KAIJOU'S SHIRO
Chapter IV
Shiro couldn't help but beam like a walking torchlight as she was being personally escorted to the benches, with Kise valiantly trying to find excuses to stay with her.
("I don't like how they're staring at you, Shirocchi…" Kise said, glaring at all the Kamakura High players with distaste. Shiro quickly dismissed the blonde's words easily and simply told him that he was being paranoid.)
In the end, Kise had to dash back to the locker room after realizing that Kasamatsu might actually kill him if he heard that the blonde was refusing to play because he was too busy sticking to their manager like glue. It wasn't an official match, but still. Plus, Shiro was genuinely more excited than usual and Kise didn't want to ruin her mood like that.
"Is there anything wrong?" she asked her Coach, who blinked at her as if he'd just snapped out of a trance. She noticed that her team was being somewhat uptight and severe when she sat down next to them. Did something happen?
"Ah! No, nothing wrong, Ichijou," the chubby Coach said in reassurance, before angling his attention to the container of honey-soaked lemons on her lap.
"You actually took my advice," Coach Takeuchi said with a pleased smile, "how did it go?"
"I did a few tests a few days back with different portions and types of honey. Most of them were too sweet so I froze the honey and crushed the ice so it'd have a more cooling effect. I only thought of freezing it this morning though, which explains why I'm late," Shiro explained proudly.
Coach Takeuchi nodded in approval, salivating a bit himself at the tasty honey-iced lemons on his manager's lap. He always reminisced those good old days where his teammates would teasingly ask Araki to make honey-soaked lemons for them when she looked like she was in a good mood. Of course, it ended up with anyone stupid to ask her that question horribly, terribly injured and sent to the ICU. She often sent them her regards in the form of black roses. Yes, Masako Araki was humorously morbid like that.
Hmm…maybe he'll take one without the regulars looking…
"Hello, are you Ichijou Shiro-san?" asked a silky voice.
Shiro could faintly hear the hitching in the reserve players' and her Coach's throats as what seemed to be 'Violently Handsome-kun' approaching her. In fact, he was already standing a good step away from her and looking down on her with his admittedly chiseled face and well-styled dark hair. His eyes were a little too wide and happy for the white-haired girl's comfort but she otherwise regarded him with a nod.
"Yes, I am," she said, stretching her hand out, "and you are?"
"Karasuma Yuuto, pleased to meet you Shiro-chan," the sweetly sickening way he said her name made several players recoil. His voice alone resembled something akin to sweet, silky poison that made the rest of the Kaijou team plus their coach stiffen – which made them nonetheless extremely aggravated that they couldn't even move a muscle to stop him.
"You must be the point guard of your team," Shiro voiced out, "Number 5. You're also the vice-captain, is my guess."
Karasuma's eyes widened in unexpected, questionable delight as he accepted her hand – and this time Shiro really did feel like recoiling at the way his fingers curiously caressed her wrist as if he was wondering whether to crush it or break it. It wasn't like how Ryouta would gently hold her hand and sometimes press them against his lips, with a content, lazy smile on his face as he whispered something like 'Good morning, Shirocchi' and indulge her with a hug before they went off for breakfast.
"How wonderful! A pretty girl like you taking notice of me!" Karasuma purred, making the smaller girl flinch slightly as he tightened the grip on her hand and yanked her towards him, the container of honey-iced lemons toppling onto the floor by a stunned Coach Takeuchi's feet.
"Tell me, what's a pretty girl like you doing in a team like this? Why not join us? When we –" Karasuma smirked as he tipped her chin up so her silvery-blue eyes were staring up into his pitch-black ones, "can make use your 'abilities' so much more?"
For the first time in her life, Shiro could feel the inner stirrings of distress tightening in her gut and the bile rising to her throat at the perverse, sadistic intent on the Kamakura vice-captain's face. She tried wriggling free from the other teen's iron-tight grip and winced when the much bigger hand around hers clenched down even harder on her wrist. Normally, she'd try to negotiate out of the situation, but it was as if something triggered in her head that unintentionally activated her 'fight-or-flight response' and made her completely torn between kicking the vice-captain in the balls or taking cover behind someone else. She didn't like to resort to panicking but there was a figurative monster right in front of her and she admitted that every single ounce of any self-preserving instinct she had left switched on the second she felt her wrist start to throb uncomfortably in his grip.
