Hey! Part 2 of the special oneshot that I published last Sunday here! I really hope you'll like it, this part is pretty long and full of events! It's probably easier for you to catch up if you start with the first part again, but if you don't want to I'll leave a little reminder of who is who down below!
Akashi is in (Name)'s body
(Name) is in Nebuya's body
Nebuya is in Mibuchi's body
Mibuchi is in Kotaro's body
Kotaro is in Mayuzumi's body
Mayuzumi is in Akashi's body
At last you finish breakfast, put the trays in their place and get ready for the activity that will occupy a good part of your day: training. Honestly, you have no idea how it will proceed, but you try to trust your friends; after all, among you there are three uncrowned kings and a member of the generation of miracles: what could go wrong?
Just before returning to your rooms, you explain to Akashi where to find your manager's notebooks and how to jot down notes on each one's progress, and then have Nebuya tell you where his training clothes are. The boy, temporarily in Mibuchi's body, points his finger at a dusty duffel bag, slumped under the bed. Opening it, you find a pile of T-shirts and shorts rolled up on themselves, on which wrinkles and folds are not spared. Not exactly the kind of care and order you like to find, but knowing the boy, it is already so much that he took them away and did not leave them in Kyoto. To avoid the common locker room, you changed your clothes in the bathroom, with your eyes closed in respect of your friend's body, and you follow the others until you reach the gym – actually, the gyms. The hostel, which for years has hosted sport teams for their retreats, has built two beautiful gyms full of everything you need for a good workout. You enter the main one and join the rest of the group. While your classmates change, you reach out to Akashi-yourself, sitting on one of the benches flipping through your notes.
"Is everything clear, Akashi? Can you read my writing?"
"I have no problem, these notes are very well done."
"Oh, thank you. Have you ever done any managerial activity before?"
"No, it never happened to me, but I hope that the analytical skills I acquired working as President of the Student Council will come in handy today." – he replies with a smile – "What about you? Have you ever played basketball?"
"Not seriously. I mean, I did some sporadic training, but I know more about it on a theoretical level."
"Feeling nervous?"
"A little... you know, the others are all very good and I don't want to hold them back... moreover, as Nebuya, people have expectations of me, and I don't think I can live up to them..."
"As for your situation, although I believe that you are much better than you have admitted, this morning we made the others believe that you aren't feeling very well. So, no one will be surprised if your performance isn't perfect. In addition, none of them will be completely comfortable playing in another's body, no matter how good they may be. But that's the hard part, that's what they have to learn."
"We're ready!" – a voice behind you suddenly exclaims– "Where is the coach?"
"Not here yet, he said to start on our own." – your real voice replies – "Akashi, start with the warm-up."
"Ok. Line up. Stretching."
Mayuzumi utters these words in the most listless tone in this world, which doesn't in the least reflect the almost solemn tone of the real Akashi's instructions. Despite this, the training begins, and setting aside some surprised or resigned sounds on the part of the starting players, who manage to stretch much more or less than usual, everything proceeds smoothly.
"Pick up a basketball." – is the new, phlegmatic indication of the "captain".
You approach the box and almost gasp when you see a basketball of the maximum size from Nebuya's perspective: it looks like nothing more than a small and light tennis ball. You start running up and down the court dribbling, but you find it beyond hard: you don't understand how much force to give to the ball, which is why it bounces too high or too little, plus your run with a huge body is anything but agile and graceful. The first round of the court has not even been completed that a deafening rumble tears your eardrums and a vibration shakes you to the bowels. The terror of an earthquake freezes you in place, but one of your teammates has already figured out what the real cause is:
"Kotaro!!!! Why the heck are you using your full-hand dribbling in a training?! You're not even against an opponent, do you know what a mess that thing makes?!"
You all look towards the culprit: the five of you, who know very well that Mibuchi is in there, cannot help but pity him. In fact, anyone is used to dribbling with the whole hand and it is not easy to have to completely change the dribbling system: you are already struggling with Nebuya's body, it is difficult to imagine how it is with Kotaro's. However, those who know nothing are more than surprised by the situation – surprise that increases even more when they hear the blond guy's response, followed by a deep bow:
"I'm sorry! I didn't want to do that!"
'No, Mibuchi! Kotaro wouldn't answer like that, he'd laugh it off!' – you think, hoping from the bottom of your heart that no one will notice.
"Oh. I thought you would laugh and tell us that we're just envious of your abilities or something like that..."
Yep.
"Let's go on." – Mayuzumi adds, trying as a good captain to divert the attention – "One on one."
