"Say, Sei-chan," Reo started. Akashi turned towards the tall black haired male. They were now in the hot springs, relaxing after a long day of training. "What do you think about the Himura girls?"
The rest of the Rakuzan regulars turned towards the redhead, awaiting his answer. They all wanted to know what he feels towards the girls, specifically, one girl.
"They are very refined," Akashi answered. "As expected from young ladies raised in prestigious families." Reo smacked his face. Akashi gave him a weird look.
"Then, is there a girl you're particularly interested in?" Hayama asked, his little tiger teeth showing, anticipation in his eyes. Akashi raised a brow, confused by the question.
"Aihara Megumi, I guess. She seems like a very responsible person, even more like a captain than the actual Himura captain," Akashi stated honestly.
"That's not what I meant," Hayama muttered in defeat. Reo sighed at their inability to get anything out from Akashi. "Then, Akashi, you seem really close with Setsuna-chan!"
"Setsuna...chan?" Akashi asked.
"W-Well, Reo started calling her that, and she seems really nice, so we just decided to call her by her first name. We didn't ask," Hayama said with a little blush on his face from embarrassment.
"She's the daughter of a business rival. We met when we were in middle school," Akashi explained. "I'm not particularly close to her."
"But today during dinner you-" Reo started.
"I said, I'm not particularly close to her," Akashi asserted, giving Reo a side glance. "Is that clear?"
"Y-Yes," Reo sighed in nervousness.
＼(*T▽T*)／
"He's arrogant, imperious, haughty, snobbish, contemptuous, and cavalier," Setsuna said with a nod.
"Aren't you just listing synonyms of arrogant?" Natsuki muttered with an annoyed twitching eyebrow. All the other regulars shook their head in disappointment.
"What else besides that?" Rin pleaded.
"Well, he's overly competitive, ambitious, and aggressive."
"We get it, stop saying the same thing over and over again using synonyms!" Megumi yelled impatiently. Setsuna apologized with a cheeky grin on her face.
"What else?" Kaori asked.
"He can be an annoying show off too," Setsuna said. "I mean, I'm a genius and I don't go around spouting all my wonderful knowledge out to everyone."
"Where did your modesty go...." Megumi wondered innerly. The girls stared at their captain, but only saw confusion in her eyes. They sighed. Could it be, Setsuna feels nothing at all towards the redhead captain of Rakuzan?
"I have to admit, some of those Rakuzan dudes were pretty hot," Yumi said as she leaned back on the edge of the hot spring.
"I know right, that Hayama guy, he's pretty cute!" Rin fangirled. "I love his fangs!"
"Dude, I actually think Captain Akashi is pretty hot too," Natsuki sighed. All the girls turned to the tomboy in shock. "Too bad he's too short for my taste!"
"Now that you mention it...." Kaori muttered.
"He is quite a looker!" Yumi finished. Suddenly, Tsukihiro got up from where she was sitting.
"Where are you going Tsukki?" Setsuna asked. Tsukihiro was making her way out of the bath.
"Back to the room," the quiet girl replied before exiting the shoji paper door. The rest of the Himura girls exchanged glances, then shrugged. Tsukihiro has always been like that. She never talked much, and always seem to be in her own little world. She enjoyed being with her friends, and always listened intently when they talk, but she never seems to join in on the conversation. Her friends know she's there, and sometimes try to add her into the conversation, but Tsukihiro always responds quick and short, as if not wanting to be a part of the conversation.
Tsukihiro always gets uncomfortable when the topic about guys come up. No one knows why. They all think it's strange, but none of them dared to ask her.
"That tall guy, Mibuchi Reo right? He's such a flirt!" Kaori laughed.
"I think he'd make a great match for Megumi. He's so tall. It's perfect!" Rin smiled with her hands clasped together.
"No thanks, I'm not ready to date yet," Megumi raised one palm, indicating a back off. Setsuna chuckled.
"Come on Megumi, you gotta have some guy in mind," Setsuna teased. Megumi blushed. "So there is a guy!"
"Who is it?!" Rin demanded.
"Spill the beans!" Natsuki added. The vice captain's face only got redder.
"H-He used to come to my house a lot," she said. "When I was a kid...."
"Smells fishy," Yumi said with a smirk.
"He's in college right now..... He's the son of my dad's college classmate," Megumi explained.
"So he's a childhood crush," Setsuna summed up. "Interesting. Introduce him to us next time. We'll interrogate him for you."
"With a frying pan," Natsuki added.
"Yes!" Kaori cheered. "Interrogation!"