Calm down. Relax. I have been personally trained in self-defense for situations like this. I can –
Shiro gave a sharp intake of breath as she felt cold fingers skimming underneath her shirt and running along her sides, brushing curiously over the base of her spine – and it was not an over-exaggeration when she actually shuddered at the multiple unpleasant tingles shooting up her spine at his warm breath tingling behind her ear.
"Oh," Karasuma smirked, obviously enjoying Shiro's discomfort way too much to be healthy, "A sensitive one, aren't you? Don't worry, I know just how to –"
"Excuse me, but can you let Shirocchi go?" a certain blonde growled darkly before using more than enough force necessary to wrench Shiro away from the Kamakura point guard – much to the grateful relief of the rest of the team. Kise immediately pulled the slightly trembling Shiro into a protective hug which the white-haired girl happily returned. The blonde could feel rage welling up behind his eyes when the white-haired girl immediately latched onto him and started breathing erratically against his neck.
Kise gave the ever-so cheerful Karasuma bloodthirsty scowl.
How dare you…How dare you touch Shirocchi...!
"Whoa~ scary boyfriend you have right there, Shiro-chan!" Karasuma whistled, his smile growing even wider on his face, revealing his shark-like canines. It practically screamed from his expression alone that he reveled in the murderous looks being thrown at him by every single Kaijou High member present, especially the other regulars – who were all trailing behind Kise and looking like they were about to commit mass murder and enjoy every second of it.
"Well then~ I'll take my leave for now~" Karasuma sang to Kise, who glared at the dark-haired vice-captain with such so much hatred that the Kaijou players all flinched at the sight.
"And I'll see you later, Shiro-chan," Karasuma added merrily, giving a final wave before casually walking back to the other side of the court, where the Kamakura High captain could be seen leering infuriatingly at the pissed-off Kaijou team.
Instantly after the Kamakura High point guard left, Kise immediately returned his attention back to the white-haired author in his arms. Her shaking and erratic breathing had stopped, but the blonde still felt a bit worried and frightened by this open display of fear-induced affection from his friend. Even when they watched horror movies together, the blonde had never seen Shiro show even the tiniest bit of terror or panic like most of the girls he brought to watch horror movies did. They were always shivering by the end of the night and trying to cuddle up to the blonde-haired model.
So seeing that same yet different kind of fear being inflicted on his Shirocchi really did a number on the copycat's mood.
Wait, his Shirocchi? No, he didn't mean it like that –!
"Shirocchi, are you feeling better now?" Kise asked carefully, encouraging many of the other Kaijou players to voice out their own concerns and a few even walking over to give their manager comforting pats on her shoulder.
Shiro nodded numbly and hesitantly broke away from the blonde model's embrace, though she still was still holding onto the hem of his jersey. The Kaijou High basketball members all felt arrows of guilt hit them like trucks at the sudden paleness of their manager's face and the tenseness in her eyes. It didn't look like she was crying but she didn't need to, as what they saw renewed the anger within them like a fiery inferno.
"I…I apologize for not being able to get away fast enough. I'm not used to these kinds of situations," Shiro said shakily, squeezing Kise's arm as a 'thank you'.
"It's not your fault, sensei," Kobori told her reassuringly, giving one of his customary pats on the head even if it looked somewhat forced. Which was pretty understandable, considering that the normally calm center was positively boiling with rage at what that Kamakura vice-captain did and he'd like nothing else better than to strangle the living shit out of him for even touching their manager.
"Don't worry, Hime, we'll avenge you," Moriyama promised sincerely, with no trace of the sparkly flamboyancy aura he usually had around him when he said this kind of shit. In fact, his eyes were still laced with steely anger that looked extremely off-putting on the flirty shooting guard.
"HAI! SO P[LEASE] DON'T W[ORRY], MANA[GER]-SAN!" Hayakawa grinned tensely, giving the smaller girl a firm pat on the back, "[We'll] definit[ely] b[ring] home victory today!"
Shiro turned up to look at the regulars of the Kaijou High Basketball Team and nodded shakily, something that resembled a worried sob hitching in her throat.
"Y-Yes. Thank you for your words, senpais."
