"Aren't you guys tired?" Mika sighed. It was past their curfew but the same people who went to the old building the night before were gathered in a circle inside her and Aida's room. An empty bottle was placed in their center. "I'm sure the boys are aching all over. The training regimen today was intense."
"But a sleepover's gonna have a 'spin the bottle', Mi-chan!" Momoi was pouting at her.
"This is not a sleepover, Satsuki." Aomine was sitting lazily on the floor. The rest of them sat on the cold, hard floor, too.
Momoi was bouncing lightly as she said with glee, "Friends gathering together to play and sleep together. Same concept, Dai-chan."
"Yeah. I get it." Only Aida was standing at one of the room's corners. "But why do you have to do it here?!"
"Because, apparently, our room has the least number of people, Aida-san. I'm sorry," Mika apologized on behalf of her friends. She never dreamed of having a set of friends again, but here she was daring to call these good people her friends. Maybe, it wouldn't be bad to play a little game with them. "What is the game, again?" she asked and Momoi brightened.
The beautiful girl answered, "It's 'spin the bottle.' I'm going to spin the bottle and whoever the bottle points to as it stops would answer if they would like to say a 'truth' or if they would be willing to do a 'dare.' Then, the bottle would be spun again and this time whoever the bottle points to as it stops would be the one asking the other player a question for 'truth' or order the other anything. The questions could be anything and the 'dare' could also be anything."
Wha- This was more brutal than the Kimodameshi. Why did this group like games about giving orders to someone?
Then she looked around. They were smiling at her. Mika was almost sure that this game was not only for them to fool around but to finally ask Mika and Seiji if their relationship was official.
"No more questions nor complaints?" Momoi asked.
Aida spoke again. "Wait a minute. Can I bail out? Risa-san, just call me after you're all finished." Then she went out of the room in a hurry.
Momoi pouted again. "And here I thought the more the merrier." But she regained her cheery attitude as she went and spin the bottle. "Here it goes!"
The empty bottle spun and spun. Mika could almost hear the others chant Seiji or her name. Then it stopped. At Momoi. The group chuckled and looked at the pink-haired teen. Mika knew that Momoi was fearless. Her being the first player would be interesting.
Kise was the one who asked her 'truth or dare' and she boldly chose dare.
The bottle was spun by Kise and it pointed at Murasakibara.
"Huh? Me. What a pain. I can't think of anything," the tall boy mumbled while munching his beloved maiubo.
"But you agreed to play, Atsushi," reasoned Himuro.
Murasakibara swallowed his snack and said, "Then, Satchin, kiss Kurochin."
Without missing a beat, Momoi immediately jumped at Kuroko and planted a sweet kiss on his cheek. "Tetsu-kun!" She called his name.
The pale boy had his brows furrowed and, for a moment, Kuroko and Mika's eyes met. She remembered Kuroko's confession yesterday. Was he serious? Did he really like her? But it didn't matter, because now she was dating Seiji. She should talk to him later to clear things up.
"That's unfair! That was an easy one, Murasakibaracchi." Kise was the one who spun the bottle again. "Yoshi! Now, this time it's…" The bottle spun and it stopped in front of Midorima who adjusted the glasses resting on his nose bridge. "Truth or dare, Midorimacchi?" The golden-haired boy asked.
"Truth," the bespectacled boy answered.
There was a wave of "ooh" from the group and she heard Takao laugh. Kise spun the bottle which stopped in front of Kagami. The boy scratched his nape, straightened up, and gave his question: "Who is your first love?"
The group giggled and everyone faced Midorima. "Of course," said the boy. Takao visibly stiffened. Midorima continued, "my parents."
There was a series of "ah" and "ugh" and grunts of disapproval from the crowd. Himuro was the one who voiced out, "Not that kind of love. Romantic love."
"You don't have to answer the question, Shin-chan," Takao intervened. "I'll just take a dare for him," he said to the group.
But Midorima told him, "No. Don't be an idiot, Takao. I'll just answer the question. You."
"You, who?" chimed Kise.
"Takao Kazunari, that's who," Midorima answered quickly.
Takao's laugh echoed in the room. "Look at you, Shin-chan, you're as red as a tomato."
"Shut up. You're beet red, too," said the bespectacled boy.
The group watched the two and understood that the two boys were more than friends. And they were proud of it. Mika longed to be like them, to proudly say to the world that she was Seiji's girl and he was hers. As if he was thinking of the same thing, Mika felt Seiji's hand slip to hers and held onto her tightly. In response, she lightly squeezed his hand.
Her heart was soaring when Momoi spun the bottle.
It pointed at Kuroko.
"Truth," he answered. The bottle was spun once more and stopped in front of Himuro.
The beautiful boy chuckled and said, "Since we seem to be following a theme. I'll ask if you are in love with someone now."
Like how Mika feared, Kuroko spared a quick glance at her as he said, "Yes."
Kagami wounded his arm around the pale boy and ruffled his hair. "Haha! Who are they? Spill it, Kuroko!"
The others were curious, too, but not Momoi. Mika noticed that the girl froze. She was quivering. Suddenly, the pink-haired teen stood up and hurriedly exited the room saying, "I'm sorry but I don't feel well." The wooden door closed with a thud.
Seiji's grip on her hand loosened a bit.
Kise was about to spin the bottle but Mika stopped him by saying, "I think that's enough for the night."
"Heh, Risacchi. Many haven't played yet."
"It's enough," Seiji commanded and the rest of the group obeyed. When they were leaving the room, Seiji turned to her. "Let's eat breakfast together tomorrow."