"Okay, next! Rin, who do you like?" Yumi asked.
"Shouldn't this be saved for before bedtime?" Rin asked.
"But Tsukki will get uncomfortable. So let's do it here!" Yumi complained. Rin rolled her eyes.
"No, not a crush. But I've got eye candies!" Rin smirked.
"Ooh! Who?" Kaori asked.
"Hehe, Kain Heisenburg, Yukihara Shouto, Samezuki Yuuki, and Ootsuki Kai!" Rin announced proudly.
"They're all celebrities," Natsuki realized with a sweat dripping from the back of her head. "Do they even count?"
"Of course! We all know that celebrities are pretty reachable for people like us," Rin replied.
"That's very true," Megumi spoke. "With our social standing, dating celebrities won't be a surprise." The other girls nodded.
"Yumi?" Setsuna turned to the black haired point guard.
"I have a fiance," Yumi spoke casually. Dun! Dun! Dun! A boulder with shock labeled on it suddenly fell from the sky and smacked all the girls in the head.
"Yumi has a fiance?!" Rin gasped.
"But she's so flirty!" Kaori added.
"Does he even know about this?" Natsuki demanded.
"I feel bad for him," Setsuna commented.
"HEY!" Yumi shouted with a blush of anger on her face. She pouted, "He's just the son of a business partner! It's not like I wanted to marry him in the first place! Plus, he should feel honored to have a fiance like me!"
"Have you even met him?" Natsuki asked.
"Of course I have! We played with each other when we were in kindergarten!" Yumi declared.
"Maybe he's turned into a fat pig by now," Setsuna said.
"NOOO!!!! I don't want to imagine!" Yumi screamed. "Hell no! I'm not marrying a pig!"
"Hahahaha! He might be crippled too!" Natsuki added. Yumi screamed even more, freaking out about her fiance, only to earn more laughter from her teammates.
＼(*T▽T*)／
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!!!
"GET UP SCUMBAGS! GET UP!" Coach Tokugawa's voice resonated throughout the room along with the gong sound. The girls crawled out of their bed sleepily.
"Where's Setsuna?" Megumi yawned.
"Oh her? She's on an errand," the coach said.
"Errand?" Rin questioned as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "What errand?"
"WAKE UUUUPPPPP! GET YOUR ASSES UP RIGHT NOW YOU MAGGOTS!" a loud voice echoed from down the hall so loud that even the girls need to plug their ears. Someone was definitely using the bullhorn, and they all know who it is. Hakuya Setsuna....demon mode.
Akashi grumbled as he turned his body and sat up. That voice..... The redhead opened his eyes to find a silhouette hovering over him. That person....or was it.....had a duck mouth. "GET UP!!!!" the voice shouted. Akashi plugged his ears. He winced from the sound, then opened to see that the silhouette that had a duck mouth was none other than Setsuna, and she was holding a bullhorn.
The white haired girl kicked one of the guys that didn't get up hard with her feet, causing him to roll far away and crashing onto another guy. Poor kid, Akashi thought. "What is the meaning of this?" Mayuzumi Chihiro asked, but no one paid him attention because he was practically invisible.
"Glad you asked, boy," Setsuna noticed him, and addressed his question through the bullhorn, piercing everyone's ears. "You shall follow the Himura training menu today. And the first thing on our menu is a one hour morning jog! NOW GET DRESSED AND GET YOUR ASSES OUT THERE IN FIVE MINUTES! If I don't see everyone by 5 at the front door, I'll strip you naked and make you do laps around the entire town!"
With that, all the guys hustled. Akashi turned to look at the coach, who was at the door. He looked indifferent as to Setsuna being in the guy's room. Akashi sighed. He knew this was going to happen.
＼(*T▽T*)／
"Hey you! You in the white t-shirt! Hurry the fuck up! You call that running? If you don't catch up with the crew in 5 seconds I'll strip you naked!" Setsuna shouted at the boy in the back. There were so many boys in white t-shirt, they don't even know who she was talking to though.
Akashi had to admit, this morning jog was truly tough, especially in the morning. He could hear stomachs growling not just from guys, but also girls. The rumbling sound was really bothering him, but he didn't show it on his face. Beside him, Mayuzumi was really suffering. Like Kuroko, Mayuzumi wasn't really athletic, and has a hard time keeping up with others. A one hour jog is surely killing him.
Women naturally have more stamina than men when it came to long run. At first, the Rakuzan boys were ahead of the girls, but after about 10 minutes, the girls started to take the lead. Right now, it's been around 40 minutes, and they're already on their way back. Akashi could see that the guys are truly falling behind the girls with a wide gap. It looks like he really needs to work on the guys stamina.