Kise frowned disapprovingly at the white-haired girl – who was still unconsciously clinging onto him – knowing damn well she was not fine at all and was simply concealing her emotions like the trained model she was. It was the one of the few traits about her that irritated Kise to no end – even though he was probably guiltier of it than she was.
"O-Oi Shiro," Kasamatsu called out. There was an embarrassed scowl prominent on his harsh-looking face.
"Y-You got anything to say before we start?" he asked tentatively, giving his manager's shoulder a light squeeze. Oh god how he hated the way everybody's eyes immediately zeroed in on his trembling hand. Even Moriyama and Kobori briefly broke out of their angry reverie to chuckle at the sight.
"You could not get any less awkward, Captain," Nakamura deadpanned, not looking half as exasperated as he normally would be with his captain's irrational fear of talking to girls.
"At least he's improving," Kobori sighed.
"Today is the day for the books if Kasamatsu is talking to Hime out of his own initiation and not passing out like he just confessed to her instead," Moriyama added with a sigh.
"Whoa! Captain didn't faint [like] [last] time!" Hayakawa genuinely congratulated his senpai. Though that probably had a counterproductive effect as an angry vein started to twitch on Kasamatsu's temple at the enthusiastic rebounder's 'praise'. It also didn't help that even some other reserve players were looking as if they were trying not to bust a gut holding back their laughter at their captain's demise.
"You guys are bastards. All of you," Kasamatsu scolded his giggling teammates.
After they still wouldn't shut up, the Kaijou High Captain gave an annoyed growl and stomped his foot in annoyance.
"ANYONE WHO KEEPS ON LAUGHING CAN LAUGH IT OFF WITH 100 LAPS AROUND THE SCHOOL AFTER THIS MATCH!"
That immediately shut them up. As much as they wanted to tease their captain more for his absolutely adorkable 'trying-his-best' moments, 100 laps around the school might actually kill them, seriously.
(At that point, Coach Takeuchi briefly wondered whether his Captain had picked up some troublesome habits from Seirin's fearsome lady coach.)
Kasamatsu – after recovering his already crippling dignity, returned his attention back to Shiro and cleared his throat loudly, awaiting her answer.
"S-So Shiro…anything to –" Kasamatsu choked on his words.
Because when Shiro gave him such a bright, glowing smile that could've knocked out a giant from shock, he couldn't help but blush like an idiot while trying to appear way more interested in his feet than his heart that was racing at Mach 20 speed.
"Yes," Shiro proclaimed calmly, eyes cast around her team with determination, "I do."
"Let's show them why Kaijou holds the title of Champions of the Kanagawa Prefecture."
"Trap set, Captain~!"
Kamakura High's Captain, Mochizuki Haruka, gave his vice-captain an approving smirk, "Nice work, Yuu. As 'pected of our team's most jacked up 'motional manipulator."
"Pfft, it was fucking simple. Have you seen how they act around her?" Karasuma threw a disdainful glance towards the Kaijou bench, "like fucking insects. The lot of them. All sucking up to her like a goddamn queen. It's sickening."
"Well, she's da only gal there, with ain't surprising," Mochizuki clicked his tongue, "so was mah analysis right?"
Karasuma smirked at his Captain. "Right on the fucking dot, Capt. She's the typical manager who likes to be all 'independent' and shit and too stubborn to take precaution and let her team properly take care of the situation for her. After my little show, she's gonna be putty in my hands once I'm done with her."
"Ahh Yuu, this is why I picked ya ta be mah vice-capt instead of anyone else," Mochizuki eyes shone with glee.
The slasher smiles both Captain and Vice-Captain shared on their faces were frightening enough to silently tell the Kamakura High team not to do or say something to break the moment of orgasmic satisfactory between them. Except for one.
"No offence, Karasuma-senpai, but how is riling them up supposed to help us win?" one of the reserve players asked bluntly.
Karasuma's eyes flashed dangerously at the reserve, his fake smile still present as he violently backhanded the unaware player across the face. The teen gave an agonized yell as he was thrown back into the bench, clutching onto his bruised cheek.
