Chapter Text
"So then, Masamune Date became an incredibly fearsome warrior, despite his lack of sight in his right eye, and his helmet became legendary throughout Yamagata, maybe even the whole of Japan!"
Hyuuga was saying enthusiastically as he walked Riko home. They had just finished visiting Kiyoshi at the hospital, and a warm orange light was casting down on them as the sun set, and they drew nearer to her house. Despite what she knew of Kiyoshi's condition, Riko was feeling optimistic about Seirin's chances in the next Interhigh.
It was something about the way Hyuuga said it. The promise. Full of certainty and resolve. That was what she had always admired about him. That was what made him such a good captain.
"Yes, yes, fascinating, Hyuuga-kun," Riko replied sarcastically. "So, did he kill even more bad guys after getting his fancy helmet?"
Oblivious to her sarcasm, Hyuuga happily continued, "Yes, he did! He slaughtered a whole bunch of them at a river..." He trailed off as he suddenly took notice of a huge black sedan in front of her house, where they were both just a few metres away.
"Hyuuga-kun?" Riko said, and then she noticed the sedan too. Two men in black suits were talking to her father.
As Riko and Hyuuga walked towards the group, the men looked up to greet her. One of them smiled at her. It was a courteous upturn of his lips, that belied no emotion. Riko didn't like it.
"Ah, Riko-san, is it alright if we have a word with you?"
____
The men just didn't stop talking.
Riko was sitting opposite the two men, and next to her was Hyuuga. Her father was sitting a little ways behind both of them. Despite his loud objections, Riko had insisted that Hyuuga stayed to hear the conversation too, even if it was important. She trusted her gut feeling, which somehow warned her that she needed Hyuuga with her for this.
They were saying such fake, professional-sounding things. "We would be honoured...", "Your athletic sense is unparalleled...", "As expected of Aida Kagetora's daughter..." All such insincere phrases designed to win her over. Riko felt herself frown more as the men droned on. She felt like grabbing Hyuuga's hand and gripping it for comfort.
"To conclude, we were just incredibly impressed with your coaching during the Interhigh. And so, we would be truly honoured if you could please consider transferring to Rakuzan on our scholarship. We understand that you are currently a basketball coach, and Rakuzan already has the esteemed Shirogane Eiji-san, of course," here, Riko noticed her father flinch at the mention of his old teammate, out of the corner of her eye, "but we truly believe that your talents and assets will be of great use to our great variety of other sports."
Riko sighed. She had already made her decision the moment the word 'Rakuzan' left their lips, and felt irritated that she had had to sit through that whole blather when she was already so steadfast in her decision. She took a breath to state a blunt refusal, when Hyuuga suddenly cut across her.
"She will consider this offer and revert tomorrow latest."
Riko blinked hard in her shock. She turned towards Hyuuga, who was looking at the men with unwavering determination in his eyes, and a hard set to his jaw, the same look she always saw him with on the basketball court.
"Hyuuga-kun!" Riko angrily exclaimed. But before she could continue, her father had stood up and started gesturing to the men to leave.
"We will let you know her decision tomorrow," he said as he politely ushered them out. Riko noticed that he was avoiding her eyes as she threw him a look of betrayal.
As the men and her father left, Riko immediately turned on Hyuuga.
"What, just what was that, Hyuuga-kun!" Her hands fisted in anger. "There's no way I'm transferring to Rakuzan! I'm at Seirin! I'm Seirin's coach!"
Hyuuga, like her father, was avoiding her eyes. "Riko, this is an opportunity you can't refuse. It's Rakuzan. As a coach, there's no better place to be."
Riko's eyes widened. She grabbed Hyuuga's shirt to force him to look at her. "Hyuuga-kun. That's ridiculous. I'm staying at Seirin. To help fulfil your promise to Teppei. All of us together." Of course she was going to stay. She was going to be with Mitobe, Koganei, Tsuchida, Izuki, Kiyoshi. And...Hyuuga.
