Summary: Akashi's scissors are going missing. What happens when he find out and just who is stupid enough to take them? Whoever they are, they better say their prayers.
Usually nothing happened at Rakuzan, at least not something worth speaking of, but this particular day was worth speaking of in such a way that it would with no doubt be remembered for at least the next three years, and no doubt be remembered for a lifetime by the people involved.
Akashi had entered the cafeteria, planning on having his lunch in somewhat peace. He had nothing important to discuss with his team, so he didn't expect them to show up as he sat there, but they did.
"May we sit here, Sei-chan?" Mibuchi asked standing by the seat next to Akashi's. Hayama and Nebuya had already prepared to get seated on the chairs at the other side of the table.
"Go ahead," Akashi said politely. It didn't please him too much that they sat with him, but it didn't bother him enough that he felt like there was a reason to push them away either. He wondered why they had decided to sit here though. But he won't ask. If there was a particular reason, he knew one of them would say it eventually.
The three second years got started on a discussion about food quality and the definition of enjoying food, this most likely came from the speed Nebuya was eating at, which was an incredibly fast speed.
"Would you slow down? It's disgusting," Mibuchi asked while turning his head away from Nebuya.
"What?" Nebuya asked before stuffing more meat into his face.
"You're hardly even taking the time to enjoy the food at that speed," Mibuchi commented, still with his face turned away.
"I enjoy it," The other argued.
Hayama butted in. "How do you even enjoy food in the first place, Reo-nee?"
Mibuchi took some time thinking, allowing his gaze to fall on Hayama who actually ate more 'properly' so to speak. "I'd say you take the time to taste the flavor of what you eat, thereby you do not end up stuffing your face so easily," he explained while sending a quick look at Nebuya.
"Hmm… maybe I should give that a try?" Hayama thought.
"So, how do you eat?" Mibuchi asked.
"I don't know," Hayama answered. "I just do it," and then he started doing so, as to show what he meant.
"How do you think one should eat to enjoy the food as much as possible, Sei-chan?" Mibuchi asked while now turning to Akashi.
Akashi placed his chopsticks while looking thoughtful. "It is of course important to take the time to enjoy the flavors of what you eat," Akashi answered.
Nebuya picked just that moment to take a huge mouthful of meat that could barely be stuffed into his mouth and therefore splattered juices everywhere, inclusive Akashi's uniform.
"Sorry," Nebuya said while not really paying attention. It didn't sound like he meant the apology at all.
Now it wasn't the stains on Akashi's uniform that mattered so much. The uniform could be washed and he could also find a spare uniform easily, but hadn't it been for the apology that was delivered more on reflex than of feelings, and the laugh that escaped Hayama, he wouldn't have done what he did now.
Akashi slowly bent down to his bag, so slowly that the others managed to tense up, and opened it evenly slowly. He reached down into the bag and started fumbling around.
This move was nothing new to the second years. They knew what was coming. Soon Akashi would sit up right again with a pair of scissors in hand and before they could manage to blink he would attack them with the scissors.
But this time, he kept on fumbling around in his bag. Mibuchi leaned over, knowing full well that he wasn't in any danger, and tried to see why Akashi took longer than usual. Was it just an act to draw out the tension, or was something else the matter?
"Sei-chan?" he asked.
"Quiet Reo," Akashi said irritated. His hand kept on fumbling around in the bag. "They're gone…" he mumbled.
"What's gone?" Hayama asked from across the table, having heard Akashi's mumble.
Akashi said nothing. He had grasped something else down in the bag and now pulled the same move as usual, Nebuya and Hayama got busier dodging whatever Akashi was attacking with than worrying about what had gone missing. What Akashi was attacking with was pencils.
After getting tired of attacking the two fools, Akashi bend back down to see if he had just been mistaken and that they were still there. He kept on fumbling around in his bag, forgetting everything about lunch for a while.
Eventually he had to give up on the matter. It seemed like his scissors really had gone missing. This was strange enough because he always kept at least three pairs in his bag, just in case, but today there were none. He went to his locker to make sure he hadn't taken them out and left them there with the two other pairs of scissors he kept there. He hadn't. In fact there were no scissors there at all.
Akashi wondered about where they could have disappeared to. They had with no doubt been taken by someone, but who could have been foolish enough to do this? He had to figure it out first, but maybe, if he was lucky, he could find them on the roof where Mayuzumi usually went.
So Akashi found himself heading up to the roof where Mayuzumi usually sat in an attempt to find out who had stolen all his scissors, however when he opened the door, the only one who could find was the only one you could always find up there.
