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Akashi felt at home here.
It was Teikou Middle School. It emphasised on winning above all else. It regarded victories as battlefields; defeat was unthinkable.
Sacrifices were made to achieve this result. Sacrifices had to be made. This was unquestionable.
Akashi was comfortable with this notion.
Akashi’s heart was his mind, and his mind, his heart. For him, both could not be separated from one another. And he believed with all his heart, and therefore, with his entire expansive intellect, that Teikou’s motto was true.
Merely a week after Daiki had introduced Tetsuya to Akashi, Akashi had already branded Tetsuya a sacrifice. Even if he successfully managed to interpret his hints and become the tool Akashi needed, Tetsuya was simply too unskilful to survive with the other regulars.
No matter how much Daiki would scream and yell into Akashi’s ear.
He would be used and discarded. That was a hundred percent certain.
But his services will be appreciated. He will obtain a championship medal. That is sufficient.
Several weeks later it was the end of the school day and Akashi was looking for Tetsuya. He wanted to see him. Especially after that match.
The match which revealed Tetsuya’s unusual basketball prowess and unexpected sports IQ. Images from that match excited Akashi’s heart. In tandem with that, visions filled his mind, of basketball strategies he had deemed undoable, now able to be executed with the emergence of the phantom sixth man.
Tetsuya was sitting in his classroom, reading a book, and sucking on an ice lolly. Several other ice lollies were strewn on his desk.
When Akashi approached, Tetsuya looked up, and nodded at him in greeting. “Good evening, Akashi-kun.” His voice was muffled by the ice lolly pressed against his lips.
"Tetsuya." Akashi smiled at him, a perfect, symmetrical upturn of his lips. "I wanted to speak with you." He glanced questioningly at the ice lollies.
"Aomine-kun bought these for me as celebration for my good performance in the match."
Akashi could sense happiness radiating from the statement as Tetsuya said it. Pitiful. Pitiful that your effort will only amount to your eventual sacrifice.
Outwardly, Akashi’s lips stretched further. “Daiki is right to buy you these as celebratory gifts. Your performance truly was remarkable.” He stepped closer to Tetsuya at his desk, watching his lips stain pink with the ice lolly still pressed on it.
Tetsuya nodded. Akashi saw the corners of his lips quirk upwards imperceptibly behind his pink ice lolly. “Thank you, Akashi-kun. It means a lot coming from you.”
"I wanted to congratulate you on your misdirection ability as well," said Akashi. Tetsuya’s eyebrows raised slightly.
"I was truly impressed at your creativity. Magic tricks. That was astounding lateral thinking," Akashi continued, turning to look at the ice lollies on Tetsuya’s desk. He placed a hand on the ice lollies, arranging them into an organised pattern. After a moment, he turned back to Tetsuya.
"If you do not mind me enquiring, how did you manage to get the idea?"
At the question, Tetsuya licked his ice lolly contemplatively. Akashi watched his small, pink tongue flick out. It looked like a pink flower petal; just as fragile and easily crushable.
Then Tetsuya stated, “It came to me because I wanted to play in a match, Akashi-kun.”
Akashi’s eyes narrowed slightly. Tetsuya continued, “I would have done anything to be able to play in a match. I am a man of my word, Akashi-kun. I had to fulfil a promise.” He took a deep breath. “And simultaneously, I had to fulfil Teikou’s motto.”
His eyes were now burning into Akashi’s. “When I wear Teikou’s uniform, it would be to fight for Teikou’s victory in my own way. As I mentioned, I am a man of my word.”
He looked away to lick his ice lolly again. “You could conclude that the idea sprung from determination.” Akashi caught sight of his lips turning upwards.
Determination to follow through Teikou’s ideals. This was the root of your brilliance, Tetsuya. Akashi watched Tetsuya lick his ice lolly for a few short moments. I function similarly. Our minds are alike in this.
