The big fake eyeglasses couldn't hide the big bags under Mika's eyes. She couldn't sleep for even a second last night, thinking about the past and the present with Akashi. She'd be seeing him often during their entire time in the training camp and she didn't know how to deal with him.
Dressed in Teiko's uniform, Aida and she walked through the hallways of the building. The students' heads snapped in their direction, whispering around her.
Was it happening again?
Gosh, why did the past keep on haunting her and repeating all over again?
However, now, she was wrong.
It wasn't the same as before.
The whispers weren't about her and Akashi being together. "The girl who dumped Akashi" was the theme of the rumors spreading around the whole camp. Though they didn't boldly revel in it, they seemed to smile triumphantly as they saw her. She was looked at and treated like she was some kind of a hero, almost wanting to pat her back and proudly say "good job."
According to what she heard from Kuroko yesterday, she could conclude that they feared Akashi and they all viewed him as the cold, heartless villain who couldn't be moved. Hadn't the pale boy implied that they were looking for someone to reach his heart? And everyone had been waiting for someone to flip his switch. To rock his boat and change the tide of his emotions.
And they thought she could. No, they thought she already did.
"Risa Mikaela-sama." An old butler appeared to be waiting for her at the door of the cafeteria where Seirin usually ate. W-what? He gestured to the floor. There was a trail of rose petals leading toward a large table inside. Another trail lead outside. The butler spoke too politely, "You may opt to eat with your team members or allow me to accompany you to the garden to eat and have some time alone. Seijuro-bocchama knows you prefer lots of time with just yourself."
Seijuro-bocchama? What the heck was happening now?
"A-are you- Do you work for President?" she asked, exasperated.
"President?" The old man repeated. "Seijuro-bocchama did tell me that was how you address him. Yes, madam, my name is Tanaka and I have been serving the Akashi family long before bocchama had been born." He bowed at Mika. "It's a pleasure to be serving you. Now let me accompany you to where you want to go."
Wait. A. Minute. This was just too much. The girl shook her head. "No need, Tanaka-san. You don't have to serve me. Not at all. I can do things by myself, thank you very much. Please just go back to President."
"That, I'm sorry, madam, I cannot do." The butler clapped his hands twice and a woman in a maid costume appeared from the other door and gave him a bouquet of different colored fresh flowers. Their sweet scent wafted through the halls and tickled Mika's nose. The students' voices buzzed around them. Tanaka handed the beautiful bouquet to Mika. "This is from bocchama."
The gesture was sweet but Mika didn't accept it. "Tell him this won't work," she said to the elderly, bowed at him, and left. She walked to the table and ate with the startled Seirin basketball club members. Foolishly, her heart was beating a bit faster than she wanted. She looked at the door and saw the butler still standing there.
No. No. No.
Mika tried to convince herself that she shouldn't think much about what was happening. That, regardless of what others thought and how Akashi was doing things for her, she should just distance herself still from the red-haired teen. But, her heart still fluttered as she saw Akashi approach her inside the wide gym. The other students were watching them and she wanted to shout out loud that they should just leave her alone.
"Can we talk now, please?" the red-haired teen almost begged, unaffected by all the whispers and all the stares. At the sound of his persistent, sweet voice, Mika's knees now seemed to weaken. Though she knew that Akashi could be cold, the girl wondered what else happened that transformed him from a well-respected and admired leader to someone so feared by others.
But, why… Why were his actions toward her as warm and as dear as when they were in Teiko?
Mika ignored the boy and continued filling the paper cups with water and placed them on one side of the bench. From the corner of her eyes, she saw how Akashi stood unsure about what he would say next. What if it was only her who could make the boy act this way?
She mentally shook her head.
Don't be swayed. Don't be touched. Don't get involved with Akashi Seijuro. Don't get involved, she was chanting inside her mind.
The boy inched closer to her and almost whispered, "Are you mad at me?"
Was she?
The answer was yes. Absolutely. But… "I told you. I don't have the right to be mad." She ended up talking to the boy. Again.
"I was a kid back then."
"We both were and we still are." She was done with filling the paper cups so she moved to the other side to fold the towels, still not looking at Akashi. She just wanted this to be over. "I'm busy, so please-"
"I couldn't forget you. You haven't changed, you know."
Mika's hands stopped and she almost looked back at him.
He continued, "You're a fire that cannot be extinguished. I've always liked that about you."
What was he saying? She had changed. Drastically. Her get-up, her views, and even how she worked were all different now. And yet he said she didn't change. "I'm not the same as before, President." She had long lost her fire.
But the boy said, "You still give everything to help. Still as honest as you could be. Still stand firm on your values. And still lead with all your might. You've always been like that, Mika-san."
How can he… Mika's tears threatened to spill from her eyes. It should be illegal for someone to make her feel so understood and appreciated. Heck, she didn't even understand and appreciate herself.
"Should we start over?" he asked.
The moment Mika heard those words, she remembered how great of a sweet talker Akashi was. She couldn't let the past repeat itself again. But, she also couldn't stop herself from saying, "There is no need to start over because nothing happened before. You left and you had a fiance."
"I didn't leave. I just attended a short program and Fuyu… she is just a friend. And she's les."
Less?
Even how much she got hurt by Akashi having a fiance, she didn't want another female to be called less. Offended for someone of the same sex, she finally looked at Akashi and asked with brows furrowed, "How can you call someone less?"