"Who told you to speak?" Karasuma hissed darkly, switching back to his native English language as the injured reserve whimpered under his withering glare. It was no secret amongst the Kamakura High Basketball Club that Karasuma Yuuto liked putting up a cheerful, all-smiling mask around strangers and those who he needed something from. But to his team…you might as well quit as you can. You're not going to have a reasonable person as your vice-captain; you're going to have a control freak with the tendency to be extremely violent to anyone who does so much as sneeze in his presence.
"Jeez Yuu, calm yer head," Mochizuki lazily admonished him, before giving the scared reserve player a feral smirk.
"You'll see why Kamakura High has such a dirty reputation for using 'off court psychological tactics' soon, kid."
Despite what his manager said, Coach Takeuchi couldn't help feel a sense of unease as he watched the Kaijou regulars head towards the tip-off line.
It was as if the motivational pep talk Shiro gave barely seconds ago went completely over their heads the minute they saw who they were playing against. Two who were – as expected – their number 4 and center Mochizuki and number 5 and point guard Karasuma. The tension between the two teams was unbearably thick with the Kaijou players all looking ready to go on a killing spree.
"Looks like y'all calmed down," the Kamakura High captain winked at Kasamatsu, "so how did'ya pretty lil manager relieve your stress this time? Promising y'all a quickie after da game?"
"Don't talk about Shirocchi like –" Kise snarled until a firm hand clamped down on his shoulder. The blonde's golden-yellow eyes instantly darted to Kasamatsu, who was giving him a severe look and mentally telling him to sit your ass down and don't make it so obvious that they're getting to you, dumbass.
"You want to talk so much, do it after the game," Kasamatsu steadfastly answered. Kise definitely did not miss the hardened expression on his senpai's face as he said this.
"After we trash you, of course," Moriyama piped up with an emotionless smile.
"No hard feelings," Kobori called out lamely.
They proved their point soon enough. As the referee tossed the ball in the air, Kobori went for a graceful swoop and bitch slapped it away from the stunned Kamakura High captain. Everyone watched in bated breath as it sailed through the court into an awaiting Hayakawa's hands. With an earthshaking roar, Hayakawa leapt into the air and slam dunked the ball into the hoop. A cheer went up from the benches as the score quickly went from 0 – 2 in five seconds.
"[AAAARGGGGH!] DID YOU SEE THAT? THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T MESS WITH US, DAMMIT!"
Mochizuki's smile faltered very briefly as the entire Kaijou team gave him smug looks.
"Prepare for a world of pain, Kamakura High."
Wow.
The very second the match started, Shiro's breath was stolen away in a flash.
It was if completely different people had taken over the Kaijou regulars. Shiro watched as Yukio-senpai drove in between the opponents' defenses with speed that could put Usain Bolt's to shame. Completed with Yoshitaka-senpai's unique three-pointers, Mitsuhiro-senpai's enthusiastic rebounds and Kouji-senpai's tenacity and defending prowess, their team play looked like a well-oiled machine and acted like one.
And Ryouta.
Ryouta was just...mesmerizing. Beautiful. Spectacular.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Or…that's what he should've been like.
Shiro couldn't help but share the same worried look as Coach Takeuchi and Shinya-senpai when Ryouta was being double-teamed in every single way possible by the captain and vice-captain duo. Or how he had this absolutely frustrated look on his face on the occasion where he did receive an opportunity to score a point, only to be quickly pressured by at least two players from Kamakura High. And even when he did shoot, the ball was either stolen from him before he could do so or he missed completely. Shiro had a horrible, twisting feeling in her gut.
Was it just her, or was Kise being horribly…distracted?
"Oi Kise! Watch your surroundings more!" Yukio-senpai yelled at the blonde, who only returned with a disgruntled 'Hai, senpai' before running back to defense.
The score was 15 – 18, in Kaijou's favor. And according to Coach Takeuchi – considering that Kaijou doubled Kamakura High's score during Interhigh – this was one of the worst matches Kaijou had ever played against Kamakura High. The only thing that was keeping Kaijou in the lead was Moriyama's three-pointers.
"Maybe we should switch out Ryouta," Shiro suggested, only to be met with firm shakes of the head from the coach.
"It's not just Kise, take a look at the other players' physical conditions," Coach Takeuchi said, prompting the white-haired manager to briefly scan the Kaijou players' bodies. And then it hit her. She didn't really notice it until now, but she was sure that it was way too unnatural to sweat this much during the first quarter.