It was at this point when Akashi suddenly felt the rhythm of his heart speed up. The thumps were irregular, and loud in his ears. His breathing became slightly erratic.
He observed Tetsuya’s tongue flick out again. This time, Akashi thought it looked like pink candy. Sweet, and delectable to the touch.
So. There are people worth acknowledging after all, Akashi thought, still mesmerised by Tetsuya’s tongue. He felt his own tongue stir in his mouth.
After a few seconds of silence, Tetsuya suddenly blinked, and glanced at Akashi with raised eyebrows. “Oh. I apologise, Akashi-kun. This was rude of me.” He picked up one of the ice lollies on his desk, and handed it to Akashi. “Please have one as well, Akashi-kun.”
Akashi looked into Tetsuya’s eyes for a moment. They still contained that underlying determination. He reached out, and took the ice lolly.
Still looking into Tetsuya’s eyes, Akashi elegantly tore the wrapper, and slowly slid the ice lolly out. Then, he placed it against his lips as well.
Tetsuya’s tongue flicked out, as he licked his ice lolly. Akashi watched it, and licked his own.
All the while, his heart was beating aberrantly, uncontrollably.
____
Akashi’s absolute leadership and authority was a part of his identity.
His authority was a wave that emanated from him consciously, subconsciously, unconsciously. From his body, his mind, his heart.
No one could challenge him. He knew people too well, knew what to say to them. Not Sanada, the first string Teikou coach. Not the senpai in his shogi club. Not any of the Generation of Miracles, and all of them were taller than him, stronger than him, faster than him.
Except Tetsuya, of course.
Akashi’s heartbeat had continued to quicken periodically around Tetsuya ever since that incident. But it didn’t bother Akashi, because eventually Ryouta had joined their ranks, and he brought a whole new level of exuberance to their team. Akashi had to deal with that.
And Nijimura-senpai was handing over the captainship to Akashi.
Akashi was now on his way to meet him for a final informal briefing. He reached Nijimura’s classroom door, and knocked on it lightly.
Nijimura had been packing up his bag on his chair when Akashi knocked. He turned towards the classroom door, and nodded at the sight of him.
"Oh, Akashi. Come on in," Nijimura said. He turned back towards his bag as Akashi strode up towards him. As he arranged his bag, Akashi stood next to him, observing his movements. He glanced up at Akashi for a moment, then gestured at his desk.
"You can sit if you want to. It’ll take me a few seconds to fix up my bag."
Akashi blinked, and turned to look at the surface of the desk. Nijimura was too informal. He expected Akashi, of all people, to be comfortable with sitting on his desk. What part of Akashi had radiated that he would be alright with doing that.
"Thank you, senpai, but I would rather stand."
Nijimura shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
There were a few moments of silence, during which only Nijimura’s shuffling was heard. Akashi observed him as he organised his bag. Deliberate, sure movements. He could not sense a single tinge of doubt. That was an inclination Akashi could comprehend.
When Nijimura was finished, he slung his bag over his shoulder, then looked at Akashi. Akashi stared right back into his grey eyes. Nijimura moved to sit on his desk, crossed his arms, then continued glaring at Akashi.
After a few moments, he opened his mouth to say, “So. Akashi. You’ll be captain soon.”
Akashi nodded. “Yes. Thank you for recommending me.”
"You were the obvious choice," said Nijimura, waving a hand dismissively. Then, he focused his grey eyes onto Akashi. "But I called you here because I wanted to ask you something before you formally start captaining the team."
Akashi blinked. He curved his lips into a delicate, exquisite smile. “What would you like to enquire of me, senpai?”
Nijimura’s eyebrows furrowed, and after a few seconds, he said, “I wanted to ask you. What do you think are the most important things when you’re captaining a team?” He lowered his voice to mutter, “Especially a team full of brats like you Miracles.”
