Chapter Text
//
Their new Captain was arriving today.
Mibuchi sighed slightly. He still couldn't believe that their Coach had offered the slot of Captain to an amateur first year, even though he'd first hand witnessed how amazing the Generation of Miracles were.
He wasn't sure about Akashi Seijuurou though.
He'd not noticed Akashi much any time they'd played in middle school, since his eyes were preoccupied by the beauty of Midorima Shintarou's half court shots, and that monster Aomine Daiki's free-form shots.
Kise Ryouta was his favourite though, pretty and ruthless, with a kind of careless grace that came naturally only to the best of predators, reminding Mibuchi of himself.
Murasakibara Atsushi was naturally gifted, and his methods though brute, were quite effective.
Akashi Seijuurou, on the other hand, was a mystery.
He couldn't recall much about the other boy's plays - and now to see this unknown factor remove Mibuchi's captaincy, was in one word - unacceptable.
It wasn't that Mibuchi wanted to be Captain. Hayama was barely tolerable on his good days and Mibuchi wouldn't touch Nebuya with a ten foot pole. Yet, there was something that irked him about making a first year the Captain.
He would assess this Akashi boy with his own eyes, and decide if he was worth following.
//
Akashi arrived with little fanfare, and Mibuchi couldn't help but become hopelessly infatuated, because if there was something Mibuchi was surprised at, it was at not noticing Akashi's beauty all those times they'd played in middle school.
"Akashi-kun," Mibuchi smiled at the smaller redhead, who stared at him with surety in his eyes, and yet Mibuchi wanted to wrap his arms around the younger boy to shield and protect him. "I'm Mibuchi Reo, Rakuzan's Captain."
Akashi might be pretty, yet Mibuchi wasn't going to give up his pride as an upperclassman by losing to a junior.
Akashi gave him a short glance, yet the hair on Mibuchi's neck stood up - the look was penetrating, assessing and completely unnerving.
"I'm Akashi Seijuurou."
"So I've heard," Mibuchi turned away, "I've heard you're vying for Captaincy. I can't let you win so easily, can I?"
"One-on-one?" Akashi asked.
"No, Akashi-kun. Three-on-one. After all, the Captain must be the strongest in the team," Mibuchi said, watching with silent fascination as the expression on Akashi's face morphed into something harder, inscrutable, and Akashi suddenly looked nothing like the innocent fifteen year old boy Mibuchi had wanted to hug.
"Of course," Akashi smiled back at him, and Mibuchi was blown away by the sincerity of the smile, "I wouldn't expect anything less."
//
Two minutes later, the Uncrowned Kings were completely overwhelming Akashi Seijuurou.
14-0
//
In the last two minutes of the single quarter they were playing, thescore was 43-14 in favour of Akashi.
//
Akashi hadn't let them score even once after the first two minutes.
Mibuchi collapsed on to the floor, exhausted. He had never felt this exhausted even after a full game, yet playing Akashi was more mentally taxing than a full game.
The intricacy in the younger one's play was astonishing, and Mibuchi couldn't comprehend half of what Akashi did. However, the swiftness of Akashi's movements, and the calculating gleam in his eyes made Mibuchi believe that none of those movements had been performed unnecessarily.
Mibuchi rose, and went to Akashi, who had a towel wrapped over his head, looking oddly fragile and vulnerable. He also noted how Akashi seemed to breathing almost normally, not even breaking much sweat at having played three of the best players in the current basketball circuit.
Mibuchi couldn't even imagine the level Akashi Seijuurou was at.
"Sei-chan, congratulations," Mibuchi said cheerily, "and welcome to Rakuzan," before hugging the smaller boy, sweat and all.
Akashi's confused expression made Mibuchi skip in joy for days.
//