But when he finally turned to look at her, Riko released his shirt slowly. She felt like she was fighting a losing battle.
Because while his eyes were filled with regret and a deep sadness, they also revealed an unflinching resoluteness.
"He's right."
Riko turned to see her father leaning at the doorway. For once, he was agreeing with Hyuuga. She wished it wasn't for this heartbreaking thing.
"I'm proud of you for wanting to keep your promise to your friends, but...Riko." Her father took a deep breath. "This is also about your future. You owe it to your friends to take this opportunity."
At his words, Riko immediately felt a wave of uncertainty, and conflict arose within her. He was right. She knew it, deep within her heart. What he was saying made so much sense. Within her, she felt a burning desire to go to Rakuzan, to experience Rakuzan. It was an opportunity only a fool would refuse.
But she belonged in Seirin. Going to Rakuzan would feel like a betrayal. To the promise she held towards Kiyoshi, to all the training plans she had already constructed for next year's Interhigh.
And the fact that Hyuuga was encouraging her to go made the conflict even worse. Because she knew how difficult it must be for him. Just as difficult it was for her to choose to go.
She wanted to go. So much. But she also didn't want to go.
Hyuuga put a hand on her shoulder. Riko felt heartbroken, because his touch had always represented comfort and strength to her. Now though, it felt foreign, and cold.
"You should take the offer, Riko. Everyone at Seirin would want you to."
Riko swallowed, her fingers twitching on her lap. Itching to go to his hand on her shoulder.
She would go. It would satisfy that desire she held deep within her. But even more than that, she would go for her friends, who would never have this opportunity dangling in front of her now.
Riko felt like she was falling into a deep, dark pit, with no end in sight.
____
When Riko arrived at the Kyoto station a day before the school term started, she was bombarded with confusion. She had only been to Kyoto once before on a school trip, and she had been chaperoned that whole time. But this was okay...Riko sighed. Confusion was the only emotion she had been feeling constantly nowadays.
She shouldered her bags and searched for an information counter. It would be much easier just to ask a station staff for directions, rather than stumbling around on her own.
It took nearly an hour for the bus to even arrive at the stop where Rakuzan High was at. And when she arrived at the bus stop, all she could see was a complex of large buildings and a wide expanse of greenery. Nothing remotely like a school in sight.
Sighing again, and frowning in irritation, Riko decided to just walk somewhere between the complex of buildings and the fields. Hopefully she would bump into someone who could lead her in the right direction. And so, quashing thoughts about Hyuuga and his immaculate sense of direction, she steadfastly walked towards the impossibly large buildings.
After nearly an hour of walking around, Riko was ready to scream in frustration. There was no one in sight. How could there be no one? There were so many large buildings here! What was filled in them, cockroaches? Stomping the ground in frustration, she threw her heavy bags on the ground, and scrambled to search for one of the Rakuzan official documents in her bag. Maybe there was a number she could call. But before she went into full-on cursing mode, she was suddenly called by someone.
"Hey~!"
Looking up in surprise, she saw two tall boys. One of them had longish black hair while the other had orange hair. The shorter, orange-haired boy appeared to be grumbling at the taller boy, his hands shoved sulkily in his pockets.
Riko looked at them with a smile. "Hello! I'm so glad to see you!" She exhaled with relief. "I've just been so lost here!"
The taller boy chuckled good-humouredly. "Yes, we know~...We saw you walking around from the window over there." He gestured at one of the large buildings, which looked just as swanky as the others (Riko thought irritatedly).
"Yeah. Reo-nee just insisted that we come help you. Even though we were in the midst of a video game and I was totally kicking his ass," the orange-haired boy grumbled. Riko felt her eyebrow twitch in irritation. What was with this boy?
"Now, now, Kotarou-chan, we have to be nice to girls~," the boy called Reo-nee said good-naturedly. He turned to smile at Riko. "So, can we help you with anything?"