Akashi chose to ignore the additional mutter. “Why, senpai, the answer is obvious.” Akashi’s smile disappeared, and he narrowed his eyes to focus a hard gaze at Nijimura. “Absolute authority. Understand them more than they understand themselves. Be certain of the way they function.” He paused.
A smile arose on his face, casting sudden gentle disposition across his face.
Nijimura was nodding thoughtfully at his words as he listened to them.
"Nijimura-senpai," Akashi continued. “‘All warfare is based on deception. Therefore, when capable, feign incapacity; when active inactivity.’ And most importantly, ‘offer the enemy a bait to lure him; feign disorder and strike him.’"
As Akashi rattled off the quote, Nijimura had been staring at him, looking nonplussed. “What the hell kind of flowery language are you spouting,” he said flatly.
"From Sun Tzu’s ‘Art of War’, senpai."
"I know that." He lifted a hand to flick Akashi’s forehead irritatedly. "I’m just surprised you remembered all of it."
Akashi had lifted a hand in surprise to rub his forehead when Nijimura flicked him. “That is because it is essential to the way I lead, Nijimura-senpai. When you can frame your words in a way that manipulates your followers’ perception, they are more likely to follow your orders.” He smiled again. “This will ensure no room for discourse.”
"That’s too complicated," said Nijimura bluntly.
"It’s my form of leadership, Nijimura-senpai."
"Well, I think you’re overcomplicating things," Nijimura replied, shifting a little on his desk. He glared at Akashi, looking directly into his eyes. "I’m here to give you some advice, from senpai to kouhai.”
Akashi nodded. The hierarchy had never applied to him, but he would pander to Nijimura just in this instance. It was the art of manipulation after all.
Nijimura took a breath, then said, “When you lead others, cut through all the bullshit. Don’t bother with all the manipulation crap. Get right to the root of the problem, say it to them explicitly, then tell them what to do.” He paused to glare at Akashi again. “When you can do that, people will listen to you.”
Senpai. That sounds too simplistic.
"Senpai. People are more complex than that. Sometimes you need to say the right things, in order to get them to do what you want them to do," said Akashi.
"Yeah, well, people can be simple too, Akashi," Nijimura replied impatiently, and he flicked Akashi’s forehead again. "Sometimes plain words will do the trick. Take it from me." His eyebrow twitched slightly. "I captained you brats, didn’t I?"
Akashi had lifted his hand to his forehead to rub it again. It was at this point that realisation was flooding through his mind.
With Nijimura-senpai, manipulation will not work. He will see through the subterfuge immediately. As though it is a transparent glass pane.
In his mind, Akashi suddenly thought of the maiu-bo he had given Atsushi the week before, and the carefully constructed words of praise he had offered to Satsuki the month before.
Unlike others I know.
Akashi’s heartbeat had begun to quicken. Intrigue was spreading through his mind, like wisps of smoke, as quick and random as the Brownian movement.
And subsequently, his heart. He continued rubbing his forehead, stroking it tenderly with slender fingers, feeling it go warm. It still stung from the earlier flick. But it was growing warm, due to the lingering vestiges from Nijimura’s touch.
Akashi watched Nijimura as he straightened up from the desk, and adjusted his bag on his shoulder. He clapped Akashi on the shoulder, and quirked his lips lopsidedly.
"You’ll do just fine, Akashi. That’s why I recommended you." He lifted his hand into a wave, and turned to leave the classroom. "See you around."
Akashi watched him leave the classroom. The clap on the shoulder had left a lingering impact on Akashi. The spot where he had touched him had grown warm, as warm as his forehead.
Nijimura-senpai was Akashi’s older senpai. This didn’t mean anything, necessarily. It was merely a fascinating fact, a mental note to consider. His bluntness was intriguing.
Especially to Akashi, who dressed up his words like Barbie dolls.
With this in mind, Akashi left the classroom as well, his heart still beating a fluctuant rhythm.
___
With Mayuzumi, Akashi had experienced the uncontrollable pounding of his heart twice. Two times for one individual, something Akashi had never experienced before.