"Oh, I can't. I need to be with Seirin."
"How about lunch? I can't be with you the whole time tomorrow. There will be random matches."
"Still busy." She regretted the fact that they couldn't be together the next day. But what can she do? She was Seirin's manager and Shelter's head. "We'll be meeting for Shelter."
"I see. Can I just see you anytime I'm free?"
"That'll be great."
No one else was around them anymore. And Seiji was so close to her that his aura and his scent were driving Mika crazy. She held her breath.
What now?
They were looking into each other's eyes, but Seiji suddenly tore his gaze away from her. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said and Mika said yes. "Good night."
"Good night, Seiji." She missed him already.
+0+0+0+0+
After all the participants of the training camp finished their usual workout at the gyms, they gathered in one of the indoor courts. They were grouped randomly with five participants in a team. This meant that they would be fighting with and against athletes from different schools.
Seijuro was teamed with Moriyama from Kaijo, Wakamatsu from Too, Takeuchi from Senshinkan, and Tetsuya.
Last night's happening replayed in Seijuro's head. He was sure of it. Tetsuya pointedly looked at Mika-san after he was asked about the person he was in love with. Through his eye, he could see that Tetsuya was more than willing to make a fight. To take away Mika-san from him.
The Rakuzan captain frowned. He felt a new feeling within him he hadn't felt before.
He strode toward their assigned bench. There was a match before them and it was interesting to see Atsushi and Ryota play against each other. Atsushi's power blocked and blocked Ryota but the golden-haired boy would always attack quickly and fiercely. Although, in the end, it was Atsushi's team that won.
When his team was in the middle of the court to warm up, Mika-san appeared inside the gym with the other managers. So, she was assigned to them. He smiled and run toward the girl to help her carry the box of energy drinks she was carrying, but Tetsuya beat him to it. The boy was already smiling and getting the box from Mika-san.
That very unpleasant feeling stirred inside Seijuro again. He didn't like how Tetsuya was acting, especially around Mika-san.
Jealousy. Yes.
He knew of it. Read it from books and watched it on tv. But he was never warned that it would be this distressing.
And the terrible feeling wasn't alone. Fear, too, crept inside him and clutched his heart. He feared that the pale boy would successfully steal the girl from him. Hadn't he been his fearless, sure self before? But the longer he looked at the two, the more his confidence dwindled. For the first time in his life, Seijuro felt puny. He forced his legs to walk closer to the two and he said a nervous "hi" to Mika-san, wanting desperately for Mika-san to look only at him.
And she did. "Seiji!" The girl exclaimed, genuinely happy to see him. "We're assigned to the same team. Would you like some water?" she offered.
"No. I'm not thirsty but thank you." Making sure he had her full attention, he spoke to her as they walked toward the bench and until the coach finally blew his whistle to signify the start of the practice game.
Seijuro's team, including Tetsuya, lined up in front of their opponents. From the corner of his eye, he was watching the pale boy.
Tip-off.
Seijuro's team got the ball. The Rakuzan captain dribbled and looked around to see who was free. Tetsuya was. But he ran and passed the ball to Wakamatsu instead. The game continued with Seijuro ignoring Tetsuya and Tetsuya ignoring him.
"What the hell is this?!" Their assigned coach was furious. He had his hands on his hips and fire in his eyes. The team was losing. "This is the poorest team play I have ever seen in my whole life. Akashi! Kuroko! I don't care if something is going on between the two of you but you better not drag down the rest of your team!" The coach proceeded on telling them their game plan.
But Seijuro couldn't concentrate. It was like Tetsuya had become a tough wall between him and Mika-san. Should he just talk to the boy and tell him to back off? Tell him to get away from Mika-san?
"Akashi-kun." Tetsuya was standing in front of him, looking straight into his eyes and challenging him. "The match isn't over yet."
Seijuro's eyes widened. He was sure that the others thought the pale boy was talking about the basketball game, but he knew that he wasn't pertaining to that. Damn his fears and insecurities. Seijuro stood up and walked closer to Tetsuya. How dare he get in his way. The Rakuzan captain was ready to retort and, if needed, strike him physically. With his weak physique, Tetsuya would not be able to counter his attacks. He'd aim at his head then at his stomach- Seijuro flinched as a bottle of cold water touched his cheek.
"What are you doing Seiji? Shouldn't you be winning the game? I'm cheering on you, you know." It was Mika-san, behind him and smiling her kind smile. "I'm with you."
Ah, he remembered.
She was with him.
It was he who was officially dating Mika-san. Who caught her eyes and promised to always be with.
Mika-san had chosen him.
In an instant, Seijuro calmed down. He saw Tetsuya walk away.
Funny how the girl could make him feel this way. There it was again, the feeling of color bursting whenever she was near-especially the color of love. Rouge. His world was doused in rouge. With strong feelings binding the two of them, he was sure they would be alright. Yes. He should trust the girl more. And although he was still feeling jealous, he tampered it down and convinced himself he shouldn't just strike anyone. She wanted him to win and that he would do. Should do.
"Hey! Manager! Don't interrupt our discussion!" The coach scolded Mika-san.
"Sorry, coach! I'll go now." Before she was gone, she looked once more to Seijuro and mouthed, "good luck."
The game proceeded.
Moriyama first scored. Mika-san cheered from her seat. Then, Seijuro got the ball again. He saw that Tetsuya was free and passed the ball to him. The boy expertly passed it to Takeuchi. They scored another three.
Mika-san was already jumping with the other managers. The crowd was cheering. Seijuro smiled and told his team they'd take another point.