"Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, last time you two spoke with one another..." Saka trailed over as she hugged her stomach. Meyer was walking beside her, head held high as her eyes narrowed in on the gym doors. When she had received a call asking to meet with Meyer at Rakuzan, she was not expecting to actually go into the school grounds to speak with the current captain of the basketball team. Never the less, there wasn't much she could do but go along with Meyer. Saka was doubtful whether Akashi would actually speak with Meyer, considering the last time they had both traded barbs verbally until it escalated.
"Why do you think I asked you to come with me?" Meyer grinned, eyeing Saka up out the corner of her eye. Saka's face grew rosy as she rubbed her cheeks, stealing a glance up to the gym. She was genuinely terrified of Akashi Seijuro, the one time she had met him he made her break out into tears and, well, that's when the insults between the two captains had begun. And yet here she was walking beside Meyer, about to meet the demon that almost was killed by her team if they had been allowed, in an attempt to convince him to play the team. Saka had her doubts but figured Meyer had something up her sleeve. "Just don't say anything stupid."
"You think I'm going to say something to begin with?" Saka coughed and Meyer laughed, shaking her head. They reached the doors to the gym and Meyer gave it a hard push, both girls walking in. Saka spotted him immediately, the red hair standing out to her and instinctively she stepped behind Meyer, wanting to shield herself in a way. Which was a little pointless considering her friend was at least ten centimetres shorter than she was. Akashi glanced over to them and Saka was thankful his gaze focused more on Meyer than herself.
"I do not believe you have a right to be in this gym," Akashi called as he walked towards them. Saka squeaked, wanting to hide behind Meyer even more when most of the gazes from his fellow players focused on the pair of them. The coach looked even more unimpressed, but with a quick glance from Akashi, allowed his captain to handle the sudden interruption.
"Always so pleasant. Did your father really raise you to be so rude, Seijuro?" Meyer questioned, leaning back slightly and watching as Akashi's lip twitched as she used his first name. Saka wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole, why couldn't Meyer just be polite so they could get in and out without much hassle? Akashi looked like he wanted to demand Meyer to leave the gym right at that moment, however there was something that was stopping him from doing so.
"I forget how enjoyable your visits are, Victoria-San."
"Almost as enjoyable as standing within a five metre space of you. Come on, I want to speak with you alone."
"I am in the middle of training. Return later when I am no longer preocuppied," Akashi snapped, turning on his heel and ready to walk off. Meyer's hand snaked out, gripping the top of his arm roughly and yanking him back. Akashi didn't stumble, he managed to make his suddenly thrown balance look graceful. Saka squeaked and she glanced to his team mates and coach, who were all staring at Meyer with wide eyes, as though they couldn't believe she just did such a thing. Saka herself couldn't completely believe it. By the absolute glare on Akashi's features, neither could.
"You're coming with me, Red Emporer." Meyer spat the word as it fouled her tongue. Akashi straightened himself up and turned to face Meyer, about to rip into her when she turned and made for the gyms door. Akashi didn't move from his spot, just glared at her from where he was standing until her hand fell onto the handle and she glanced over her shoulder, glowering in Akashi's direction. "I. Will. Not. Ask. Again."
Saka wanted to die. She wanted to curl up into a ball and hide under the bleaches. She wanted to be cuddled and snuggled deep in her blanket in her bed. Saka wanted to be as far away from Akashi Seijuro as she could manage, especially considering he was practically glowing with anger. She shrunk against the wall when he stormed passed her, his eyes focused so hard on Meyer, Saka was surprised she didn't spontaneously combust. She watched as Meyer stepped out of the gym, forcing Akashi to follow her if he wanted to kill her, and she glanced to his team mates. They were standing there with their mouths hanging open as they stared at the door. What in the hell was Meyer thinking?
"I should make you pay for speaking to me in such a manner."
"Yeah, because that worked so well for you last time didn't it?" Meyer laughed and Akashi let out an even breath, eyeing her up and down. She had changed a lot since their last meeting. She wasn't much taller but she looked older, like the world had taken a great joy from her without promising of returning it. There wasn't much of the girl who had sworn and spat at him when he had insulted her and her team.
"Speak quickly, Victoria-San, I am too busy for your troubles."
"Such a gentleman. Oh, but I want to bask in this for a little bit if you don't mind," Meyer threw her arms out slightly as she walked around Akashi. She let out another dark chuckle, causing Akashi to frown. What was she speaking about, what was it she wanted to bask in? "Oh this is sweet, better than my birthday. You don't know yet."
"What is it I don't know?"
