Author's Note : You guys are the best! Thank you for all of the positive feedbacks! What do you think will happen to Shoko and her brother now? Keep in mind that Shoko does understand where Shogo's anger came from, so she doesn't really hate him per say. To the anonymous user that commented recently, thank you for your reviews! I decided to address your points in here because I wanted to clarify some things.
1. While it is true that family members in Japan address each other by their given names, keep in mind that Shoko and Keigo are cousins and they aren't as close as brothers or sisters. Besides, Shoko told Keigo not to address her by her family name in that chapter.
2. Please keep in mind that this is a fanfiction. While there may be some irregularities from the original plot line – like how Momoi addresses Aomine or Akashi – don't let the minor details deter you from the content. I'll keep your comment in mind though.
Anyways, thank you for the support and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
"At this rate, we will only keep chasing them while the situation gets worse." – Kuroko Tetsuya
[08]
"Momoi." The pink haired girl looked up from her magazine to see the male class representative – Gotou – standing in front of her desk with a stack of papers in his arms. "Haisaki isn't present again?" He looked displeased and handed the papers to the basketball manager.
"I need you to deliver this to her by today." Momoi stared at him dumbfounded. "It's the final preparations for the festival." He clarified, pushing his black-rimmed glasses up his nose.
"Uh. .Okay." Momoi replied, blinking as Gotou left without another word. She wondered why Gotou didn't just visit Shoko himself, but remembered that he didn't like to involve himself into troublesome situations.
The only reason he became a class representative was because his friends all voted for him as a joke. Kise bumped shoulders with Gotou as he entered the classroom and offered the class representative an apologetic smile, which Gotou returned with a scowl.
Kise looked confused, but walked over to Momoi – who was flipping through the papers Gotou had given her with slight interest. "What's that, Momoichi?" Kise asked, taking the seat in front of Momoi's desk.
"Just some papers he asked me to deliver to Shoko." Momoi replied, placing the papers into her bag. Kise raised an eyebrow and glanced at Shoko's empty desk.
"It isn't like Shoko-chan to miss school three days in a row," Kise remarked. "I wonder if anything happened. ."
Momoi frowned. "Well, she was overworked last week, so I'm sure she's just at home resting." Momoi looked concern. It really was out of the ordinary for Shoko to miss so many days from school because she wasn't the type to skip without a legitimate reason. "She hasn't really been responding to my messages either."
Kise furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, I'm sure that she's fine!" Kise finally said with a bright smile. "Shoko-chan's really strong, so she'll be back tomorrow!"
Momoi returned his smile. "Yeah! I'll just check up on her after practice!"
While the two were smiling on the outside, they felt like something was very, very wrong deep inside. But neither Momoi nor Kise could voice their concerns because they didn't know why they were feeling that way.
'Shoko. .What are you doing right now?' Momoi wondered as the teacher entered the classroom and began the school day.
Shoko took a deep breath as she drew the arrow and held the bow steady as she fixated her attention on the swinging target. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she watched the target swing back and forth.
"I thought out of all people, you would have understood." Harumi's voice suddenly echoed in her head as she released the arrow. Shoko flinched as the sharp tip grazed her finger and watched dully as the arrow made a pitiful attempt to hit the target.
"You're just the rest of them."
Shoko bit her lip and threw her bow down on the wooden floor. Kicking a barrel of arrows, she screamed in frustration; her hands clenched to her side.
She was like the rest of them? Who? The Generation of Miracles?
Shoko wanted to laugh. She was never close to any of the members on the basketball team and for Harumi to associate herself with them was like a slap in the face.
Four days had passed since she had last spoke to Harumi. Although the older classman had tried to contact her a couple times since the incident, she ignored his phone calls and left Tokyo for the weekend.
Shougo was still pestering her about who gave her the injury, but Shoko remained silent on the issue. Who was really to blame in the situation? Was it Harumi's lack of control or was it her insensitiveness?
Taking a seat on the ground, Shoko watched idly as the targets swung back and forth. Maybe she really was at fault. She pushed the boundaries too far and Harumi acted out in defense.
Or perhaps it was Harumi's fault. He had pushed his weakness and lack of motivation on the talented first stringers. He was so blinded by his jealously of the players that he didn't stop to think that maybe he was holding himself back.
Shoko was broken from her thoughts when her cell phone rang. "What do you want?" She answered dully as she pressed a button and watched the targets immediately stop swinging.
"Ah, Shoko? Where are you?" Momoi's voice replied on the other end of the line. The pink haired girl made no comment on the lack of emotion in Shoko's voice. "I went to your house to drop off the festival paperwork, but your housekeeper said that you weren't home. ."
Shoko pursued her lips and replied after a brief moment of silence. "I went to Taito (1) for the weekend." Before Momoi could as her why, Shoko continued. "Please leave the paperwork to the housekeeper. I will be back tomorrow night."
". . Eh? Okay. ." Momoi replied sounding confused at the crispness in Shoko's voice. "Are you okay though? I hope you aren't overworking yourself." Momoi chided.
