"Seriously, he's the size of a tree how can we not find him?" Shira muttered as she wandered around the halls of the hotel. Their trip ended in two days and Meyer had managed to avoid Kagami that whole time. Shira scowled as she turned the corner, spotting Riko. She was a in a deep conversation with Hyuuga and Shira decided not to interfere. The Coach for Seirin was probably going to hit her after what happened at the beach.
Shira almost giggled as she thought back to that incident. She had no intention of actually going anywhere with Hyuuga, she just wanted to see how pissed Riko would get if she insinuated it. To say Riko was unhappy would be a lie. She was fucking furious and, if Shira had to put it honestly, a little jealous.
On to the problem with Meyer and Kagami, it wasn't like they hadn't run into Seirin during their stay. No, they had run into Kagami a number of times, only Meyer mysteriously disappeared whenever the red haired player appeared. She was getting damn good at disappearing as well.
"Ano, Shira-San, are you looking for Ishimura-San?" Shira shrieked, spinning around and seeing that Kuroko had appeared right beside her. Speaking of disappearing and reappearing. She smacked her forehead, scolding herself for getting so frightened so easily, before flashing Kuroko a smile.
"Kagami actually. You know where he is?"
"I have sent him on personal training. Why do you want him?" Shira's shoulders tensed as she recognised the fury in the voice. She turned around, spotting Riko standing behind her with her arms crossed. She was clearly irked that Shira was there, so the latter looked over her shoulder and gave Hyuuga a wink. Seirin's captain blushed slightly and readjusted his glasses.
"I just want to talk to him is all."
"I would appreciate it if you stopped attempting to interfere with my training regime."
"Sure it's your training regime you want me to stop interfering with?" Shira challenged, tilting her head on the side. Riko's eyed narrowed dangerously as her cheeks flushed. Yeah, thought as much Shira wanted to sneer but the hair on the back of her neck stood up. She looked over her shoulder, seeing Jo walking into the hallway.
"You found him yet?" Jo asked, stopping at the end of the hallway. She looked from Shira to Riko then back to Shira questioningly. Shira shook her head, pointing to Riko with her thumb, not looking back to Seirin's coach.
"He's on his own training regime. Guess we'll just have to try again later," Shira muttered, putting her hands behind her head. She walked towards Jo, stepping past her centre and around the corner of the hallway. Jo watched her before turning back to Riko and Hyuuga, the latter looking positively abashed.
"Don't take anything Shira says to heart. If it's about a boy then she's more than likely joking," Jo commented. She was about to turn but changed her mind, looking back to Riko and Hyuuga. She didn't know if she should be telling them the truth as it would ruin Shira's fun, but Riko looked like she was about to blow a casket and Hyuuga was looking an awful lot like Saka. "She has no interest in you either, Hyuuga. She finds your situation amusing."
Hyuuga choked on spit and Riko looked even more unimpressed. Jo nodded, satisfied Hyuuga was understanding now and she turned to leave. She was irritated that Meyer might be able to skip out on the most amusing dare they had given her, but it couldn't be helped if Riko was sending Kagami on a personal training regime. They couldn't interfere with their training, it wasn't fair, as funny as it would be seeing Kagami's reaction.
Jo let out a huff of air through her nose, looking up to the roof as she walked towards the kitchen. Meyer and Takami, and probbably Jean, would be cooking dinner by now and her stomach made a grand entrance at the thought of food. Jo hadn't realised how hungry she had gotten over the course of the day. Most of the girls had spent the day looking for Kagami, but none of them had seen Ishimura during their search.
A smirk stretched over Jo's lips as she thought back to the truth or dare game they had played with Shutoku. They hadn't really had time to talk to the boys since, they were training most of the day, then played a game against Seirin (Kagami was absent from all the games for some reason) and then they were too tired to do anything else. It was a shame really, the boys were fun to play with and the look on Midorima's face half the time was more than amusing.