"No, no, no give me a minute this is beautiful. You really have lost them completely haven't you?" Akashi glared at Meyer, already knowing whom she was speaking of. Meyer had come to meet with him at Teiko, requesting a match between the Generation of Miracles and the Queens of the Court. Although the picture she painted for him was, in her mind, spectacular, Akashi had refused to proposition to allow the match to go through on the basis he did not view the girls as adequate adversaries.
"You have organised matches with Touou, Yosen, Shutoku and Kaijo?"
"And Seirin, we can't forget Seirin. You might have doubts about Kuroko but don't think he shouldn't be classified as one of you," Meyer smiled as she leant against the wall. Her eyes had not shifted from Akashi the whole conversation and it irritated him that she was going out of her way to attempt and make him uncomfortable. What she was trying to accomplish was pointless, she was so far beneath him that she couldn't even make a mark on the sole of his shoe.
"It will not matter, you will be defeated."
"And why is that? Because you say so?"
"My rule is absolute."
"Right, I forgot the whole, 'I never lose, therefore I am always right' mentality you have going on," Meyer spat as she circled him again. He felt her hands on his shoulders as she stretched up, leaning in as close to his ear as possible and he could feel the snide curl of her lip growing on her face. "Only you forget that would mean I'm always right too."
"You're ridiculous..."
"And you live in the shadow of your former glory. Well, soon enough anyway."
"You believe there is another on par with my skills?"
"I've placed my bet that the winter cup will be taken by Seirin. Rakuzan will fall, you will fall and I want to be standing in that venue to see your face when it happens," Meyer grinned but she threw her hands up in the air, mocking surprise on her face at Akashi's growing irritability. She shot him a snide grin before resting against the wall again, eyeing him up carefully.
"Seirin is nothing more than a stain in my way to victory and I will wash them away when the time is necessary."
"I will say this once because I never want to consider it again. You and I are alike Akashi. We both win and victory has always just been handed to us. We continue to train even though we know we are at the highest peak of our physicality. The players of Seirin are different. Even Midorima has changed, Kise too. Defeat is an ugly circumstance."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"They don't want it ever again. Their determination to win is stronger because they don't have something lingering over them, they don't have a tag of undefeated attached to their ankles ready to drag them down. We both know that losing is not a option for us, but always a possibility, and yet because we have not tasted it we don't know the fear to drive us for victory. We reach for it, because it has always been there, but Seirin will claw and bite and scratch and snarl and destroy themselves to get a lick of what we have every match." As she spoke, Meyer watched Akashi carefully. He seemed completely unphased by what she was saying and in all honesty she didn't mind it that much. She was working towards a bigger goal than just making him unnerved about the possibility of facing Seiring, or even Kiajo or Shutoku. Touou was already a lost hope in her own mind.
"You speak as though you have already fallen."
"Don't say stupid things Akashi, it is unbecoming for your family name."
"Do not speak to me in that manner, know your place."
"Only if you learn yours!" Meyer roared, stepping forward until she was only millimetres away from him, her face so close it made him want to step back. He narrowed his eyes when she glared directly into them. "Don't come preaching to me about all your victories in middle school. You are yet to be on par with me or my team."
"You insult me."
"And you revolt me."
"If you are here to convince me to play against you after..."
"That would require you to have a functioning team after the winter cup," Meyer smirked, stepping back and creating a foot of space between them. Akashi narrowed his eyes, he has not trusted Meyer since she back handed him two years earlier. She irritated him because she managed to do such a thing. Instead now Meyer opened the door to the gym lightly, peeking in before shutting it again and eyeing Akashi up. "You have a habit of using up your friends until they are no longer useful to you before throwing them away. I can't imagine your team will be whole by the end of the games."
"You speak so highly of a team when you are not so certain yourself."
"The matters of my team are my own, Seijuro. I am simply trying to enlighten you and perhaps convince to not use your team mates as you always have. There are more benefits to people than their use," Meyer snarled before shouldering the door to the gym open. She stormed inside, leaving Akashi standing outside, a little surprised at her sudden exit.
Meyer moved quickly, storming over to where Saka was standing with rather red cheeks as one of Rakuzan was attempting to talk to her. Meyer's presence in the gym seemed to make them step back, especially when she gripped her underclassman's arm and yanked her roughly along behind her. By the time they reached the doors on the opposite side of the gym, Akashi had thrown the doors open in his side. Saka let out a squeak as Meyer shouldered the door open, both of them slipping out before they scampered around the building, making for the exit.
"W-w-w-what d-d-did y-y-you s-s-say?" Saka snapped, her voice shaking with worry and Meyer looked over her shoulder, grinning slightly as they headed for the gates to leave Rakuzan.
"Something that will make him want to prove his superiority."