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7: phone call

"Yahta!" Kirika cheered with her hands in the air, clipboard in one hand and pencil in the other. Those on the bench rushed out, congratulating and cheering for the starters. However, on a stroke of destiny, the manager's eyes moved so that their gaze was focused on Kise.

He looked startled, mumbling to himself before tears began flowing down his face. Kirika bit the inside of her cheek, knowing that losing for the first time would probably hurt anyone.

"It's just a practice game!" Someone called down from the second level, and the manager was tempted to flip them off.

"You idiot!" Kasamatsu kicked him square in the back. "Stop crying. You've got some balls to say you've never lost before. I'll hit you! You'd better add the word revenge to that empty dictionary of yours!" That seemed to have done the trick because the blonde smirked, his eyes drying up.

"Line up," The ref blew the whistle. "With a score of 100 to 98, Seirin High wins."

"Thank you very much!" The two teams bowed to each other. Once they were ready to leave, Kaijo saw Seirin off. Takeuchi was seething as Riko was beaming; Kasamatsu and Hyuuga shook hands.

"Because we're in different districts, if we play again, it'll be at inter high."

"Yeah, you can count on it," He agreed before turning. "Let's go!"

"Yes sir!" The other boys resonated, when suddenly, Kirika looked up from her phone.

"I'm so sorry, but my dad needs to pick me up," She bowed. "It's a family matter, may I be excused?"

"Huh?" Riko was surprised for a split second before she nodded. "Yes, of course. We'll see you tomorrow, Ichinose."

"Thank you," She hurriedly bowed again, flashing the quickest smile she could muster before sprinting to the exit as fast as she could. The two teams gaped.

"...your manager is faster than all of us combined."

"...yeah, apparently."

"Ah, Miss Kirika," A man dressed in a suit smiled warmly as she showed up, panting. "You didn't have to run."

"I didn't?" She breathed. "Father's text sounded urgent, though.."

"Well, I suppose it is urgent, in a way," He grimaced, remembering something that had happened a few years back. "Please get in, we are meeting the master and madam at the house."

"Right," The manager slipped into the back of the black car, situating herself and putting on her seatbelt as the driver rounded the car. Getting in himself, he closed the door and started the engine.

The drive was about an hour and a half long; the entire way there, Kirika sat anxiously in the back as she chewed the inside of her cheek. The time went by at a snail's pace until finally, they arrived.

"Mom!" Kirika burst out of the car and into the arms of the person waiting for her outside. "What's going on?"

"It's okay," She soothed, rubbing her back as she hugged her little girl. "Thank you Fujimaru, you may return."

"Yes ma'am," He bowed, leaving the two alone.

"Come inside, Rika," Her mother encouraged, leading her through the door after receiving a nod of consent.

"Hello, Kirika," A middle aged man-his hair graying slightly-greeted as he sat in the living room. "It's been a while."

"Yes," She agreed. "Hello, father."

"Now then, let's get down to business," He gestured for her and his wife to sit down opposite him, so they did. "I don't mean to startle you, but I wanted to give you a heads up."

"A heads up on what?" Kirika questioned, acting clueless.

"Aizen is transferring back to Japan in the fall," He sighed. "I've kept him away as long as I could, but he's grown his own power base that I can no longer afford to look down on."

"Power base?" She cocked her head to the side, her eyebrows furrowing.

"He's already gotten ties with the president of the United States, namely the president's twins, and Canada and the Japanese prime minister as well, and those are just the ones I could find. I don't know how he did it, but instead of asking to come back, he told me he was coming back."

"Wha-" Kirika's eyes widened, then saddened. So, he didn't manage to make genuine friends after all. Still only using people to the very end, huh Aizen?

"Don't worry, I made sure he will be attending a different school," He assured her, "He'll be living with me and going to school at Fukuda Sogo Academy."

"Is that so," Kirika thought bitterly. She would have rathered that Aizen go to the same school as her so that she could keep an eye on him, but it couldn't be helped.

"Also," Her father looked down. "He's requested a phone call with you, Kirika."

"W-with me?" She faultered. Man, my acting skills are getting better.

"Yes. He just wants to see how you are, he promised he wouldn't take more than five minutes of your time and that he wouldn't say anything weird," He told her. Hesitantly, she nodded.

"Okay, I'll talk to him."

"Are you sure, Rika?" Her mother asked hurriedly.

"Yes," She smiled sadly. "He's my brother after all."

"Fair enough," Her father coughed, getting out his phone and dialing a number. Handing it over to Kirika, she put it to her ear. The sound of ringing went twice until it stopped, someone having picked up on the other end.

"I'm waiting, dad," An annoyed voice came through the phone, causing Kirika to almost snort. "K-Kirika?"

"Hi," She breathed softly. "Aizen."

"Kirika.." He took in a deep breath. "Yeah, hi. I missed you."

"I missed you too. Have you been okay?"

"Yeah, but it would have been better if you were here with me."

"Of course you'd say that," She huffed, shaking her head. There was a smile on her face the entire time, though.

"I just want you to know that I still love you more than anything in this world, and that even if we can't see each other all the time when I come back," He paused. "I'll still be there for you, every step of the way."

"You're not allowed to stalk me."

"Kirikaaaa," He whined, then chuckled. "Who's gonna stop me? Anyways, I would normally take up the entire five minutes I promised to talk your ear off, but I have to go. A friend is here and she's looking a bit neglected. Talk to you later, little sister."

"Right, take care Aizen," She hummed, disconnecting the call.

Dear Diary,

I finally got to talk to Aizen! I'm so happy, I might stay up all night just squealing into my pillow! Ugh, I know I shouldn't, but dad said he's coming back this fall! I'm both terrified and excited. Knowing him, he'll start slow and then make his way into being a menace.

I'll pray in advance for the families that will be losing members.

Oh, we won the practice game today! I'm so proud of the team, and I can't wait to be with them as they grow. I wonder what Aizen would think of them? I'll ask him to come watch a game when he gets back, I suppose!

Then, until next time.
Kirika Ichinose