Jo was so deep in her own thoughts that she didn't realise a door to her left had opened. Katsumi walked out, the pair colliding into one another. Jo just managed to catch Katsumi by her wrist before she slammed into the ground. Katsumi was already scowling but as Jo helped her to her feet the scowl all but disappeared.
"I'm not that short you know," Katsumi muttered, dusting the front of her shirt down. Jo let out a laugh, nodding slightly as she leant against the doorway.
"Still, you disappear from my sight," Jo teased, measuring the distance between the top of Katsumi's head to her eye level. Katsumi attempted to scowl but it was flushed out by a smile, resulting in both girls to break out into laughter. Jo clapped a hand on Katsumi's shoulder, shaking her slightly. "Man, when was the last time we met up that didn't inclide a court?"
"Second year of middle school," Katsumi chuckled, "Sachiko threw that party and you guys crashed it."
"Oh man, I forgot about that. She was so mad at us," Jo laughed, running a hand through her hair. Sachiko Kishi used to be captain of Shutoku's female basketball team when they were still in middle school. News had spread that she was throwing a party and Shira had convinced them all to go, despite the fact they all doubted they would get in.
"I remember Takami swearing she was never going to touch another bottle of alcohol in her life."
"Shira was worse that night. Man, that feels like a lifetime ago. We were such stupid kids."
"Ah, it was fun though. Felt like real rebels, sneaking out in the middle of the night and crashing a high schoolers party," Katsumi shook her head. The Iwozuka team weren't the only ones to turn up uninvited. Katsumi had appeared sometime during the night and even Hotaru had made an appearance, quickly leaving after finding out the girls were present.
"Didn't feel much like a rebel the next day."
"I don't think any of us felt like anything the next day. It was a good night though," Katsumi grinned. Jo shook her head. It was a good night, but the repurcussions weren't that great, especially for poor Takami. The girl couldn't hold a single drop of liquor if her life depended on it. "Speaking of parties, there's one coming up. Feel like crashing another Shutoku party?"
"It's not really crashing if we're invited Katsumi," Jo laughed. Katsumi nodded in agreement, sticking her hands into her pockets. She let out a sigh, looking up at the roof then shifted her eyes to Jo.
"Why is Meyer acting strange?"
"You really think I have the answer?"
"I was hoping you did. You are two are near inseperable, aren't you?"
"We were Katsumi, but since Jean, Meyer's distant."
"Can't be helped I guess. Well, I'll text you through the details for the party closer to the date. I think it should be an eventful night, considering the other guests that were invited," Katsumi grinned. Jo blinked twice as Katsumi walked past her, making her way to the bath room.
"Who else is going?"
"Come and you'll find out!"
...
"I can't believe you managed to avoid Kagami that whole trip," Shira muttered unhappily. It was the day they were leaving, having had a mostly good two weeks away from their homes. Ishimura had a screaming match with Hotaru that almost ended in blood shed, if it hadn't been for Takao coming between the two girls. Jo winced, feeling sorry for the poor boy, Hotaru had taken a swing at Ishimura before Takao tried to stop them, which resulted in his cheek being grazed by Ishimura's return swing. Hotaru had fled whilst Ishimura had apologised profusely to Takao, kissing his cheek repeatedly in a poor attempt at trying to make him feel better. Still, he looked pretty pleased with himself despite the shiner on his cheek.
"What are you talking about?" Meyer questionned, looking quite confused at Shira's complaint. Everyone spun around to face her, wondering if she was purposefully playing dumb.
"You know, the dare. You had to kiss him," Jo reminded her. Meyer looked around to them all, still incredibly confused and slightly worried. Then she had a moment of clarity, recollection of the night of truth or dare returning to her, and broke out in a deep chuckle.
"Oh yeah. I already did."
"Bull!" Shira burst loudly. Meyer nodded, shrugging her shoulders at the same time.
"Takami went to get your guys for dinner and he came in."
"You're lying," Jo snapped but Takami was frowning. She could remember passing kagami as he was heading in the direction of the kitchen, but she didn't watch to see if he had gone in. Meyer was looking amongst her team mates, one eyebrow raised.
