My body slides down the side of the dugout hours after out last game, tired and bruised, and refusing to budge. I want to walk home. I want to crawl home. Hell, I want to roll my way home, but I can't. My legs are too tired to support my weight. "You should quit." The voice sounds faint and tinny to my ears, so I pay it no mind. I barely manage to pull my gear together. "You should use your teammates. Not have them use you."
Laughter bubbles past my lips, tired and sad and altogether too confused to sound completely sane. The walls feel like they're tilting. "Quit?" I speak in English instead of Japanese, grinning tiredly. "I refuse. How annoying."
"Oi, Akashicchi, I didn't understand that!" What annoying people, chattering away like I don't exist.
"Be quiet, Kise-kun."
"You should study more, nanodayo." I growl slightly.
"Shut up." I hiss, glaring in the direction of voices I can't seem to see clearly. "You're giving me a headache."
"Seriously, Akashicchi! Midorimacchi do you understand?"
"Some of it, nanodayo."
"What are you afraid of?" The near-perfect question makes me freeze. "Losing? Your coach? Teammates?"
This time I speak in Japanese, an attempt to end the thoughts that are beginning to bubble forward. "Don't ask me things like that." I narrow my eyes and wish I could disappear.
"I can help you. You'll fail on your own. How much do you think you can take?" My anger boils over as I stand chest to chest with Akashi.
"Don't think you can tell me what to do." I say, my voice unusually low and angry. "I can do this any way I want. If I can go one game, I can go a million. You're just like everybody else." A pair of scissors nearly slices my cheek as I dodge. "Violence is disgusting. Stay away from me."
What I can't explain, and trust me, I've tried to many times, is how I somehow managed to find myself attending one of the basketball team's practices. There was this little walkway above the court itself, and I stayed hidden there. My experience went something like this.
Curses flow from my lips, but I keep it in English, unwilling to describe my displeasure in a way that the redhead could easily understand. I peek over the railing, leaning casually as the sound of squeaky sneakers and bouncing balls fills my ears. I don't understand basketball, I really don't. I know you shoot the ball through the hoops, but that's about it. I sigh with irritation. "Can I help you?" Ah, this must be the coach. I shake my head.
"Akashi-san somehow managed to make me watch." I say tiredly. "So I am." The coach reigns in a slight smile.
"I see." The coach smiles quietly at me. "Are you the foreign student?"
I bristle unhappily. "Yes."
"I didn't mean it that way." He assures me, smiling pleasantly. "I understand why Akashi-kun had you come. Tell me, what do you see?"
I turn my gaze to the floor below, trying not to notice every little thing that jumps out at me. "They aren't quite a team. They work together, but they're all acting as individuals. Well, with the exception of Kuroko-san." I'm asked to elaborate, so in my simple, slightly childish Japanese, I do so.
"The one with green hair plays like he's solving a math problem. There's no passion. The one with yellow hair almost has too much, and doesn't seem to concentrate well.
"Purple is bored, dispassionate. Is he eating? Wow. That takes some skill. I'm impressed." The coach laughs slightly. "The one with dark blue hair... does he hate basketball? There's no will to play. He's just going through the motions. Kuroko is the opposite. He doesn't have the skills the others do, but he has a lot of heart and he seems like he's still growing.
"Akashi... is that Akashi? He seems to use his teammates, but it looks like he really cares about them, too." I frown. "It's like he's torn."
"What's your name?" The coach asks. I shrug slightly.
"Everyone calls me Hai, so I guess you can call me that as well." I reply.
"What's your actual name?" I have to think for a while to recall how the Japanese say their names in introductions.
"Heights, Alex. Pleased to meet you." The coach tries repeating my name, making it sound like Arex Haitsu. It's pretty funny. "If it's more convenient, please call me Hai. I don't mind." We watch the boys play a while longer.
"Do you think I can leave yet? I don't understand this game much." Akashi seems to sense my thoughts and pins me with a steady stare. I hold his gaze, refusing to look away until he does. "I guess not. Don't want to make him mad, yet." The coach laughs.
"Would you like me to explain basketball for you, Hai-san?" My face reddens slightly, but I nod. It takes the coach a while to explain it to me. My Japanese hasn't stretched to other sports yet, so I have to ask many questions about names, meanings, and situations. Eventually, I get the gist of it.
I end up staying at Teiko's practice for its entire duration. I don't entirely understand the purpose of me being here, but it's okay. I grab my backpack and get ready to leave. "Akashicchi, wasn't she talking to our coach?" The blond boy speaks a little too loud, and I'm a little too close.
