Emperor's Fall, Revenge of the Pawn

Chapter 4: An Outstanding Manager

Sorry for the wait! I finished two of my big assignments, and I still have a shit ton of other stuff to do but I can't let that stop me from writing fanfiction because I LOVE AKASHIIIIIII! Also I'm tired and I don't wanna study lmao. Anyways, enjoy! Don't forget to vote and comment if you enjoy the chapter!

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It's been about a month since school started, and Inter High preliminaries has already begun. Since Rakuzan was the winner of last year's tournament, they were automatically in the Inter High, and didn't need to participate in the preliminaries. That gives the Rakuzan team more time to practice, and perfect their teamwork. 

"Are~? Where's my water bottle?" asked Hayama.

"Mine's not here either...." noticed Nebuya.

"Managers! What are you doing?" the coach demanded. 

"I-I'm sorry, just a moment," stuttered a third year manager carrying a stack of towels fresh from the dryers. "Sachi-san?! Sachi-san where are you?" Akashi's eyes traveled towards the blonde girl who was talking to Itachiyama Subaru, a third year, also the heir of the Itachiyama Real Estates. She heard her name being called, yet instead of immediately answering to the call, she didn't forget to wave the handsome third year goodbye. She then skipped over to the third year manager, and asked, "Yeah?"

"Weren't you supposed to fill the water bottles? Where are they?" 

"Oh no!" gasped Sachi. "I totally forgot!" Her brows knitted into a panicky frown, her big round eyes innocently staring back at the angry upperclassman. 

Seeing her look of grievance, the third year manager could only sigh and tell her to hurry up and go fill the water bottles. Sachi then looked at Akashi, and their eyes met. From the looks in her eyes she was hoping he'd offer to help, but Akashi simply turned his face away from her, pretending his eyes never met hers. Sachi pouted a little, and turned to go outside and fill the water bottles she was supposed to fill fifteen minutes ago. She never thought that managers had this much work, and it was tiring too. She heard her sister was the basketball manager at Teiko middle school, so she decided that she too, could do a good job at being a basketball manager. There were plenty of rich and good looking boys here too. Not to mention Akashi was captain; it's a good chance to get close to him. To her surprise Setsuna didn't join the basketball club. She remembered her sister had always had a crush on the red haired captain, ever since they were little, so why did Setsuna suddenly decided that she won't be a basketball club manager anymore? Could it be...she thinks it's too much work? Sachi thought. If that's the case, I'll show Akashi-kun how good of a job I can do!

"Here Akashi-kun, I'm so sorry about that. Sachi-san might not be used to the job as manager yet, I'll be sure to train her up for the job," the third year manager, Taniguchi Kiku, apologized to the red haired captain while she handed him a towel. 

He smiled gratefully as he took the towel,  and said, "It's okay Taniguchi-senpai. You shouldn't feel responsible for her fault." He wiped his sweat with the towel he received from the upperclassman, but as he was doing so, a memory came flashing to his mind. 

"Break time!" 

The Teiko basketball team members all stopped what they were doing. Some let out a loud sigh of relief, while some plopped down on the ground in exhaustion. Akashi sat down at the bench, and just as he was about to look for his water bottle, a small, pale hand held the water bottle before him. "Here, Akashi-kun." Akashi looked up, and a pair of sapphire gems met his heterochromatic orbs. The girl before him smiled gently and happily, as if looking at him were the only joy she needed in her life. He carefully took the water bottle from her hands. The sports drink was watered down just to his liking, and the temperature was perfect too. He always liked his drink slightly to the lukewarm side, instead of the iced cold drinks the managers prepare for the rest of the team.