"If you don't believe me, Seirin's coming out now." Jo and Shira spun around, seeing that Seirin indeed was walking out of the hotel. Kagami was easy to spot, not only because of his height but because his hair made him stand out amongst the browns and blacks of his team mates.
"Hey Kagami-Kun!" Shira shouted, waving her arms around like a mad man. All of Seirin glanced over to the teen, Riko visibly scowling. Perhaps this was why she was so annoyed about Iwozuka's presence at the hotel. "Did Meyer really kiss you?"
"And here I thought only Saka could light up like a Christmas tree," Takami commented upon Kagami's blush. Even his ears turned bright red as he spluttered and mumbled an answer.
"Don't hurt yourself Kagami!" Ishimura laughed, provoking at Riko to snap at Seirin to get moving. Ishimura and Shira laughed at her reaction, not helping the situation in the least. The pair shut up quickly when Jo smacked them on the back of their heads.
"You know Kaijo and Touou are having their match today," takami commented, effectively shifting the conversation away from Seirin. Meyer shook her head, already knowing what Takami was suggesting. The last thing she wanted to do was go and watch two remarkable aces destroy themselves in an attempt to outdo one another.
"Touou will win. We have to go home anyway."
"You seem pretty certain," Shira commented. Meyer laughed, nodding as she let out a slight whistle. She had hoped to end the conversation about the match with her comment, but like they would let her off so easily.
"It will be a close game but Touou will win. Kise Ryouta still admires Aomine too much."
"How do you know that?" Takami questionned. She was slightly annoyed that Meyer had figured something out that she couldn't. In fact she never even assumed that Kise looked up to Aomine. Meyer looked to her incredulously before sighing.
"Am I the only one who listens to what Katsuo tells me?"
"I thought we kept him around because he's pretty." This time it was Ishimura who smacked Shira on the upside of her head. Shira just grinned in reply. Meyer shook her head as Ishimura's mother pulled up in a car beside them. Jean, who they hadn't bothered to even try and waken properly and was now currently residing on Jo's back, seemed to waken at the noise. Half a beat passed and he returned to snoring softly, his face nuzzled into the crook of Jo's neck and shoulder. An earthquake wouldn't waken the kid from his sleep.
Jo laughed at him as Shira opened the back door. Ishimura helped Meyer move the boy from Jo and maneuver him into a comfortable enough position in the back seat. Jo's gaze lingered on the young teen before Meyer stole into her gaze, slipping into the back seat and shutting the door behind her. Ishimura gave them a short nod before climbing into the car, shutting the door and leaning over to talk to Meyer.
"I remembered putting him in the seat when we were younger," Shira smiled as Takami slammed the boot shut. Jo looked to Shira, wondering when they had begun reading each other's minds. Takami walked round the front of the car, knocking twice on Ishimura's door before stepping back onto the curb. The car honked once before pulling away, slowly driving off.
"I remember him staying long after practice finished, playing ball with us," Takami sighed as they watched the car disappear into the distance. Ishimura's mum had agreed to take most of their luggage back, so they had been left with just their handbags, or in Jo's case her back pack. They had been left on the curb, waiting for their next ride to pick them up.
"I can still see Meyer and IShimura being told about the accident," Jo mumbled as she sat down. Shira's mum had a habit of being late to pick them up from somewhere, so they could be waiting a while.
Takami grimaced, the memory hitting her like a brick wall. It was four weeks into the school year, their last year in middle school and the first year they almost lost the chamionship. Jean, at the time, would walk home from middle school, swinging by Sataoshi and Hiruko's primary school to walk them home. When Ishimura and Meyer had told they both had to get to the hospital as there had been a car crash, they were unrecognisable. Ishimura froze, her body locking up and her face pale, her mind exploring every possibility of what could have happened to her brothers. Meyer was shouting and swearing in a mix of French and English and then, they were gone. They had run so fast that day, faster than Jo had seen either of them run before. They sprinted from the school gym to the hospital, not even slowing as their limbs ached and their bodies cried for a reprieve.