"Yo maggots! Hurry it up!" Setsuna yelled through her bullhorn. It was amazing how she was jogging backwards and yelling at the same time, as if this were nothing.
After they came back, the boys were all on the ground, gasping for air, whereas the girls were stretching their limbs and walking into the building, getting ready for breakfast. "Damn, those girls.....really are something," Reo said between gasps.
"We underestimated them," Hayama agreed. "Damn....I have a bad feeling already...."
＼(*T▽T*)／
Reo spat out the salt water that flew in his mouth. The one thing about training in the ocean that he did not like was the constantly splashing salt water. The entire group, both boys and girls were now in pairs. They were to run through the knee height water and pass the ball. No dribbling, no traveling. While one partner had the ball, the other partner was to run five feet away from them, and they pass the ball and run five feet from their partner who now has the ball, and repeat. It was simple, but very difficult at the same time.
Running through the water was very tiresome and inefficient. The water hinders traveling because of the compacted water molecules, and it now takes longer time to run away from the partner. Each time, a person has to run at least 10 feet after passing the ball, which takes much longer than running on pavement, especially with the water at knee level.
After about half an hour of that, the Himura manager passed out all the towels and water bottles, allowing the athletes for a short break. "I'm so tired," Hayama gasped.
"Did you plan this training menu?" Akashi asked Setsuna as he wiped his sweat.
"I....guess?" Setsuna replied.
"She never plans," Megumi stated. Akashi raised a brow in confusion.
"She always comes up with it last minute. I bet she still doesn't know what we're doing next!" Natsuki explained with a grin as she placed her elbow on Setsuna's shoulder, resting. "Gosh Setsu-chan, you make such a good elbow rest!"
"I'm sorry for being short!" Setsuna whined and then pouted. "I was aiming for 170 cm...."
"That's like....12 cm more to grow," Natsuki told her.
"TEN! I grew two centimeters the last six months!" Setsuna corrected.
"I doubt she'll grow any more than that though," Rin sang as she walked past the group, a mischievous grin on her face, obviously enjoying toying with the captain.
"SHUT UP!" Setsuna shouted.
＼(*T▽T*)／
Next training task was.....digging?
Setsuna told all the guys and girls to dig their own separate ditch and lead the sea water into it. Everyone got their on small shovel, and started digging. The requirement was for the ditch to be at least one meter deep. By the time everyone finished, their arms were sour and their backs hurt. Akashi realized that Setsuna was making everyone do extraneous tasks to build up their muscles.
Afterwards, Akashi found himself running in the mountains, playing capture the flag. Running through the rugged terrain helps build up the leg muscles and cardiovascular endurance. It was a very fitting training. It's amazing that Setsuna just came up with it last minute. It seems like something she gave a lot of thought to.
Suddenly, as Akashi was running through the woods, trying to find the enemy flag, he heard a scream. He ran over to where the voice came from, and it was a girl from the enemy team. She was sitting on the ground, clutching her ankle. Akashi knelt down. She sprained it. It was now swelling up. "Can you stand?" he asked gently. Tears were welling in her eyes as she shook her head.
"Kaya-senpai!" Setsuna gasped as she appeared out of nowhere. Akashi made room for her. The two were assigned on the same team out of coincidence. The way the teams were assigned was simple. They grab a jersey from the mystery box randomly. If they get red, they're on red team. If they get blue, they're on blue team. Setsuna and Akashi were both on red team, and this girl named Kaya is on the blue team. "What a horrible sprain," Setsuna gasped. She then turned around and carried Kaya on her back. "I'm taking her back. Akashi, you can return to the game."
"I'll carry her instead," Akashi offered. Setsuna shook her head.
"Just focus on the game Akashi. You haven't won yet. Didn't you say you never lose?" Setsuna asked. Akashi froze. She was right. If he left now, there's a chance that the other team will win. They have Nebuya and Hayama after all. Although he felt the need to take care of the girl, he also refused to lose. As he was hesitating, Setsuna already made her way past him and was heading down the mountain.
"Setsuna," he called after her. Setsuna froze. He called her by her first name. It sounds so strange.... "Be careful."
"Don't worry about me. You should be more concerned about yourself," Setsuna replied. She turned her body sideways to face him just a little bit. A small smirk curled on her lips, then it disappeared as she descended the mountain.