The first time happened merely a week after he had already extended the offer. He had gone up to the rooftop again, intent on handing over a training schedule to Mayuzumi.
Mayuzumi had been reading a light novel, leaning against the rooftop railing, and looking exactly like an illustration of a main character in a light novel. Akashi had taken to glancing at their covers after his first conversation with Mayuzumi.
The moment Mayuzumi saw Akashi, he smirked sardonically, and said, “What are we, manga characters who have a romantic liaison on a rooftop?”
Akashi blinked at that statement. “I was under the impression you were more invested in light novels than comics.”
"Comics are relaxing and fun too, although not as deep as light novels." His smirk widened. "For instance, I won’t be able to find a character as complex as you in a manga. Perhaps as an overpowered supervillain, maybe. With too many power-ups and abilities."
He lifted the light novel he had been holding, then continued, “In a light novel on the other hand, you may perhaps be placed as a character with a superiority complex. And perhaps with family issues.” He tilted his head, the sardonic smirk still on his face. “All this is hypothetical, of course.”
'Hypothetical, of course', Akashi repeated in his mind. Outwardly, he narrowed his eyes, and said, “Please refrain from using light novels as a medium to analyse people. You will tend to box them into stereotypes, and people are more complex than that.”
"Who says I’m doing that?" said Mayuzumi. "I’m only stating some of the tropes in light novels I’ve read." He straightened the light novel in his hands and turned to look at it. "Although some people do fall into those stereotypes, it almost becomes too easy to read them."
In his mind, Akashi had suddenly thought of Nijimura-senpai. 'People can be simple too', he had said. And right now in front of him, another senpai was stating almost the same thing. An older senpai. That had been fascinating to Akashi back in Teikou.
Akashi extended his hand with the training schedule towards Mayuzumi. “Take this. This is your schedule from now on. Keep to it religiously.”
Mayuzumi glanced at it, and smirked again. “Just as intense as I expected.” He lay it next to him, then turned back to his book.
Akashi watched him for a moment. “You do not have a choice, of course. You must follow through the training regardless of how you feel about it. But it seems that you accept the arrangement?” he asked.
Mayuzumi looked at Akashi again, and nodded. “Yeah, of course. It’s Rakuzan, right. I have to keep up somehow.”
"And what makes you so accepting of this, when you had been so defiant merely the week before?"
"Did that bother you, Your Highness?" said Mayuzumi, smirking. Then, he shrugged. "I only want to play basketball my way. This training is part of it."
Akashi furrowed his eyebrows slightly. Mayuzumi continued, “My basketball includes winning as well. And to win, I need this training.” He smiled again. “Akashi, I want to win.” He lifted a hand to gesture, as he said, “In every simplistic manga, the protagonist who fights for his ideals eventually wins. That might not be the same in light novels, but it is true in manga.”
His smile widened. “Let’s just say I want to live that fantasy. My pride hinges on that.” He turned back to the novel and continued reading.
Akashi observed him as he quietly read. That…is completely comprehensible. Victory is in my veins. In my identity. And in my pride, too.
In this moment, Akashi felt his heart beat more quickly. By this point, the spasmodic pounding had become familiar to Akashi. He almost looked forward to the moments when it happened. He swallowed, feeling the dryness on his tongue acutely as he observed Mayuzumi with all the intensity of his treasured eyes.
Victory as the axis of my pride is something so conceivable to me that it almost aches me physically.
He continued watching Mayuzumi for a moment until the boy looked up and cracked another sardonic smile.
"Are you trying to communicate something to me through your eyes, Akashi," he said dryly.
Akashi just turned around in response, and strode towards the exit of the rooftop. “I’ll see you during practice,” he said in farewell. He felt the contour of every step he took downstairs.
His heart continued pounding, rhythmically, musically.
The second time was after the Winter Cup.