"Mayuzumi," Akashi said as he approached his teammate.
Mayuzumi looked up from the light novel he was reading. "What is it, Akashi?" he asked.
"Have you noticed someone unfamiliar trying to hide up here today?" he asked.
Mayuzumi flipped a page in the light novel. "I haven't," he answered.
Akashi nodded while he felt his mood drop a bit. It wouldn't be fun for his team to come to practice today if he didn't find his scissors soon.
"Thank you, Mayuzumi," Akashi just said before leaving to allow the other to finish reading in peace, until the break was over.
Akashi still hadn't found his scissors by the time he had to go to class after the lunch break and he was therefore in a bad mood in class too. His classmates barely dared to speak to him at all. Only the teachers bothered him with school related stuff, which they had to do, of course.
While in class Akashi tried to wrap his head around who in the world could have stolen his scissors. There had to be someone he could suspect, but he had a reputation at Rakuzan for being one of those you shouldn't piss off, not even as a joke, and therefore he knew it couldn't be one of his fellow students unless they had lost their mind.
He remembered though, that Kise had texted him once that the basketballs and Kaijou had gone missing, pissing off the entire team. He had written who had stolen them in the text, but Akashi hadn't really felt like bothering with Kise at all and therefore he had just deleted the text. Now he wished he hadn't. Maybe it could have given him a clue.
Now that he thought about it, hadn't Aomine also had some problems once? Though that had been with a teammate going missing. Was that even the same? There was a chance of course. Thinking about this matter Akashi came to wonder if Aomine ever found his teammate again or if he had just laid down to sleep.
Maybe he should speak to one of them afterwards, but he didn't feel like dealing with either of them at this point. Also, he was a too proud to go ask for help from others, and he certainly wouldn't step as low as to ask those two idiots for anything.
With that resolve in mind he spent the rest of his afternoon classes thinking of where this person could be right now. It was easier to figure out his patterns than figuring out who he was it seemed. This task would of course have been easier if he had known who he was looking for.
This person didn't seem to know him well so there was only one reason he could do this, for his own entertainment, this meant that he had to be somewhere around here. Akashi could imagine that this person wouldn't miss out on his reaction to the missing scissors. He therefore knew he would find him eventually. He just had to look carefully around to find him.
Where could this person be now though? Had he gone somewhere else or was he watching Akashi now? Akashi tried to see if he could sense someone's eyes on him. It seemed he couldn't, but he started to notice a feeling that someone was watching him.
After classes were over, Akashi had club activities. All the way to the gym he tried to keep an eye out for anyone spying on him while not seeming too aware of the other person. He had a feeling he was being tailed now, therefore he couldn't let them be aware of the fact that he knew they were there.
Akashi suddenly stopped. It wasn't like he would do the exact thing he just told himself he won't do, but a realization had hit him. Whoever was tailing him had probably been doing it all along without him being aware. He had managed to do it without catching too much attention, which could mean that A) he was good at hiding himself and blending in with the crowd, like Kuroko, or B) he had an exceptionally good eye sight. Both were very likely.
The problem with A was that he didn't know anyone besides Kuroko and Mayuzumi who would pull something like that, and both of them certainly knew better than to bother Akashi like this. This meant that only B was left. But who did he know with a good eye sight?
Akashi started walking again as he started to come up with people with a good eye sight. On this matter he had only two who came to mind, both of whom he weren't sure. There was that point guard from Seirin who had the Eagle Eye. He couldn't remember his name, but he had a gut feeling it wasn't him. He didn't seem like the type.
Then there was that other guy who was acting as Midorima's partner. Akashi hadn't paid him any mind at all, and certainly not enough to remember his name. His ability was called the Hawk Eye, that much Akashi did remember, and as far as he could recall it was even better than the Eagle Eye. He didn't know much of Midorima's partner, but he couldn't just say that it wasn't him. Sure there was a far distance from Tokyo to Kyoto, but this guy was Akashi's best bet so far.
With these thoughts in mind, Akashi hurried to practice. If he was first in the gym there was a chance the others would run into whoever this was, special abilities or no, this guy would be caught and punished for stealing his scissors.
Akashi was shooting layups with some third years and a second year student. None of them were starters so he didn't know them that well. But they weren't bad. They were simply warming up a little bit before practice while waiting for the others to get there.
Two more came in while they were doing layups and automatically just allowed themselves to get into the flow. That was how things went until everyone arrived. Some practice like this was good for them. That was what the coach said.