"The anger is getting to their heads. They're playing more aggressively than usual," Coach Takeuchi continued, an irritated look on his chubby face before standing up to call for a time-out.
Shiro couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of guilt hit her at the fact that they were probably angry because of her. Normally anger wouldn't affect a person's energy levels on a day-to-day basis, but being angry while playing a match or game could make their energy levels plummet extremely quickly, since more energy was needed to cope with their anger. She clenched her fists and glanced at the Kamakura High point guard, who simply smirked at her when he caught her looking at him.
This must've been their plan, Shiro thought with a frown. But at the same time, she felt that this was not their entire plan. She could tell from their actions, especially from Karasuma's and Mochizuki's – that this was not all they had to offer. And that unsettled her.
"Shiro-san," Shinya-senpai smoothly cut into her thoughts.
Shiro blinked owlishly at her senpai, unaware that she had been staring at him with the most disconcerting expression on her face for the past five minutes.
"Yes, Shinya-senpai? Is anything wrong?"
No, but it looks like there's something clearly wrong with you, Shiro had a feeling that was what he wanted to say.
"It's not your fault," Shinya-senpai told her instead, surprising her. Shiro could only stay silent as he scooched closer to her.
Shiro's normally neutral expression faltered slightly, tiny shadows forming under her eyes.
"But it is completely my fault, Shinya-senpai. They're angry because I couldn't get away fast enough from Karasuma-senpai," the white-haired girl looked down in guilt, her chest heaving erratically at the memory, "I made our team lose face…"
No, it's not Shiro-san. I don't actually know how you manage to think that we're all angry because you didn't manage to get away from a piece of shit who takes joy in fucking with other teams' managers – literally and figuratively. And I don't know why you're grabbing onto the concept of 'barely avoiding molestation' as the equivalent of 'social disgrace' and I'm assuming that you're reading one too many American rape survivor novels, Shinya-senpai pressed the bridge of his nose with his fingers, feeling the signals of an incoming headache; Oh my god, my team is full of idiots.
"You're only get them all angrier if they see you depressed like this," Shinya-senpai continued exasperatedly, hand raised to lightly brush a loose strand of white hair over her ear. The white-haired girl briefly shut her eyes in contentment at the ghost-like touches of the bespectacled teen's fingers on her face.
"Chin up, Shiro-san. Right now, you're the only one who can break those idiots out of it," Shinya-senpai said in the softest, most consoling tone Shiro had ever heard the second year shooting guard use. Shiro couldn't help but stare at him in mild amazement.
"Shinya-senpai, ever considered a change of job scope and become a psychiatrist?" Shiro asked, her trademark neutral expression returning to her features.
"No," Shinya-senpai answered, equally neutral, "I'd rather not have to deal with infuriatingly complicated people like you on a daily basis, Shiro-san."
Shiro nodded, as if that kind of response was completely normal and not at all insulting.
"I agree. I might throw in the towel if I was on my own patient," Shiro replied off-handedly, "though I might throw it even quicker if someone like Shinya-senpai was my patient. Imagine trying to counsel someone who tries to counsel you back."
"Are you picking a fight with me, Shiro-san?" Shinya-senpai asked her dryly, unconsciously passing his manager the cooling towels and ice box just as the rest of the Kaijou regulars jogged over, panting and sweating.
"Only if you perceive it as it is, senpai," Shiro answered mysteriously as she stood up from her seat to make space for the players.
"Thanks," the Kaijou starters chorused in unison as they all flopped down on the bench, gratefully accepting the towels and water bottles from their manager as their coach started his lecture.
"Look, all of you are too aggressive. Loosen up! It's just the first quarter!" Coach Takeuchi barked. Ryouta looked away in shame at that, barely acknowledging his white-haired friend when she lay the cold towel around his shoulders and dropped the water bottle into his hands. Shiro furrowed her eyebrows at this. How very un-Ryouta.
"Kise," the Kaijou Coach snapped his head towards their Ace, "I'm subbing you out for Nakamura. I'll put you back out in the second quarter once you've calmed your head."
Everyone expected a shout of protest or an angry outburst from the blonde model, but were bewildered to see him simply nod in acceptance, his expression concealed completely by his long bangs.