They saw Ishimura before they saw Meyer. Ishimura's brothers were only recipients of debris, but all they knew about Jean was that he was in ICU. Satoshi was too afraid to get into a car for a few months, Hiroku shut his family and friends out. It would be a while before either of them were willing to talk about what happened. A week after the accident, the rest of the girls finally found out what had happened. Sataoshi and Hiruko were walking a metre or so in front of Jean, who was hanging back and talking on the phone to a friend. A car veered off the road, heading straight for the younger pair. Jean ran up and shoved them out of the way, but in doing so was pinned between the wall and the car by his leg.
It wasn't the impact that caused him to lose it. Jean drew an infection that was spreading too quickly for doctors to fix, so they had to amputate on scene. When they cut off his leg, they cut off his dream as well. Jo grimaced. All the kid ever talked about was playing professionally, and what was worse was he had the greatness to do so as well. He was devoted to the sport, could rattle off every score for the NBL, even the NBA and the WNBA. No one ever doubted that he would have made it, he was as good as Meyer and would have surpassed her by now if the accident didn't happen. Jo had once asked him if, given the chance, he would change his mind. Jean didn't even miss a beat in considering it, he would always jump.
"He's always been a good kid, sucks he was given the short end of the stick," Shira sighed. Jo nodded as she was joined by the pair on the ground. Shira managed to sit comfortably, positioning herself on the ground, but Takami couldn't.
"If it could happen over, I would take his place," Takami murmurred almost to herself. The otehr two nodded in agreement.
"I think we all would," Jo confirmed. Shira hummed in agreement. Takami sighed, scratching the back of her head.
"Remind me next time to get dad to pick us up. Shira, your mum is hopeless."
"She'll bring us food at least."
"Speak of your mum, how are you going to get Saka to go on a date?" Jo teased. Shira groaned, throwing herself back onto the ground as her own dare resurfaced. She glared up at the sky, probably cursing her past life for always getting her into trouble. Jo could hear her muttering something about Takami and she laughed.
"How did you get out of punishment?" Shira demanded as she looked to Jo.
"She gave me a dead leg," Jo reminded her. Shira pointed to the fading bruise that marred half her cheek.
"She ditched that brick disguised as a phone at my eye!" Shira shouted back, leaning in close to Jo as if to add emphasis. Jo shoved her away, laughing and then cutting short as she heard a car roaring into the car park. Sure enough, it was Shira's mum, twenty minutes late. Jo could see the food piled up in the front seat though, so that was a bonus.
"Hey Oba!" Jo cheered into the car as Shira opened the back door. The latter barrelled in, almost knocking her own head off on the car as she did so. Shira Arisu was sitting in the drivers seat, beaming over her shoulder to the girls. Jo climbed into the car after Shira, Takami slipping in after her.
The car smelt of gyuden and chahan, making Jo's stomach growl slightly. As soon as they had finished putting their seatbelts on Arisu was leaning across to the passenger seat, passing back large, foam lunchboxes back to the girls.
"Here you go ladies, dig in!" She cheered happily before starting the car. If one were to see Shira and Arisu together, there was little to hint they were kin. Whilst Shira is tall and lean, except in the chest area, Arisu is quite short, barely making it past five one. The girls often teased Shira that she had been adopted and she wasn't really Arisu's daughter, but there was no deny that Shira had been her fathers daughter. He was as tall as Jo and broad, a fisherman that would bring food straight to Arisu's restaurant. Shira had her mothers laugh, smile and sense of self assurance.
Jo hesitated before digging in to her food, finding herself wondering if Shira would have been any different. It seemed that the girls had no short of tragedy in their lives, and when they were ten Shira's father passed away in a boating accident. It had nothing to do with fishing, in fact that details were a little hazy for Jo and she was certain that she didn't even know the full story to begin with. She never wanted to ask Shira about it either.
"Oba, you're aware you're running late though right? Just wanted to let you know," Takami teased after swallowing a mouthful of her food. Arisu just rolled her eyes at the teen, wondering when in the seven hells did the girls grow up?