"I'm fine. I just needed some time to get away from everything." Shoko replied, inspecting the injury on her finger. "Don't worry about me."
"Well alright, I'll wait for you to come back then!" Momoi's voice suddenly became more upbeat. "By the way, have you talked to Harumi-kun lately? It seems like he has been avoiding the basketball team lately. .I checked the attendance sheet and it seems like he has been skipping a lot of practices too."
Shoko's visage remained impassive as she thought back to the times she and Harumi spent time together. She didn't say anything then, but she was curious to how he could miss so many practices without being caught.
Momoi had been focusing all of her attention on the first stringers, so she must have forgotten about the other players until now. "I haven't talked to him lately." Shoko finally said. "He must be busy with preparations with the festival as well."
"Well alright, if you say so. ." Momoi didn't sound too convinced, but dropped the subject when it was obvious Shoko wasn't going to divulge any more information to the data analyst.
The rest of the conversation comprised of Shoko absentmindedly listening to Momoi's updates about school and the basketball team. According to the data analyst, they were well on their way of receiving the championship trophy for the second year in a row.
"That's great, Momoi. I'm happy for you." Shoko heard approaching footsteps and turned towards the source. Her brother stood at the entrance of the archery grounds with a large smirk.
Shoko's frown deepened. "I'm going to have to call you back." She ended the phone call before Momoi could say another word. Shoko stood up and dusted the imaginary dust off of her clothes.
Her brother was the first to speak. "Skipping school now aren't we, Shoko?" He shook his head in mock disappointment. "It seems like I'm beginning to rub off on you."
Shoko ignored his remark. "What are you doing here?" She had left Tokyo without telling anyone where she was going. She felt a little disturbed that her brother had no trouble finding her at all.
Before the incident with Harumi, Shougo disregarded her presence and brushed her off like an annoying thorn on his side. After he concluded that it was someone from the basketball team that hit her, he suddenly had an immense interest on her life and began hovering around her like a moth drawn to fire.
Shougo blinked innocently. "What, I can't visit the company's sport center because I don't play basketball anymore?" While her family wasn't as rich as Atobe's, the Haisaki family was fairly wealthy and they owned several sport centers throughout Japan. "I don't think I really need a reason to check up on my sister, do I?"
Shoko scowled – which was uncharacteristic for the usually apathetic girl. Her brother looked amused by her expression and looked around the room with faux fascination.
Shoko watched as her brother picked up one of the fallen arrows. "Stay away from the basketball team." She said suddenly. Shougo turned his attention back on his sister; he raised his eyebrow as a feral grin began emerging on his lips.
He walked closer towards his sister and brushed a strand of her hair away from her face. Shoko remained motionless as she glared at her brother. "But don't you want your big brother to catch the criminal who hurt you?"
His voice was light, but full of mockery as he traced the faded bruise on her cheek. His eyes narrowed dangerously when Shoko slapped his hand away.
"Don't try to pull me into whatever games you are playing." Shoko snapped. "I saw you practicing basketball at Keigo's summer villa."
For once, Shougo didn't immediately reply with a snarky reply. "I don't know what you are planning," Shoko continued, "but if you take a step near the basketball players, you will regret it."
Shougo's mouth twitched before he started to laugh. "Resorting to threats now?" He said in between his laughter. He placed his hand on her head, pushing her head back so she could meet his eyes. "You really are becoming more like me every day."
"But, my dear sister, you got it all wrong." Shougo pushed her back. Startled by the sudden force, Shogo's knees buckled and she fell to the ground. Her brother began to pace around her like a predator circling its prey. "I'm not doing anything to break up the basketball team."
"The team that you are so desperately trying to protect. .I wonder if they would do the same for you?" Shougo suddenly said, steering the conversation to an entirely different topic.
There was a brief look of shock in Shoko's eyes, but Shougo – being as irritatingly observant as his sister – caught onto it immediately and his smile grew. "They would throw you under the bus, Shoko."
"All in order to protect their 'family'." He made air quotes when he said this. "Which, by the way, you are not a part of." He sneered. Shoko clenched her fists as she stared up at her brother angrily.
"Why should you protect them when it's obvious they wouldn't do the same for you?" Shoko bit her lip; a telltale sign that she was nervous. "Shoko, whose side are you really on?" Her brother asked, his eyes staring straight into hers.
Shoko was the first to look away. She averted her gaze to the ground. Shoko bit her lip harder as she stared at the wooden flooring.
She had lost this round.
"Heh," Shougo gave a triumphed smirk, satisfied with his win for the day. He turned on his heels and began walking towards the exit. His loud footsteps echoed with each confident step he took.
"Wait." Shougo stopped in his tracks when Shoko finally spoke up. Her gaze was still on the ground, but her hands were clenched defiantly to her sides. "Don't do anything that you'll regret later on." She said quietly.
Shougo was silent for a moment. "Anything that I'll regret?" Her brother repeated, tilting his head to the side. His trademark smirk stretched across his face. "Who are you really trying to protect in this situation?"
Shoko remained silent, but her brother took her silence as her answer. Satisfied, he left the room without another word.