Teiko's basketball II: Second miracle

63: Emperor

Chapter 63:

Emperor

It was getting late. Sora was taking out her things as usual when she heard someone opening the locker near to hers. "Oh. Akashi-san...." said Sora turning. She caught her breath. Something was amiss.

One of his eyes was gold. Sora couldn't stand the force of his stare. She dropped the book she was holding. Akashi bent down with his usual grace, picked it up and held it out to her. "Thank you..." muttered Sora extending her hand for the book. He pulled it back just a inch. "Oro?" said Sora extending her hand again. He did the same thing. "Akashi-san.... quit messing around..." muttered Sora. He just smiled. Somehow, his smile made her shudder just a bit. "Fine. You can keep the book." said Sora giving up. He just placed the book on her locker shelf and took a step back like he was giving her a peace offering. Sora stuffed the book into her bag and turned away quickly and left. At first it was only a slight chuckle which slowly increased in volume, but Sora felt like she could hear him laughing throughout the entire corridor as she walked away.

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Sora found herself staring at Akashi just a bit during break. His eye was a bit weird. It almost felt like a foreign invader in his face. She could also tell that his manner had changed a bit. He seemed really distant. Outward, nothing was different. He still smiled like he always did and made conversation with everyone as was his custom. But Sora couldn't help notice that none of his smiles quite infiltrated his eyes and his air had also changed. There was some aspect that silently proclaimed that he was distant. Aloof.

Akashi caught her staring and gave her a questioning glance. Sora pointed at his eye. He rubbed the base of his palm against it slowly and then looked at her questioningly again. Sora sighed. He probably thought that she was trying to tell him that there was some dirt on his eye. She couldn't take it anymore. She went up to him.

"Akashi-san.... Are you alright?" He looked at her, confused. "No. It's nothing...." continued Sora. "It's just.... Your eye... It looks almost gold in this light." He just continued to look at her like she was mad. Sora felt like an idiot, so she just shook her head and walked away. She found that she just couldn't lay off the eye for some reason. Sora took her seat as the bell rang. She turned and found that this time Akashi was the one staring at her. He looked away when she noticed, but it still creeped her out.

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Sora saw someone come in search for Akashi during lunch. It was probably one of his teammates. Sora watched as a conversation seemed to ensue between them. The other guy seemed to be slowly losing his cool. Akashi on the other hand, didn't even look at him while talking to him. The guys seemed to over the edge. He grabbed Akashi's collar.

"Akashi!" blurted out Sora walking towards him but he just waved her off.

"I do not require your assistance."

Sora stopped short confused. Akashi simply placed his hand on the guy's wrist. He seemed to cringe away from his touch even though he was barely applying any force. "You will attend along with the rest today." said Akashi. "Unless you are willing to hand in your resignation forms which is perfectly alright to me. But as long as you're part of the team, you'll do as I say. Implicitly." It was a tone that didn't give any room for debate. The boys left soon.

"Akashi-san.... are you alright?" said Sora anxiously. "He put his hand on your collar and...."

"I thought I said I didn't need any assistance." he said firmly.

Sora felt herself grow cold. "What... What do you mean... That's not how this works."

"Well next time consider my words as absolute." he said in a frigid tone.

"Akashi....." said Sora in a tone that made him look up. She raised her hand as if to strike him. He blocked it just in time.

"What are you thinking?" he said slowly, twisting it rather painfully. Sora winced. "Absolute?" she said nearly spitting out the word. "What do you think of yourself?"

"What I say is final..." he said looking at her. His gold eye seemed to shimmer just a bit. "My control over those who serve me is my own business. It is not for you or any other to interfere."

"Interefere...." hissed Sora. "You know what? Damn me for actually caring." Sora looked away for a second and found the entire class staring at the two of them. She'd forgotten that they were there. This was extremely embarassing. Akashi loosened his grip on her hand and she wrenched it free. She stormed outside without thinking. The bell had already rung a few seconds back and the period was going to begin. But strangely, Sora didn't want to go back.

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Once outside, Sora found an almost profound sense of peace. With everyone in class, most of the corridors were free. This left her free to think and freed her mind. She could almost sympathize with Aomine now. Aomine.

Sora stopped dead.

She remembered what Akashi had told her that day. Aomine had been the one to start bunking. So perhaps if she could get him to come back.... And with Aomine back in the game, Kise wouldn't be too reluctant to join in again. This would probably solve most of the trouble. If only she could mend this rift between the ace and the captain, perhaps there was the slightest chance that all would be well again. And Akashi would be back.