Looking for a Miracle
Chapter Ten
Silver Linings

A week or so passed. Aomine and I continued to head down to the third string gym after practice, where we'd meet up with Kuroko. I'd practice on my own (I started bringing shorts to school and wore them under my skirt when I played), while the other two played one-on-one. Sometimes I'd join in. Aomine was an amazing player, just as skilled as Sei, and helped me improve my game even more.

Kuroko was fun to hang around with, too. Since we'd discovered that we both had a passion for reading, when he was too tired and needed a break from playing we'd often get into a discussion about our favourite books. We had different tastes in authors, but it was still fun to talk to someone who appreciated and loved books as much as you did. I had only been able to talk like that with Sei before.

That was something Aomine didn't have, unfortunately. I couldn't talk about my favourite book or my favourite author with him. It was times like that when I started to miss Sei's company, where we could get deep in discussion about any book, even if it wasn't one the other hadn't read yet. I only had to describe a book and Sei could come up with some good points about the plot and particular characters.

I also found that I ran into Kuroko more often at school. I probably just hadn't noticed him before due to his weak presence, which got him so easily lost in the crowd. I still wasn't able to find him easily, but he could find me. More than a few times he'd approach me in the corridors and we'd have a quick conversation.

It wasn't like I was neglecting my other friends, either. When we all finished practice we'd often go out and grab something to eat. If I had to leave early, I'd likely

I smiled. Though I still wanted to play on a basketball team, I was glad I had taken up this manager position. It had let me become close to all these people I now considered to be my closest friends. 

I smiled, thinking this over as I took a delivery from the gym into the school. There was a silver lining to everything, wasn't there?

"Hey, Akane!" a voice called.

I turned around and smiled to see Miki, one of the other managers on the team, approach me. "What's up?" I asked brightly. The two of us didn't talk too often and were in different classes, but we still got along.

"You're friends with Akashi-sama, aren't you?" she asked.

I nodded. "I've known him since childhood. Wait, sama?" My eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Since when had Sei been referred to as sama before?

Miki nodded vigorously, as though this was common. "He's vice captain, and only in his first year!" she exclaimed. "Plus his family is loaded! Then again, you know this don't you, Akane, being childhood friends with him? What's he like?"

She rambled on, a bright smile on her face. I bit my lip, a little uncomfortable. 

I couldn't explain why, but suddenly I felt really defensive and protective of Sei. He most certainly didn't need it; he could handle any situation with ease. But he wasn't around to defend himself this time. I also didn't agree with the title of sama - he might be vice captain and highly respected at the school, but he was still just Sei, a first year like she and I were. He was still my best friend, and besides, no one knew Sei like I did. There was so much Sei didn't let on at school.

"Sei's great," I said with a shrug, trying to come off as nonchalant as possible. "He's everything you've seen in practice. Courteous, polite, and he has good leadership skills. I'm sorry, but there's not much else I tell you other than what you've seen in practice." I adjusted my grip on the load I was carrying. "If you excuse me, I need to deliver these, so I just be going -"

Shooting one last smile Miki's way, I made my way past her and headed for the school.

I had made this journey many times before, so it was second nature to me to walk this path. I quickly dropped the load off where I needed to and, with a skip in my step, made my way back to the gym.

As I made my way back, I thought back to later tonight. Aomine and I would meet up with Kuroko again today. Third string and second string had placement tests today. I hoped that Kuroko would be able to progress. He worked so hard, and definitely deserved it. 

I was so lost in my thoughts, that I didn't notice that someone was walking around the corner I was approaching until I collided with them. 

"Oops! I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed, heat rushing to my cheeks. I looked up to see who I had bumped into and froze. "Oh. Hello, Haizaki-kun."

He smiled. "Akane."

I licked my lips. There was nothing particularly unpleasant about the smile, but I did notice it didn't truly reach his eyes. I hadn't had much to do with Haizaki, but he wasn't exactly someone I felt comfortable around. A few rumours I'd heard about his behaviour didn't make me any more at ease.

Wanting to leave now and avoid a possible future predicament I said hastily, "Excuse me, I need to get back to the gym, Sei's waiting for me -"

"What for?" he asked, abruptly cutting off my sentence. 

"I need to talk to him and Nijimura about arrangements for the next practice match."

"Is that so?" he hummed.

I nodded. "It is," I said, as firmly and pointedly as possible. "Now excuse me-" I started to walk off.

"Is there a problem here, Haizaki, Akane?" a deathly quiet voice asked.

I almost cried out his name in relief, but refrained from doing so. Instead, I beamed at Sei, who had just appeared behind Haizaki. I could feel my shoulders suddenly drop as I relieved them of any tension.

"Not at all, Akashi, not at all," Haizaki said, spreading his arms. It irked me how calm he sounded.

Sei continued to stare evenly at the other boy. "I believe they're missing you at practice," he said pointedly. But beneath his smooth, pleasant words, I could tell that it was a direct order and a warning. His noticed the temporary cold, hard look to his eyes. Oh please, not again, and not over me!

"Okay, okay," Haizaki grumbled. He made his way back to the gym.

Once the ash-haired boy was gone, Sei turned to me, his red eyes narrowed in concern and lost of any previous hint of coldness. "Akane? Are you alright?

"I'm fine," I laughed, trying to appear calm about the whole ordeal. "Really, Sei. I could've handled that easily. I was just walking away from that when you came, wasn't I?"

He still wasn't convinced. "Are you sure?"

I rolled my eyes. "Jeez, Sei. Only a few words were exchanged. I'm fine."