After the game ended, with red team winning, obviously, the boys and girls all made their way back to the inn. Some were surprised to find Kaya and Setsuna there, some saw them in the mountains when the two were coming down. "Sorry to cause you so much trouble, Setsuna-chan. I must have been heavy," Kaya apologized.
"Nah, you were light as a feather!" Setsuna replied with a gentle smile.
"Dude, you did pretty well for carrying her down the mountain. From where you were, it must've took you twenty minutes to get down!" Natsuki praised. Akashi's eyes widened. Why didn't he realize it sooner. With a girl on her back, it would definitely take Setsuna at least twenty minutes to get down the mountain. Assuming Kaya weighs at least 45 kg, Setsuna should have lasted for only about ten minutes at most. Yet, she carried Kaya down all the way without stopping. Akashi remembered how Setsuna gave up halfway through the push up session yesterday. Was that really her going all out? Or was she just being lazy? At this point, Akashi doesn't even know what to think about her.
＼(*T▽T*)／
After dinner, Setsuna was sitting on the deck outside the bedrooms, staring at the rock garden. She held a basketball in her hands, and looked really deep in thought. "Something bothering you?" Akashi asked as he took a seat next to her, startling the young girl.
"Oh my god!" Setsuna gasped. "When did you get here? You're scarier than Tetsuya!" Akashi's eyes widened at her comparison, then chuckled.
"So even you get startled by Tetsuya," he laughed gently.
"Rarely, but it happens," Setsuna explained. "It's usually when I'm spacing out though."
"Like just now?"
"Yeah...."
"What were you thinking about?"
"Life."
"That's very specific."
"I pride myself in my specificity."
"Were you thinking about the Hakuya Corps?" Setsuna's eyes widened at Akashi's words.
"How'd you guess?"
"It seemed quite obvious."
"Haha...was it? I always thought I was good at hiding my thoughts."
"Why would you hide it?" Akashi asked, curious.
"My uncle told me that being unpredictable is the key to being victorious. He told me to never show others my inner thoughts," she answered.
"So you always act like you're clueless, and never plans ahead, so other people won't guess what's on your mind," Akashi stated. The white haired girl nodded. She spun the basketball on her finger, just like how Kuroko does.
"Coding and programming is all about rules and patterns. Basketball is about strategy and predictions. If you show the opponent your next move, they'll easily stop it. I like basketball, because everything is so unpredictable. I never know what my opponent might do next, even if I study them beforehand. No one knows 100% what the outcome will be. I like that kind of suspense, the tension of not knowing," Setsuna said. "And I want my opponents to feel it too. I want to be like a tornado; destructive and unpredictable."
"Is that so..." Akashi muttered. "Setsuna is...weird."
"Akashi too."
"Hmm."
Setsuna laid down on her back, staring at the ceiling. A gentle sigh escaped her lips. Akashi faced the garden, where she was previously staring at. It was indeed calming. "Akashi?"
"What is it?" Akashi asked, his voice softening. How strange; they're not fighting today.
"Are you really just one person?" she asked. His eyes widened. "I mean, sometimes you're so nice and polite...other times you're like a whole different person. I don't know how to describe it. But the vibe is different. But I can't pinpoint how."
Akashi looked down at her. He leaned down, placing his face right in front of hers, so close that she could feel his faint breathing. "Then...what am I right now?" he asked with the softest voice he's ever managed. He was sure that other than Setsuna, no one could hear him.
"Very un-Akashi," Setsuna answered bluntly, clearly not bothered by his presence. Akashi's eyes widened with shock and confusion. He didn't expect this kind of reply. He sat up, and so did Setsuna. "When I first met you, I hated you. You ruined everything. You made Shige hate basketball. You threw Tetsuya into depression. I really....hated you."
Akashi turned his eyes away. He didn't regret doing what he has done, but somehow, there was a tight feeling at his chest. It felt almost like....guilt.
"But now, I've seen a different side of you. I didn't know you were such a good leader. In fact, you're much suited as a captain than I am. We're both first year captains, yet you're doing so much better than me... You were also very caring. You gave me your jacket when I fell asleep, offered to carry Kaya-senpai when she was injured. You even helped out Shiori when everyone else was leaving the gym. Akashi..." Setsuna turned to him, and he averted his gaze from the garden back at her. His crimson and golden orbs met her sky blue ones. Setsuna's lips curled into a soft smile. "You're actually very kind."
Akashi felt a sudden rush of heat on his face. What's happening? Why did it suddenly get so hot. It's hard to breathe. He could feel his heart pounding in a strange rhythm. Something wasn't normal. Was Setsuna the one that's doing this to him?