Riko decided to talk to this boy, who seemed more matured than the orange-haired brat. "Yes please, thank you very much! I'm looking for Rakuzan High?"
At her question, the boy called Kotarou suddenly dissolved into laughter, and even started to hold his stomach in his mirth. Riko gritted her teeth irritatedly, feeling her fingers tighten on her bag strap. Just what was so funny about what she said?
The taller boy looked slightly annoyed, and whacked the other boy lightly on the back of his head. Ignoring the other boy's whined "ow!", he smiled at Riko, and said, "You're actually in Rakuzan now! This whole place is Rakuzan." He ended the sentence with a wink.
At these words, Riko gaped at him for a full minute. "Th-this whole place? All that large fields...and, and, these impossibly large buildings, which are just...there are so many..." she stammered with wide eyes. Just how extravagantly wealthy was this school? Seirin didn't even have its own football field.
And then, she blinked, and quickly straightened up her expression. She really didn't want to be impressed with Rakuzan. Seirin was just better! "Uh...it's okay, I guess..." she trailed off, with a nonchalant shrug.
The black-haired boy laughed lightly. “So I suppose you’re a new student here?” He glanced at her bags and moved forwards to help her pick some up. “From the look of your bags, I guess you stay at the dorms. Do you want us to show you where the female ones are? We’re both on basketball scholarship so we stay at dorms too. That’s why we’re here a day early.”
Basketball scholarship, huh? As Riko handed off her bags to the black-haired boy gratefully, she thought that these boys probably dominated the competition during that heart-breaking summer.
Outwardly, she smiled and said, “Thank you, I would really appreciate that. Yeah, I’m a scholarship student too.” She watched as the black-haired boy shoved a few of her bags into the other boy’s arms. He scowled as he took them. “I just transferred this year. So I’m actually a second-year student.”
“Second year?” Reo-nee looked too happy for that mundane statement. “We’re second years too! I’m Mibuchi Reo, and this guy here’s Hayama Kotarou-chan.” He ruffled Hayama’s hair, smiling excitedly all the while.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Riko,” Riko replied curtly.
“Riko-chan? That’s such a cute name!” Mibuchi gushed excitedly.
Hayama, meanwhile, was bad-temperedly shouldering her bags, as he said, “You said you’re a scholarship student?” He snorted a little. “What kinda sport do you play?” He scrutinised her with narrowed eyes, as he continued, “You don’t seem like an athlete at all. You look so…”
But before he could continue, Riko cut him off before she was thrown out of Rakuzan High for assault before she even attended her first class.
“I’m not here on an athletic scholarship, no.” She turned away from him to stalk ahead of them first. “I’m here to coach.”
___
By the time they reached the female dormitory building, she was glad to be rid of the boys. Mibuchi was okay, he was really nice and she was sure she could get along well with him. Hayama, on the other hand…she felt like her bag handle was about to snap from how hard she was gripping it in suppressed irritation.
He had kept commenting and asking her questions non-stop throughout their journey to the dorms. No, she still didn’t know what sport she was going to coach. No, she wasn’t new at coaching. Yes, she can coach. Yes, she can really coach. It drove her madder than Koganei’s ridiculous comments ever did.
When she got out of the warm, comforting shower she took in order to erase Hayama from her mind (the shower was irritatingly perfect, as Rakuzan’s facilities always were, apparently), she was greeted with a ring on her mobile phone.
Picking it up, she looked at the caller. It was Hyuuga.
“Hey, Riko,” his voice sounded in her ear. It sounded slightly strained.
She sighed. “Hi, Hyuuga-kun.” She sat down on her bed, still drying her hair with a towel. “What’s up?”
She heard him clear his throat at his end. “Um…I just wanted to see how you were, and…uh, whether you’re okay at Rakuzan.”
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” she replied curtly. She lay down on her bed, despite her wet hair. “How’s everything?” How’s Teppei. How are you.
