Shadows and Lights

Chapter 17

"Yeah." Daiki says, panting behind me. "Never wanna do that again. Not worth the extra five minutes." I pretend to get offended at Daiki's smug look. Class starts without a hitch. The school day passes with excruciating slowness as I continually glance at the clock every thirty seconds. It seems like practice will never come around again. 

"What? What do you mean I'm not allowed to practice?" I say furiously, resisting the urge to stop my foot childishly. "It's fine if I play! Why?" The pinkette stares at me with blank pink eyes, glancing down at her clipboard. 

"We've decided it's best for you not to play until Interhigh, which is coming very, very, very soon." Satsuki says evenly. "We want you to be in tip-top shape, so we're eliminating any chances of you getting yet another injury by keeping you out of practice." 

"You do realize I'm fully capable of keeping myself healthy, right?" I snarl, standing chest-to-chest with the pinkette. "I can play, and I fully intend to." Pink eyes stare at me without wavering. 

"You will not be playing until Interhigh." She says firmly, frowning. 

"I did not come in here to be told not to practice by my own manager." The words come out much more venomously than I'd intended, but at least she gets the point and narrows her eyes. 

"Hai-chan... We’re not denying you this because you did something wrong. It's not a punishment. We want you to stay healthy." I can feel my eyebrow twitch in frustration. 

"I came here to play. Hell, I was sent here to play. What makes you think Akashi would approve of this?" The pinkette drops her gaze. "Akashi told me to play, and I intend to do so." It's pretty low of me to bring up Akashi and try to use him against Satsuki. It's lower than low. I shouldn't be doing it, yet I am. Desperation runs through my blood like a poison I can't get rid of. 

"Akashi does not go to this school. He isn't your captain anymore. You don't have to play for him, or by his rules. I, however, am still your manager. I think it's best for this team if you don't play until the games at Interhigh." The silence in the gym is so intense you could hear a pin drop. The tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife, take a chunk of it, and literally sell it. My eyes narrow significantly. 

"Akashi may not go here, and he may not be my captain at this point in time, but he is the reason I began playing this stupid game, and is the reason I continue to play. You're my manager, and there is no mistaking that. You always have been. I don't doubt your ability to make decisions, and I don't think your thinking is generally flawed, but you're making a mistake in keeping me from practicing." I reply, watching pink eyes widen. "I am not Japanese, so I did not grow up thinking I should go with the flow. I have no issue with going against your wishes or being blunt. I am not Kuroko, who is selfless and a team player. I am not Murasakibara, who you can order fairly easily. I am not easily bribed, like Daiki. I am not as patient or logical as Midorima, and I cannot influence things the way Akashi does.

"Remember that while you managed those Miracles, it was not you who managed me. The only person I take orders from is Akashi. You cannot order me to stop doing something, and you cannot bribe me into doing it. I will not listen to your logic, and saying it's for the team no longer has a meaning to me. Do not think that you can deal with me the same way you dealt with the others in the past." 

"I've never said you were like the others, Hai-chan, but dealing with you is getting more and more difficult. You listened to me back then, but you won't listen to me now? I don't understand why you're questioning this, or why you won't understand why I'm doing this. This team wants to win. You not playing is the best way to do so, since you've been out of commission for a while now." Satsuki says, narrowing her eyes as my temper flares. "If you won't listen to your own manager, whom will you listen to?"