Akashi's turn was coming up again and he prepared to make the layup. It would be just as flowing as the others had been, like it was done without a single trouble, on mechanism. Akashi allowed the ball to slip away from his hand and fly upwards, into the hoop, but while it did so, he saw something else heading his direction at an incredibly dangerous speed. He only caught sight of it out of the corner of his eye and caught it, just before it hit his face. He landed perfectly and looked at the object.
It was a pair of scissors. One of the missing pairs of scissors in fact.
Akashi looked towards the entrance where he was sure it had come from, but he could see nothing besides… well the empty entrance and the scenery from outside.
He then looked over his shoulder to see that the rest of his team stood completely still. None of them dared to move a muscle as he looked. Nobody had prepared to do the next layup and the flow was completely broken.
"Continue," Akashi demanded. "I will go put this away," he informed them about this before leaving to put the scissor in his back. He could hear the others get started on the layups again. First it was hesitant, but after only a few seconds the rhythm was the same as it had been before.
Akashi returned to his team and saw that now someone was making their way through the door. It seemed to be Hayama and Nebuya with Mibuchi walking in front of them. Someone was between Nebuya and Hayama, struggling to get free, but their attempts failed continuously.
"Sei-chan," Mibuchi said. "We caught this person outside the gym, keeping an eye on our team," he said.
Akashi nodded. "Thank you, Reo," he said before the other stepped aside, revealing the person they had caught spying.
The person looked up as Akashi approached him and their eyes met. The other stood up right, and Akashi immediately noticed that the other was a tiny bit too tall for him. The other looked like it was no matter. He looked like he had had a lot of fun because of Akashi.
Akashi allowed his gaze to trail down the boy. He wasn't wearing a jersey or a school uniform, he was just wearing a t-shirt and pants, a jacket, and in the pocket of his jacket, Akashi could see his scissors all lying.
"Who are you?" he asked, staring up at the other's face.
"Why would I say that?" The other answered cockily. "As long as you don't know my name you can't harm me," he smirked at Akashi, which displeased the redhead.
Akashi stared at him. "Just because I don't know your name, it doesn't mean you are any safer. I recognize your face. You play for Shuutoku, you are that boy with the Hawk Eye who is Shintarou's partner. You have used your ability for this thing to keep an eye on me,"
By the time Akashi was done talking, the other had been forced down on his knees and was now looking much less cocky. In fact he looked like a scared rabbit. "That's all true…" he just said in a much more quiet voice.
"Good, we're talking now," Akashi's voice was cold as ice. "Now all we need is a punishment…" he trailed off, looking thoughtful. He carefully studied the fear that was now displayed in the other's face. He reached down into the other pocket of the boy's jacket and picked out the student ID that he had figured was there. The ID gave him both name and confirmed that he was right. It was Midorima's partner on Shuutoku.
Akashi drew out the moment and used the student ID as a simple excuse. He studied it carefully. There was nothing else he could get out of it, but he kept on studying it anyway. He had already decided on the other's punishment.
"Takao Kazunari, I have decided for your punishment," Akashi said. "But I'm afraid it will have to wait until after practice or things will get a bit messy, would you be as kind as to wait?"
"No way," Takao exclaimed and with those words he tore himself away from Nebuya and Hayama and ran to the door out of the gym like his life depended on it. However, his path was blocked by none other than Mayuzumi who had just arrived for practice.
"What's going on, Akashi?" he asked.
"Your timing couldn't be better, Mayuzumi," Akashi answered as Nebuya and Hayama caught Takao once again. Akashi turned to the two. "Make sure he doesn't leave until we're done," he said. "I fully intend to go through with this punishment,"
With those words Akashi walked up to Takao one final time and took the scissors out of his pocket. Akashi then brought them to his bag, not caring how Nebuya and Hayama carried out his demand, but he hoped they succeeded. He had never wanted to punish someone as badly as he wanted to punish Takao right now.
I hope the Rakuzan characters are not too much OOC. I looked up on their wiki to get to know them a little better and be able to write them as much in character as possible, but I'm not sure I got it right. Tell me if I have made any major errors about that.
A reason why it makes sense to publish this one with Akashi today is that it's Akashi's birthday in exactly one month from now. Just notable info. And it's my little sister's birthday today.
I'd also like to thank the two who reviewed. I appreciate it. In fact my face looks like one big smile right now as I'm writing this. Just thought I'd let you know.
This is all for now. Final chapter tomorrow. Keep an eye out for it!
Jackie