“Good.” She heard him clear his throat again. “I…I saw Kiyoshi at the hospital today.” Here, Riko smiled though her heart ached. Trust Hyuuga to know what she wanted to hear most. “He’s still not cleared for school unfortunately. He’ll probably miss the first term.” He’ll probably miss the upcoming Interhigh. Riko heard his unspoken statement.
“Oh. Well, as long as he gets better. That’s the priority.” Riko turned to lie on her side, her wet hair clumping over her ear.
She heard him breathe for a while on the line. “…yeah,” he said. She closed her eyes, hearing the sounds of him breathing.
“Riko?”
Her eyes flew open. “Yeah?” she said, her voice cracking slightly.
“I…uh…” she heard him release a few loud breaths. “I’ll call you again soon.”
“Yeah.” I miss you too.
The line went dead.
____
Riko had allowed herself a short moment of vulnerability that night, just burying her face in her arms and knees for several seconds.
Then, she had raised her head, and frowned in determination. She was going to be just fine. It was Rakuzan, and she was Riko. Rakuzan was no match for her.
And so it was that the next morning, she went to class feeling strong-willed and probably a little too angry, because she noticed a few of her new classmates wince as they looked at her face. What, were Rakuzan people such wimps?
She slammed her bag on her desk, pulled out her chair with a screech, and flung herself into it with perhaps a little too much force. She grabbed her books out of her bag and flung them on her desk. Then, she pulled out her pencil case, and lined up her pencils, a ruler, and an eraser in a perfect straight configuration. She was going to tackle the day as she always did, determined and ready to battle the world.
“The hell? It’s you?”
Riko’s eyes widened as she heard a familiar voice behind her. Oh no. It couldn’t be. She turned around quickly to see, of all the annoying people, Hayama, the orange-haired brat behind her.
“What are you doing here?” She hissed a little too angrily at him.
He frowned at her tone. “What do you mean? This is my class too.” He leaned back against his chair languidly. “I’ll try to get along with you as a classmate then, Coach Riko.”
The way he said it made her teeth grind in irritation. It was completely laden with sarcasm and scepticism. Then, as he stretched out his legs, he kicked her chair.
Riko felt something snap inside her. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she turned completely in her chair, and said, “Look, can you please just…”
“Haah…?” Hayama said irritatingly, as he suddenly leaned in front to get up in her face instead.
Riko sighed. There was no way of communicating with this brat. She stood up to sweep her things into her bag, saying as she did so, “Never mind, Hayama-kun, I’ll just sit somewhere else instead-”
But before she could finish her sentence, he suddenly grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the classroom door facing the hallway.
“Look, look!” He said excitedly as Riko felt herself being pulled unceremoniously to lean out of the door. He was pressing against her side uncomfortably as he shouted against her ear, “Check out this guy!”
Trying to push him away irritatedly, she turned to see a red-haired boy striding down the hallway. He was suddenly stopped by some girls, who were blushing as they spoke to him. Riko felt a chill rush over her as she saw the way he replied them, all polished, perfect and immaculate. So charismatic. So articulate. She wasn’t sure if she liked it.
“That’s Akashi Seijuurou.” Hayama was breathing in her ear. “He was the captain of the Generation of Miracles.” Riko turned to look at Hayama’s face, so close to her own. His eyes were shining with excitement and elation. “This is the guy I’m so looking forward to playing basketball with.”
As Riko turned away from Hayama to look at Akashi, he suddenly looked up as well as he politely excused himself from the girls. They locked eyes with one another.
In that brief moment, Riko felt an insurmountable and uncompromising pressure against her, just from his one look. And against that pressure, Riko felt the one thing she prized herself with, her immovable, defiant pride, swell within her to counter it. She heard herself give a sharp intake of breath, unconsciously.
It only lasted a second. Akashi had looked away from her to continue his way towards the first years’ corridor.
But in that one second, Riko just knew, that whether or not there was already a coach, it was basketball that she had to throw herself into, regardless of what happened.