"Start going on the offense and focus on scoring. Now that Kise is out, they'll have to change marks. Otherwise, play as per normal," Coach Takeuchi nodded towards Yukio-senpai, who lead the motivational shout of 'Kaijou!' as the playing regulars all returned to the game, Shiro giving a brief smile to Shinya-senpai as he went to sub in for Ryouta.
This gave the white-haired manager the time and opportunity to walk over to her friend, who had been completely immovable since he sat down on the bench. The moisture of the towel had soaked into the blonde model's jersey, the water bottle still dangling from his fingertips.
"Ryouta," Shiro whispered softly, moving in behind him to wrap her arms around his neck, her chin on top of his hair. This seemed to calm Ryouta down somehow as he gradually relaxed in the white-haired author's embrace.
"Shirocchi…" Ryouta murmured, tilting his head back to rest against the white-haired manager's chest. Shiro sighed deeply at the ticklish sensation of Ryouta's hair on her hoodie.
"Feeling better?" she asked gently, brushing the bangs away from the blonde's face.
Ryouta shook his head indignantly, his lips forming into a frustrated frown.
Shiro frowned back before giving him a quick flick on the forehead, resulting in a pained 'Ow!' from the blonde copycat as he blinked quickly, crocodile tears forming in his eyes.
"Ryouta, you're a model, frowning will give you wrinkles," Shiro emotionlessly advised him, "at least frown a little bit cooler if you have to do it."
"How mean, Shirocchi! And I'm having a bad game too ~suu!" Ryouta pouted in mock anger. His hands had made his way up towards hers around his neck, tugging on her wrists insistently, "and you're choking me, Shirocchi!"
Shiro sighed, her silvery blue eyes meeting his golden-yellow ones as she released him from her chokehold.
"Are you feeling better now?" she asked, smiling fondly. Ryouta blinked at the sudden, uncharacteristic expression on the white-haired girl's face that felt so surreal that he almost forgot to breathe.
Ryouta pursed his lips but nodded, craning his head downwards so she couldn't see that he was blushing all the way to his roots. Thankfully, she couldn't tell the difference between a flush from a blush either way. Yes, she was blind like that.
"…I'll make your favorite French onion gratin soup tonight if you calm down and play your best," Shiro whispered discreetly into the blonde's hair.
"R-Really ~suu!?" Ryouta's eyes sparkled at the thought of the white-haired girl cooking one of his favorite meals for him. It was if a mood switch had flipped inside the blonde's head as he swerved his head (which was already sprouting puppy ears) towards Coach Takeuchi.
"Coach! Can you put me in? I'm ready to go now!" Ryouta pleaded, puppy ears twitching.
Sugoi…the power of food has awakened him…the Kaijou players all sweatdropped as a freaking tail started wagging behind their Ace. So cock-whipped…
"Second quarter," Coach Takeuchi said with finality, causing the blonde's fake puppy ears to droop.
"Okay…" Ryouta pouted.
Shiro never had such hard time trying to muffle her chuckles so much in her life.
With Nakamura replacing Kise in the first quarter, the score gap between Kaijou and Kamakura High had very slowly started to increase. Since Nakamura had been in the team much longer than the blonde, he was more accustomed to Kaijou's team plays and even managed to give their opponents a bit of stress with his Seiho-worthy level of defense alongside Kobori. It also helped that Nakamura definitely had the 'psychiatrist' aura to him because the second he stepped into the court, the rest of the Kaijou starters had significantly cooled down. By the end of the first quarter, the score was 16 – 27, in Kaijou's favor, and Shiro literally would not sit her ass back down no matter what and had almost strangled Kise when Hayakawa made a buzzer beater, ending the first quarter off with a literal 'bang'.
("Shirocchi…I'm choking...!" Kise cried, face turning blue as several reserve players tried to convince their manager to chill the fuck out before she gave their Ace cardiac arrest. )
After a short timeout in between quarters, Coach Takeuchi officially allowed Kise to play. The blonde literally could not be happier to be back on court. Mainly because he was getting a bit itchy from not playing and partially because Shiro was becoming the literal definition of a 'clingy girl friend'. Note the space between 'girl' and 'friend', people.