"I can hear you." I call back to him. I exit the gym in silence. Unfortunately, my lovely silence doesn't last as long as I would've hoped. I'm almost off school grounds when a voice I was hoping to not hear calls out to me.
"Hai, why weren't you at practice?" I glance at my coach and almost feel guilty.
"Sorry." I say flatly. "I was asked to observe the basketball team." It takes me ten minutes and quite a bit of shouting for him to realize I'm not lying.
"So other teams come before your own?"
"It was a one-time deal, Coach! I'm not doing it again!" Another ten minutes of anger and screaming and lectures. I remain silent, accepting my punishment.
"I believe that's enough." Cool, calm, and always intrusive is the voice of Akashi Seijuro. "Don't you agree, Coach?"
My coach barely withholds his temper. "Butt out, kid. I'm talking to my catcher here." My hands shake. I've never been good at being yelled at. It used to make me cry on the spot, but I've gotten much better at delaying that reaction for when I get home.
"I'm sorry." I say quietly, trying to keep my voice in check. "It won't happen again."
"Make sure it doesn't." He says angrily. "Honestly, if I knew you'd be this much trouble..." I walk away as evenly as I can, wishing I was somebody else. I'm almost home when I realize that it's raining. I'm nearly soaked, chills running down my spine. My hair drips lazily.
"What are you doing in the rain-ssu?" I start at the sudden question, my eyes widening as I take note of the familiar blond behind me. "I'm Kise by the way. Kise Ryouta." Kise, huh? The same boy my classmates squeal over.
"Hai." I reply shortly, nodding to him. I continue walking home.
"You'll get sick-ssu."
"Is that so?" My voice wavers unpleasantly making me sound weak.
"Did you get in trouble with your coach?" It takes me a few moments to register the question, and another few to realize Kise is willingly sharing an umbrella with me. I manage to nod slightly in response. "Akashicchi will sort it out since he told you to show up. Don't worry about it-ssu." I wish I could take those words to heart, but I cannot.
"I can fix it myself." I reply quietly. "It's done already. I just have to go to practice and pretend I never left." I look at the blond with a slight frown. "Thanks for walking with me. I'll be going now." I push my way through the gates to my building and spend twenty minutes climbing the stairs.
The next day practice is cancelled for the team, and since I apparently have nothing better to do (It's not like I could be doing homework or practicing my swing, huh?) I'm dragged to yet another basketball practice, this time by Kise. I watch from the second level again.
"Back again, Hai-san? I heard your coach was upset yesterday." I greet the coach.
"Ah, yes. He was rather angry, but I understand why." I reply coolly. "We're off for the rest of the semester anyway, with the exception of one more game."
The coach gives me an appraising glance. "Do you like your coach?"
"Am I required to?" I reply, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not here for coaching. I'm here to play." The coach smiles sadly.
"I see." We spend the rest of the basketball team's practice in silence. For almost a week after that day I didn't come to the basketball team's practices. I was gone for six days, and in that time, one of the so-called Miracles picked up my number. I promise I didn't give it to them! In all the school, only two people had my number, Mizuki and Kogame. Kise or Akashi must've squeezed it out of them.
My phone rang early on the seventh morning. "Hello?" I answer, unfamiliar with the number that pops up on the display. "Who is this?"
"Come to practice today." I frown. Who is that?
"Who is this?" I repeat, beginning to feel anxious.
"Come to practice and I'll tell you." All throughout the school day I wondered whether to show up at practice. I didn't pay attention to the lessons much, but I've already learned all of this.
"Are you coming today?" I nearly start at the sound of Kuroko's voice. Turning, I offer him a slight smile.
"Ah, I'm not sure... it's not like I have anything to do with the basketball team... but I don't have any plans, either." I answer. Kuroko nods twice.
"I see." Then he picks up his book, one I didn't recognize, and thumbs through it. I turn back in my seat. "I think you should come."
"Excuse me?"
"Come to practice." Kuroko's eyes look at me calmly. I frown, feeling indecisive. "I'll show you the way after class." He goes back to reading. Just like that, my fate is sealed. I walk with him when all my classes are over. I don't have the heart to tell him I don't really want to attend his basketball practice when he's even offered to escort me. I feel nervous as soon as I enter the gym.
