Teiko's basketball

Shrine

Chapter 49:

Shrine

"Satsuki-san, you ready?"

"Yup, Sora-chan!"

"Akira-san, you?"

"Yup."

It was the second day of their picnic. Today, everyone would be visiting the village shrine. They would be taken near the shrine in buses and after that, they would have to climb a short distance to reach it. They were really lucky in one aspect. There would be a firework display in the evening and they would be taken home after that.

The gom were really glad about that. Aomine had been suffering from what they had chosen to dub as 'Basketball sickness'. There was hardly any place where they could play basketball, let alone hold a match. He had been rolling the ball and throwing it from hand to hand for an entire evening. Unfortunately, it was contagious. It had even spread to Akira and Sora who were itching to play too. Each of them had internally sworn to play as soon as possible, which would probably be the next day.

The buses left them in front of a long flight of stone steps. The sound of birds twittering was completely drowned out by animated chatter. But not for long. After the first few flights, everyone ceased to talk and were more worried about making the climb and getting out of it alive. However, the members of the basketball club, who had already seen hell, didn't have too much difficulties.

"Such a terrain could be so useful." remarked Akashi. "Ten times up and down this and it would be excellent stamina training."

"Once a sadist, always a sadist." muttered Aomine under his breath.

"I think I can see the torii." said Sora. Sora and Kuroko had decided to take the climb at their own pace.

"Hurry up you two. Otherwise, we'll be getting down by the time you reach the top."

"Quiet, Akira."

Finally, everyone reached the top. The teachers allowed them a five minute break before the tour.

Now that they were up close, Sora was really impressed by the shrine. It was huge. Not only that, it also seemed to be extremely well-maintained. Someone had been thoughtful enough to plant a lot of flowers on the sides. So after their long climb, it was good on the eyes and gave a sweet fragrance to the air. Sora looked at the crowd near the fountain and decided that she would probably be better off without having to fight for water and lose the rest of her energy.

The tour of the temple commenced. Midorima seemed to be really excited about it, although he kept his face neutral. He kept talking about the temple's history and other such things. Once they were allowed to roam as they pleased, he went straight to the fortune booth. The others followed too. They decided that they might as well have their fortunes read as well.

Everyone was asked to draw a slip of paper.

"What did you get Shin-chan?" inquired Akira.

"It said 'The path you must take will always be clear, but the choice will always be yours'. I suppose it is true. I never leave my house without my horoscope. So I guess this is about that. Although, it was quite obvious, nanodayo."

"Shin-chan, I don't think it means that exactly. What about you Suki-chan?"

"Hmm... let's see. It says 'You will find the one meant for you." Wah! This is cool! What did you get Sora-chan?"

"I got "The lady of luck favours the fortunate'."

"Although luck is always a relative term." reminded Akashi.

"Eh....let's see what you got."

"Here. 'Two sides make a single coin.' Although heavens know what it actually means...."

"Maybe it means the good and the bad in your life." suggested Sora. "And yeah, even those are relative terms."

"What did you get Mine-kun, Mura-kun?" said Akira.

"This sh*t says 'An oyster's life ends because of it's mouth.' " grumbled Aomine.

"Well, I can't say that's entirely inaccurate...." pointed out Akira.

"I got 'Hunger is the world's best cook.' Eh.... I wish it was a person."

"Mura-kun....."

"Right. This is a big shrine and there's much of it to see. Which we can't do if we spend the entire day here reminded Akashi. "Let's get moving."

"Fine."