He replied, "I mean-"
"Lesbian." A female around their age appeared from nowhere. She was standing next to Tanaka-san and was wearing a dark blue yukata with black roses. Her medium-length black hair was a bob. Large dark eyes framed by long lashes looked at Mika. She was beautiful but not as striking as her clothes. She looked warm and kind and Mika had seen her before. The new girl was Shimizu Fuyuko, heir of Regal Corp. and Akashi Seijuro's fiance. She gently patted Mika's cheek with her black fan. "You must be Risa Mikaela. Let's see. Ah. You really are cute!" She opened her fan and started fanning herself. "I'm Fuyuko but everybody calls me Fuyu. Don't worry, darling, I won't take Seijuro away from you." She frowned. "I don't even like boys. Ugh."
"Fuyu," Akashi called the girl's name with the way how he addressed the Generation of Miracles. "I hope you enjoy your stay in this camp. Don't forget to put in a good word to your father."
"Yes. Yes. Don't worry, Seijuro. And, oh, our companies won't end even after we cancel our engagement. They'd still both support each other regardless. You know, because of the number of benefits they could juice out from another." She looked back at Mika and hooked her arm around the girl's. "Now. I need someone to tour me around this place, so I'll be borrowing your sweetie honey bunch." Then, she practically dragged her outside the courts. "Where do we go first?"
Mika couldn't believe it. Akashi's fiance was getting all friendly with her and even calling herself a lesbian? "Uhm, Shimizu-san-"
"Call me Fuyu." She was still dragging Mika by the arm outside the gymnasium, across the soccer field.
"Fuyu." It would take a while before Mika can get used to calling her by her nickname. "I'm sorry but I need to get back. I'm Seirin's manager and they might need my help."
"Don't worry about that, honey. They're grown-up kids I bet they'd know what to do without you."
"But-"
"No buts! Now, where first?"
"Actually, you're the one leading the way." They stopped and looked at each other.
Even Fuyu's eyes smiled. "Haha. Sorry. I always get caught up in the moment." She freed Mika's arm. "Now, dear, take me on a tour!"
The Seirin manager spared another glance at the gymnasium and sighed. Fuyu was looking and acting like an excited ten-year-old that she couldn't say no to her. "Come on," Mika finally agreed.
"Yay!" Fuyu jumped a little then followed the other girl.
Mika took her around the soccer field, the baseball field, and the two tennis courts. Then, she toured her around the three indoor gymnasiums with basketball courts and swimming pools. Fuyu's reaction was priceless. She looked like a kid being toured around a chocolate factory.
"I'm an extrovert, you know," Fuyu mentioned as they entered the building where the varsity players sleep and stay. "But father doesn't let me be outside, always caging me and believing that a girl should never be as active outside as a boy. I don't like it." There was sadness in her voice and Mika listened carefully to her words. "That's why I envy girls like you. You are free to pursue your passions, to show yourself outside and be someone who you want to be."
"I have my own problems." The two girls stopped and leaned on the wall to continue speaking to each other.
"I'm sure everybody does." The creases on Fuyu's forehead became visible as she said, "Damn, what would father do when I tell him I don't like boys?"
"He's still your father."
"I hope he remembers that when he sees me kissing another girl." Fuyu smiled and so did Mika. Then they shared a quiet giggle.
Fuyu was nice and she was easy to be around with. No wonder Akashi and her were friends. Friends. Right, that's the word. Because there was no way the two could be together when Fuyu was not even interested in someone of the opposite sex.
Was it all true?
Akashi didn't betray Mika?
Betray?
Now, that's the word Mika should refrain to use. She reminded herself once more that there was nothing solid about her relationship with the boy. But why did he tell others that they were going out? And what about Mika? In her heart could she really reject the boy?
"Mika-chan," Fuyu called. "I need to ask you a favor."
"What is it?"
"Can you meet me at the old building at the rightmost corner of the facility?"
"The abandoned building?"
The other girl nodded. "Yeah. Could you promise to come there tonight? Around 9:00 pm."
"Why?"
"It's a secret… but, don't worry, it's a good kind of secret. Please?"
"Can we do that? Sneak out of our rooms and enter that place at night?" Mika was hesitant.
But Fuyu pouted her lips and demanded like a child, "Please come, Mika-chan. There is something more to it, I promise. There's a surprise I'm planning there. Say that you'll be there."
"I-I'm not sure… It's an abandoned building…"
The girl in a beautiful kimono enclosed Mika's hands with hers. "Don't worry, I won't do anything that'll hurt you and we won't be alone with Seijuro. Please?" She looked into her eyes. "There's just something I want to show you."
Oh no, Mika was the kind who just can't refuse favors. Hadn't she agreed like this to Kuroko before?
"Please?"
Ah, fudge it.
Fuyu's puppy eyes stared into hers.
"O-okay."
"Yay!" Fuyu jumped a little once more.
+0+0+0+0+
What was this?
Inside the dark, dilapidated old building was Fuyu. But she was not alone. There were also the Generation of Miracles and a few of their friends with them. Present were Akashi, Aomine, Murasakibara, Midorima, Kise, Kuroko, Momoi, Kagami, Takao, Himuro, and, of course, Fuyu in her dark blue kimono. She looked like an ancient ghost straight from a horror film.
When Mika entered the place, a smile was automatically plastered on Fuyu's face. To them, she announced, "Welcome, friends, to a very exciting game! We will all be playing Kimodameshi (Test of Courage)!"