Akashi didn’t know what made him move towards the rooftop. All he knew was that the conversation he had had with Mayuzumi that caused the musical beating of his heart was ringing in his mind, taking him there.
When he arrived, Mayuzumi was once again reading a light novel, and leaning against the railing. He glanced up when Akashi’s shoes made soft patters on the concrete floor as he strode towards him, but turned back to the book almost immediately.
Akashi placed a hand on the railing right next to Mayuzumi’s grey hair. He turned to lean against the railing, his foot merely three inches away from Mayuzumi’s knee. Akashi felt Mayuzumi’s grey strands tickle his fingers, as he lay his hand lightly against the metal railing.
They remained in silence for a while. Akashi concentrated on the feel of Mayuzumi’s grey strands against his hand as the wind blew through the rooftop.
Then Akashi stated, “I conducted some research.”
Mayuzumi didn’t move a muscle, he just concentrated on his book.
”Tekken Saga," Akashi continued. He glanced downwards at Mayuzumi from the corner of his eye. "It is a comic which opens with a rooftop meeting."
Mayuzumi didn’t say anything for a moment. He merely flipped a page in his light novel. After a few more beats of silence, he said, “Oh, really.”
Akashi nodded even though Mayuzumi wasn’t looking at him. “Yes.” He paused for a moment. “The characters were meeting to discuss their goal of world domination.”
Mayuzumi turned another page over. “Huh.” He snorted, and said sarcastically, “Not far off from our own meetings then.”
Akashi smiled at the statement. He watched Mayuzumi’s grey strands ruffle in the breeze for a few seconds. Then he said, “During the Winter Cup. It had to be done.”
The moment he said that, Mayuzumi froze in where he sat. Then, he slowly turned to look at Akashi, right into his eyes. “I know.”
Akashi thought he could see anger and helplessness in Mayuzumi’s eyes. But something else as well.
Akashi was well-versed in the art of people observation. The look in Mayuzumi’s eyes was like that of a deer about to be shot by a merciless hunter. Resignation, and total understanding.
Mayuzumi took a deep breath, and continued, “I know. Believe me, I know.” His eyebrows furrowed as he looked deep into Akashi’s eyes. “It was the way to secure Rakuzan’s victory.”
He turned towards his book. “Even if my pride had to be smashed into smithereens for it to be done.” The bitterness was evident in his voice. “I know I would have consented to your strategy, all over again, if it happened again.”
"Good," said Akashi briskly. "So you understand."
At his words, Mayuzumi turned back immediately to look into Akashi’s eyes. “‘So you understand’, he repeated mockingly. “Yes. I understand alright.” He let out a scornful bark of laughter.
Then, he focused his gaze into Akashi’s. Akashi had never felt such an intense scrutiny from any individual before. It was usually him administering it.
"Yes, Akashi. I understand you so well it almost repulses me physically.”
Mayuzumi’s statement hung in the air between him and Akashi. Almost like a single exclamation mark, or perhaps a full stop.
The moment he said that, Akashi felt his heartbeat quicken again, and the pace of it reached a crescendo. Akashi felt like he was holding his breath, as he heard his heart pounding in his ears.
It was so beautiful, and so alluring. The way two individuals could understand each other so completely, so utterly.
Even though Akashi had crushed his self-esteem and pride to pieces. As easily as he could snip a sheet of paper into pieces, with a sharp pair of scissors.
This only made the situation more alluring, and more mesmerising, to Akashi.
Mayuzumi had turned back bitterly to read his book. Akashi watched him, as his heart pounded within him at a volatile pace. Observed his grey hair as it ruffled gently, his hands as they held the light novel firmly.
After a moment, he took a deep breath, then turned around to walk towards the stairs. There was nothing more to be said between them…
"I will see you on this rooftop another time," said Akashi as he walked towards the exit.
Mayuzumi laughed derisively again. “Yeah. Let’s continue plotting our plan for world domination next time,” he replied sarcastically.
…during this instance at least.