. They argued about something and broke down into a fight. Causing an innocent girl injured. The police caught some members, which one of them was Haizaki. Yesterday, we discussed about the case and finally decided to expel him. The letter will be sent to his home within this week. Although, the whole process might take time." Akashi explained.
"Can student council decide such a trivial matter?"
"Of course. The student council has privilege to take part in making decision. We contributed a vote. Sadly for him, none of the higher ups wee on his side."
"Alright. Putting that aside, why did he quit the team?"
Akashi thought for a while before he started the story on how he first met Haizaki. "I met him when I started joining basketball team in junior high. He was a normal cocky kid and a great player. Even back then, his talent was way above average." Kuroko nodded encouraging him to continue.
flashback
Akashi, Midorima, Aomine and Murasakibara applied to be a member of Teiko Junior High basketball team. In junior high, the condition to be a member wasn't as fierce as in high school. But, the team was trained well. It was the third best team in the country.
Back then, including the four, there were a total of 15 freshmen. To measure how good their skills, coach made them play a match against second and third years. Akashi was in team A along with Midorima, while Aomine and Murasakibara were on team B.
Team A overall skills and technique was way below the regulars. It was only Akashi and Midorima who hardly kept up with them. However, under Akashi's guidance and strategy, they miraculously won by a single point. The coach and captain who were watching the game on the sidelines, were surprised by the outcome, including the team ace, Haizaki.
The second match soon began. Haizaki played on the opposing team. He played really well and contributed most of the points. Aomine wasn't bad either. He decided to guard Haizaki and left the defense to Murasakibara.
It turned out the opposing team won by 18 points. In the game, Aomine guarded Haizaki well. He tried his best to keep up with the ace speed, though still lacking in technique. But their team also lost due to overall skills and teamwork. After the game, Aomine and Haizaki found each other as interesting rivals as well as friends. Soon their relationship turned into a brothers-like.
Hard practice showed how their effort had paid off. During 6th month, the coach decided to hold another match, first years against regulars. The four of them were starters and they fought equally with the opposing team. First quarter ended with first years leading by 8 points. The second quarter began, this time, coach changed the opposing team players. All main starters played against them. At first, the opposing team caught up fast. The difference was only 2 points. Then, Akashi changed their strategy and leaded them to victory.
The main starters and coach were really surprised. They had lost to a bunch of first years. But on the other side, they were glad to have reliable teammates. But it was a different case with Haizaki. He felt as if he lost against his little brother. Since then, he trained harder than anyone else in the team. He challenged Aomine in a one-on-one. During the first month, they had equal win and lose points. The following months, Aomine dominated the game, to the point where he could score a single basket. Thus, made him very frustrated.
Then during the 9th month, the captain had to resign because he wanted to focus on his grades. That was the time Akashi took his position as team captain. He led the team to victories and later was the best in Japan. During those years, Aomine and Haizaki's relationship got even worse. Haizaki's personality and behavior worsen each day. He became rough and often bullied others. Aomine tried to stop him but it didn't work well. They started ignoring each other and sometimes got into a fight. Eventually it affected the teamwork; they couldn't stand each other on the court together.
And then during Akashi's last second year, Haizaki got injured during final game. Aomine who was still resting have no choice but to play again. In the end, they won splendidly. Aomine took the glory of the day and crowned as MVP.
They thought Haizaki would quit basketball in high school. But they were wrong. He joined the team despite his bad attitude. Coach let him join with one condition, he will not cause any sort of trouble to the team, including team members.
He carried out the condition with his horrible reputation. After a year, Akashi and the others graduated and automatically joined the Teiko High basketball team. Then, the worst thing happened. Akashi spotted Kise when he joined the basketball entrance test. He was still a newbie but Akashi could see his amazing talent.
Kise got even better at basketball and he even played well against Aomine. He also got along well with Murasakibara and Midorima, thus Kise soon joined Akashi's friendship circle. Haizaki grew mad, he mocked him every day before finally challenged him to a one-on-one, in front of all team members.
He said if Kise lost to him, he must leave the team. It was a violation against the rule but Akashi made an exception and made Kise take the challenge. He knew Kise would defeat him. The matched went as what Akashi predicted. The game went to Kise's favor. Haizaki went crazy and intentionally wanted to injure Kise by an elbow swing. Luckily, Kise dodged that. In the end Kise won and became a starter in the team.
Not long after that, Akashi felt something suspicious. Haizaki showed up in school for an entire week. He stayed from morning until school ends but he never showed up for practice. One day, after practice, Kise went ahead, saying he needed to go to his modeling agency.
Akashi followed Kise with his private car. As always, Akashi's suspicion was correct. Two guys with hoodies appeared out of a corner and tried to kidnap him. Akashi and his bodyguards went out, successfully stop the attempt. The police concluded the case as normal kidnapping attempt. But Akashi knew better. He saw a skull tattoo on their arms. It is a symbol of a criminal group in town. From what he heard, the leader is Haizaki's cousin.
Akashi managed to gather some proof. He used them to forcefully made Haizaki resign. Threaten the older teen to quit and never touch anyone again or Akashi will process the case on court. Besides that, Akashi said straight forward that Haizaki was an unneeded trash in the team. No one knows about the truth until now. What the team knows, Akashi just received his resignation letter.
"He has become a useless trash. So, it was the right decision to dispose him." Akashi said coldly.
Kuroko makes no comment. It's the first time he sees Akashi's cold face, cruel and merciless.
However, behind those facades, Kuroko believed that Akashi had something else. Something that made himself felt attracted on their first meeting. When he truly looked at those crimson orbs, he found it the answer. Those crimson eyes said otherwise. They were glowing warm with strong desire within his frozen heart. The warmth that protected those who are dear to him. Kuroko suddenly felt something similar, like a de ja vu.
Years ago, he was on business trip with his parents around Europe. Then one day, they had to stop at the headquarter office in France. They stayed there for hours which made the small bluenette bored. He decided to secretly step out of the building. As soon as he successfully sneaked out, he felt that he made a wrong choice. Everything was covered in white and it was freezing cold!
He wanted to turn back inside but an odd sigh caught his attention. A bunch of people in thick clothing, gathered under a dull giant tower. Many of them just stood there while looking at the dull tower. At first, Kuroko was confused and didn't understand why they would waste their time waiting in the cold for no reason. Suddenly, the dull tower turned gold, making the crowds let out a gasp and awe. Kuroko stared at the tower without a blink. He forgot about the weather and ran close to the tower. Seeing the golden light warmed his heart despite the cold weather.
And he is feeling the same thing right now...
End of Chapter V: Eiffel in Winter
Big thanks to Aseretteresa, HiiroHimeskadi42, Catalina Luna Moon, Harihi, Sato Ree, LittleChibi1009, aquarionwolf1, flameelement for adding this story in your follow and favorite list! :D
And for those who will celebrate Chinese New Year, Happy Chinese New Year 2016 (in advance)!
Thank you for reading this chapter! See you guys on the next update! XD
P.S: Good luck hunting the red envelopes! ;)