And with Kise back in the game, much calmer than he'd initially been, there was no contest. Even with Kamakura High's captain and vice-captain double team, Kise brushed them off without much issue and dribbled down the court like a madman, actively competing with Hayakawa on how many dunks they could pull off in a single quarter. Shiro couldn't help snatching out the notepad she had sitting inside her panda motif sling bag and scribbling down notes and the emotions she was feeling while watching the game play out. Along with Nakamura's sidelong commentary and comments on how Shiro's handwriting looked like chicken scratch, the second quarter ended with Shiro shaking with awe and jubilation. Which looked extremely unsettling considering Shiro's face still looked completely calm and neutral and at one point Coach Takeuchi asked whether she was having a seizure.
(She wasn't. Though the semi-panicked looks on both Karasuma and Mochizuki's faces as they saw the score gap increasing definitely made Shiro internally smirk.)
The second quarter eventually ended with the score at 20 – 47, in favor of Kaijou. The difference in points was so obvious that the Kaijou team couldn't help but proudly smirk at the fact. Eventually they went into half-time, Shiro deciding to buy Kise and the rest of the hardworking regulars their favorite drinks from the nearby vending machine. Until she remembered that she still had the honey-soaked lemons from that morning.
Ah, the honey-soaked lemons…
Shiro stared down at the container in her hands. The ice had melted a little, but the container was still reasonably cold. However, she wouldn't be able to run into the locker room, pass the regulars the container, run out of the gym to buy the drinks and make it back in time for the third quarter.
"Hmm…" she spotted one of the reserves walking past her and head towards the changing room for the coach's brief pep talk. He was a lithely-built shooting guard in training and constantly looked like he badly needed the toilet whenever he was around her.
"Takuma-kun!" she called out, making said boy jump a foot and comically spin towards her with a dark blush on his cheeks.
"H-Hai…Manager-san? W-What can I help you with?" the dark-haired boy stuttered.
Shiro passed him the lidded container filled with honey-soaked lemons. "Will you pass this to the team for me? I'm going out to buy some drinks."
"O-Of course!" Takuma said, until he suddenly recalled their manager's encounter with the rather unpleasant vice-captain of the Kamakura High Basketball Team, and his eyebrows furrowed in worry.
"M-Manager-san…do you need me to accompany you?" he asked concernedly.
Shiro looked at him as if he'd grown two heads. "Of course not, Takuma-kun. You still need to attend Coach's halftime briefing."
"B-But…"
Unfortunately, Shiro had left the stuttering boy in the dust and was already jogging out of the gym, her bag slung lopsidedly over her shoulder. Takuma sweatdropped. Their manager sure didn't waste time…
Takuma's eyes darted down to the container of honey-soaked lemons and unconsciously licked his lips.
Maybe I'll take one while nobody's looking…Takuma mirrored Coach Takeuchi's earlier thoughts as he made his way to the Kaijou changing rooms, not noticing that Kamakura High's starting lineup suddenly had two missing members.
(If Shiro missed the shark-like grins from a particular captain and vice-captain duo as she made her way out of the gym, she would learn very soon that she would have to reap the consequences of her negligence.)
Author's Note:
Do~ Not~ Own~ KnB~ ~suu.
Also, I think I insulted so many Osakans and English people with this chapter (refer to Karasuma and Mochizuki above). And I have this weird fascination with Hayakawa dunking (I am seriously not sure if he can do that but he's such a ball of sugar that he probably could if he tried). Also, sorry if I'm focusing a lot on Nakamura, but I'm a sucker for meganes and this fic gave me the oppurtunity to expand on his characterizaton. And...Kise too OC here? My bad? And I realize I have a tendency to change tenses in between chapters. I'M SORRY. THIS IS A HABIT OF MINE THAT I HONESTLY CAN'T KICK AS I LIKE WRITING CHAPTERS IN PAST AND PRESENT TENSE.
A huge thank you to my reviewers m00nbunnie, a Guest user, Kurokocchi, ILoveNarutoRebornKProject and lotusalchemist. And to answer nglphil's question: I'm not too sure where the tactic came from, I was researching on psychological tactics on the Net one day and came by it. And yes, Haizaki + Imayoshi + Hanamiya fuck me I'm in love with these three.