Sei didn't respond for a moment, probably trying to detect if I was holding anything back and putting on a brave face. But then he nodded, the corners of his mouth twitching up slightly. "Good."

"I just wish he'd be kicked off the team," I grumbled, kicking out at the ground. "He's more trouble than he's worth. He hardly ever comes to practice, anyway."

"Unfortunately so," he said with a sigh. "Midorima and I needed to go to the staff room to discuss some things with the teachers. You can come with us, if you'd like."

I smiled. "Sure." A few extra minutes away from the gym would be nice. Besides, any time I got to spend with Sei was good enough for me.

I stuck close by his side as we made our way back to the gym. We made small talk, not saying too much, but it still made me smile. Sei always seemed to know just what I needed. He was the person I could trust above everyone, and I felt safer with him than I did with anyone else.

I waved when I spotted Midorima ahead of us. "Hey, Midorima!" I called.

He nodded at us. "Akane, Akashi," he greeted, falling into step with us.

We walked around the corner, and saw Momoi, along with Miki and another one of our managers, Atsuko. Miki and Atsuko were laughing about something, both of them carrying numerous towels to be delivered. As she laughed, Miki lost her hold on the towels and they started to fall to the ground.

"Whoa." Sei reached out and steadied for load for her, preventing it from falling to the ground. "Do be careful." He sent a smile Miki's way. "Thank you for everything. I appreciate his you support our team daily. Let's go Akane, Midorima."

I caught sight of the looks on Miki and Atsuko's faces and smiled. And there it is, another example of how Sei came to be so popular with everyone. I chuckled lightly, then realised I'd fallen a little behind the other two. After waving at my fellow managers, I dashed after my friends.

"I see you're often deep in thought lately, Akashi," Midorima said, when I caught up.

I'd noticed it too, and had brought it up with Sei a few days ago, and he'd told me that he'd had a lot more things to think about now he was vice captain. It was reasonable, I guess. Having any sort of responsibility like that would've been hard to deal with, especially when that responsibility was to guide the team to certain victory.

"Oh, I guess so."

"Is it about the Nationals the other day?"

Sei nodded. "We did win, but there were a few scares. Thinking one or two years ahead, we can't say things are concrete."

"But you all have so much potential," I pointed out. Sei, Midorima, Aomine, Murasakibara and Haizaki were still only in their first year. Thinking about how good they were now and the years ahead, where they'd only develop and grow stronger, I couldn't see any cause for concern. "Surely it would be enough for you all to grow your skills?"

"Potential-wise, we have no issue at present," Sei said. "But everything is too straightforward. What I want is a curveball... For instance, a valued sixth man who can change the game's momentum. A player of that nature..." He trailed off.

"Where are you going to find them?" Midorima asked, sounding slightly skeptical. "Will it be someone from the first or second string?"

"I haven't found anyone yet," Sei responded. "But there's still time."

I frowned as we walked, slipping into thought. To be honest I thought they team was fine, but if Sei thought we needed someone else on the team... maybe he was seeing something everyone else was missing.

Question was, who would fit Sei's vision about the team's sixth man?

*          *          *

When practice officially finished for the night, I excused myself and made a dash for the third string gym. 

Ever since the third years had left, people had been pulled up from the second string to make up the numbers. As a result, the gym had only become more crowded, encouraging Aomine to keep using the third string gym to practice. Plus, that was the only place where we could hang out with Kuroko.

"Kuroko!" I called, waving as I bounded through the door into the gym. I grabbed my shorts from my bag and pulled them on under my skirt, as I always did nowadays.

The blue-haired boy turned and smiled. "Akane-san, hello." A small frown crossed his lips. "Where's Aomine-kun?"

I shrugged. "He'll be here soon." When I'd left the gym, he'd been talking to Sei about something, so he probably wouldn't be too far away from arriving.

"Hey, placement trials were today, weren't they?" I asked. "How did that go?"

Kuroko looked down. I flinched, already anticipating the answer. "I'm still third string," he said quietly.

"Oh." Inwardly, I was beating myself up. Stupid! I should have let Kuroko tell us that if he wanted to!

Wanting to correct my error, I walked over and tossed him a basketball, a grin on my face. "Cheer up! You've still got a lot of time ahead of you! With the amount of effort you're putting into this, I can tell that you're going to get somewhere in no time!" I winked. "We'll be seeing you on court with Aomine real soon, okay?"

Kuroko still looked a little unsure, but a new spark of hope shone in his eyes. "Yeah. Sure."

"That's the spirit," I grinned. "Come on, I'll play with you until Aomine arrives."

"Hey Tetsu, Akane!" Aomine yelled, running into the gym.

I stopped dribbling the ball and looked back at at the entrance. A wicked grin crossed my lips when I spotted our dark-haired friend running over to us. "He finally arrives," I teased.

"We've been waiting, Aomine-kun," Kuroko called.

Aomine rolled his eyes at us. "Come on," he muttered, shaking his head slightly. He gestured for me to throw the ball to him. "Let's go, Tetsu, Akane!"

I laughed and tossed the ball over. "Two on one!" I called. "Let's stop him, Kuroko!"

We weren't able to, unfortunately, but we still had fun. Aomine was in a league of his own, and neither Kuroko nor I had any hope of catching up to him.

But still, just being able to spend time with my friends... I didn't care how badly we got beat. The fun we had made it worth it.

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this chapter feels so rushed, aah gomen! >.< but we get some cute akane/akashi, as well as more kuroko :D