This isn't the gym these so-called Miracles usually play in. In fact, I've never seen this one before. Then again, I've only ever had a need to know where my classes and the softball field are. The lights seem a little brighter than usual, but maybe that's because I'm at the same level as the court itself, and not watching from above. My heart skips a few beats. "Are you sure?" I ask Kuroko, watching the ghost-like boy. "M-Maybe I should go practice with Mi-"
"I'm sure." Kuroko sounds subdued but confident, turning to face me casually. "You're just nervous." Why would I be nervous? I should just go home. I should just go practice. I should leave.
"I didn't think you'd be what would convince her to come." Akashi's sudden words startle me so thoroughly that I jump in fright.
"Aominecchi you owe me!"
"Like hell I do!" Kise and the dark-haired basketball player bicker among themselves.
"Was it you who called me this morning?" Akashi shakes his head slightly, and I rub my temples. "Then maybe I should go. Who calls that early anyway?"
"Heights, Alex. 163 centimeters, 63.5 kilograms, C-cup." My head whips about fast enough to give me whiplash. "Aggressive shortstop and an analytical catcher, plays almost every position. Plays a short game, but doesn't mind hitting for power. Fast. Do you know where I got these?" Some pink-haired girl sways her way toward me, eyes calculating. I shake my head.
"These are notes your scout passed on to your coach." My face reddens slightly.
"Why would my coach be interested in the size of...?" The girl reddens then.
"Oh, I suppose I just added that in." She replies sheepishly. "Anyway, Akashi-kun, I have the rest of the information you asked for." My hands curl slightly into fists.
"What makes you think you're even supposed to have that information?" I hiss, my eyes narrowing. "That's supposed to be between me, the scout, and my coach."
"I requested them." Akashi says, flipping through what I can only assume is the rest of my athletic profile. "I'll be brief. I want you to learn basketball." Silence drowns the gym as I stare at him in disbelief.
"I..."
"Before you refuse, don't you think you could gain something?" The pinkette stares at me shamelessly. "Maybe get away from something?" My face flushes with anger.
"No. I'm here for one reason, and I intend to fulfill the promise I made this school." She opens her mouth. "I'm not saying I dislike the idea or anything. I'm saying that I can't afford to be distracted. If I don't go here, I'm stranded. People are weary of foreigners... particularly ones that aren't necessarily here because they're fluent in Japanese."
"This is a waste of time, nanodayo." The green-haired kid with glasses gives me an appraising glance. "She doesn't have any height. How can you expect her to even catch up to the third-string players?" Somewhere, deep in the back of my mind, something wants to snap. I hate being doubted. I hate being underestimated. My eyes narrow.
"She has something I want." I turn my gaze to the calm Akashi who stands before me, heterochromatic eyes drilling holes into me.
"If you want it so bad, take it." I mutter, rubbing my sore shoulders. "I doubt I'd miss it."
"You have four options." Akashi says suddenly drawing little circles on a piece of paper. He draws an X to represent me. "The first two are risky, but the third is too obvious. Your goal is to get to here, but someone is blocking this area and someone before you." He draws a rectangle at one end of the paper, and another filled in one at the other end. "They want to get here. What do you do?" I frown for a moment.
"Double up the obvious route with the risky one that's closest. Fake to the option closest, run past the person in front of me." I move my fingers across the paper to continue my train of thought. "Probably can't take this one on alone. Go with the third route, have them pass by. Distract the ones who are blocking."
"Your opponent is now headed in your direction. You must block them. How do you do so?" I stare at the new drawing, a miniature me and a tall figure.
"Hm..." My eyes narrow. "Taller. Stronger? I'm faster. Go where they go, step by step." I go through scenario after scenario, shooting down proposed ideas almost instantaneously. "No good. Fourth option won't work under pressure. Best to go with second, then first." I'm snapped out of my challenge as soon as I sense something aiming for my head. Out of reflex, I grab it.
It's far too large to be a softball. It's also the wrong color. A bit heavy, but not unbearably so. "Why...?" It's then that everything I've done in this gym adds up, and I pierce the redhead with a furious glare. "Don't think I'm going to. As soon as I stop dedicating all my time to softball, I have to move schools."
"You have one more game left." Akashi says calmly. "If you win it, I'll take care of your summer for you, but you must do everything I tell you to. Lose, and your scholarship will-"
"My scholarship will kiss me goodbye." I say unhappily. "I know. I always do." My eyes narrow. "However, I can take care of my own summers, thank you."
Akashi's smile seems unusually warm right now. "Trust me. You can play both. I'll settle everything for you." What've I gotten into?