The White Moment (Akashi Seijuro Love Story) [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 3

 When Setsuna went to practice on Monday, she took all the regulars into the club room while the rest of the members continued to practice. "Thanks to Shiori-chan,we were able to get a good tape of our next opponent, Soumei Middle School," Setsuna said at the front of the room to the regulars. She then nodded towards their lovely manager, who then played the tape in the DVD player. "Watch closely, and jot down anything that you notice. They are strong players, so pay close attention."

After hours of studying their opponents, Himura was able to create a reliable tactic to go against their enemy. That night, Setsuna stayed up with Kuroko to watch Soumei's match again. After a while, Setsuna left Kuroko on the couch to do whatever while she went into her work room and started her daily night routine.

After a few hours of watching television, Kuroko peaked into his best friend's room and spotted her working non-stop with the lights off. The only thing he could see was the light from the computer. "Setsuna," he called. The short girl turned from her computer to look at him. His eyes were full of concern. "Aren't you over working yourself?" Setsuna offered him a weak yet genuine smile.

"I'll be fine," she said. "I just need to finish this and I'll be done for the day. You can be my test runner when I'm done with all of it. But it'll probably take a while," she said as she turned back to the computer. Kuroko furrowed his eyebrows as he turned on the lights in her room and stepped inside. Paper was all over the floor and wires tangled everywhere. He didn't want to step on them and make a mess, so he carefully avoided all the paper and made his way over to Setsuna. He pulled a spare chair and sat next to her. The work she is doing is way too complicated for him to understand, yet he knew the importance of her work. After all, it's Setsuna that's been keeping the Hakuya Company running all these years.

＼(*T▽T*)／

Setsuna woke up the next day in her bed. She, like Kuroko, constantly get nasty bedheads. Setsuna hates it. Every morning she has to spend time to brush her hair out and clean herself up and look presentable for school. After getting ready, she headed for the kitchen, and made herself some breakfast. Setsuna was careful not to wake her mother up. Since Setsuna's mother, Keiko, works late almost every day, sleep is very precious. To make sure her mother can sleep without worry every night she gets home from work, Setsuna makes sure that all the dishes are done, laundries are done, and lights are closed when her mother gets home. With the help of Kuroko, Setsuna is able to get these done everyday and still have time for her homework and other activities.

As her childhood best friend and neighbor, Kuroko constantly visits her house. When they were little kids, Kuroko, Setsuna, and Ogiwara would constantly go play basketball together at the nearby basketball court. Due to Setsuna's height, she was constantly made fun of by the other kids of the neighborhood. Ogiwara would get mad at the other kids for laughing at his friend. Kuroko, being the little shadow he is, was constantly ignored during that time by others, but there are times where the children around the neighborhood would play some games at the court and he'd participate. Those were the best times of their lives until Ogiwara had to move away. It was very sad, because they only just met Ogiwara in 5th grade, yet he moved away for junior high.

Kuroko and Ogiwara promised to face each other in a basketball match during junior high. Since Setsuna attended a private all girls academy, she was excluded from their little manly oath, but the three of them all made wristbands to commemorate their friendship. Setsuna made the wristbands herself. She gave black ones to Kuroko and Ogiwara, while she wore white ones.

That morning, Setsuna brought the trash out to dump it. And beside her, she heard the sound of another trash bag landing in another trash can. She turned to see it was none other than her best friend standing right next to her, throwing out garbage. She started laughing hysterically, leaving a very confused Kuroko. Setsuna's laughter died down after a while and she stood up while shaking her hand in front of her face. "It's nothing! I just find it funny how we're both dumping out trash in the morning today," she explained. He gave her a smile and nodded. The two then walked down the streets together towards their schools.