Hoping that this incident has reminded everyone of the importance of behaving naturally while having to act like someone else, you prepare for the classic challenges of the training. The first one-on-one are fine, since everyone behaves according to the basketball role that the owner of their temporary body plays, and you too manage to beat Kotaro with one of the favorite moves of the center you are impersonating. But obviously this serenity could not last forever: one of the challenges sees Mibuchi's body launch itself for a powerful one-handed dunk, brutally miss the rim of the basket by a good fifteen centimeters and smash on the floor, dragging his face on the parquet. Between the general fat laughter and the real Mibuchi, who is about to rip the hair off Kotaro's head and start crying in frustration, a group of people gathers around the injured boy. Akashi, in your shoes, joins him with a pack of tissues and an instant ice bag to relieve the pain and stop the nosebleed.
"Are you alright, Mibuchi-kun?" - he asks.
"Y-yes..."
"You're crazy, Mibuchi! Since when do you dunk? You're the three-pointer expert!" – one of your teammates comments.
"I don't know why I did that, I'm sorry..."
"He wanted to try something new, there's nothing wrong with that. Now stop for a moment and rest, then we'll go on. By the way, while you were training the coach came to tell me that he would like the starting five to train separately in the second gym, to do something a little more focused for the next Winter Cup."
"Oh, really?"
"I didn't notice him... and you?"
"Neither did I..."
No one noticed the coach, quite simply because he never entered the gym. It's Akashi's idea again, finding a way to save you.
"You were all very focused, that's normal. Anyway, you five go to the other gym, the coach is waiting for you there to explain everything. I'll take care of it here."
You leave the gym without saying anything else, and once you reach gym number two it's time for Mibuchi to express all his anger. Or so you thought, but you don't hear him say a word. Much to your surprise, you turn around and look at the most furious face you have ever seen on Kotaro: the anger of people who look enthusiastic and happy all the time is truly the most threatening. A shiver runs down everyone's spine, as Kotaro's green eyes stare at Mibuchi's blue ones, passing through the filter of the different body and reaching directly Nebuya's soul. No words are spoken, a situation more frightening than a verbal argument (that is not necessary, since the stare is more than eloquent). When Kotaro breaks eye contact, you can breathe a sigh of relief and try to train properly, this time without the pressure of pretending to be someone else. Each of you takes a ball, but no one has the courage to break the silence with the first dribble. You look at each other for signs of comfort, but you only encounter looks full of worry and discomfort.
"Hear me out now."
What suddenly hits you like a lightning is nothing less than a female voice, yours.
"Akashi?" – you ask, surprised to see your body enter the gym.
"You know, I really don't like to keep making up lies to save your back. All of you, without exception, have failed in the task I assigned you this morning."
"Mayuzumi was actually good. Right?" – Kotaro asks, turning towards Akashi's body.
The real Mayuzumi is about to answer, but Akashi stops him immediately.
"Don't think I didn't see you looking for every free opportunity to pull out your romantic light novels this morning."
His face immediately becomes embarrassed, wearing a guilty expression.
"I repeat to you, therefore, why we are here: to understand one another, to bind, to be more united and close. In addition, being a good team means knowing how to manage the unexpected, the most unthinkable situations, and I believe that the games we played against my teammates from the Generation of Miracles taught you that you must always expect everything from life, and know how to react promptly to those events that we could not foresee. So, while I go back to take care of your teammates, you stay here and train. At the end of the day I want you to have found at least one value or quality of the body in which you are, and that you say it to that person. Clear? (Name), I entrust them to you."
He leaves, taking the creaking door of the gym with him and leaving you alone with your thoughts. It is not easy to accomplish what he said, not easy at all, but you have to manage. In addition, he has entrusted you with control of the situation, and looking at your very strong temporary body you feel ready enough to take the reins of the situation.
"Well, you heard him. At work, guys."
In response to your exhortation, everyone puts aside the bad moods and seriously engages in training (even to avoid running into Akashi's fury, that will irreparably come at the next failure). Everyone trains in a different way, experimenting and becoming familiar with the body at their disposal. Ten minutes in and the communication between you increases, as you ask each other for information on techniques, movements and skills. Before you even realize it, it's lunchtime, and after the meal you start a new, long training session. When the parquet is tinged with the orange of the sunset, you think it's time to take stock of this day.
"Guys, in a circle."
Your friends, understanding why you asked that, do as you say.
"I'll start." – you begin. After all, someone has to set a good example when Akashi is not there – "Nebuya-kun, being in your body was not easy for me, I did not feel like it really reflected me, as it's the opposite of what I've always been. However, your strength and power are incredible: I was able to experience for the first time the thrill of a dunk, of hanging on the basket looking at the world from an even higher perspective, and your physical strength helped me make my heart stronger."
The real Nebuya blushes in Mibuchi's body, muttering a shy thank you.
"Well, Mibuchi... You are also completely different from me. When I woke up in your body I wanted to curse everything, but in the end your pale-skinned body is not so bad."
"Is it supposed to be a compliment?" – the real Mibuchi asks.
"Come on, you know I'm not good with compliments! Mmmmmh... You're very flexible, that's it. It's been a long time since I could grab half my shoe trying to stretch until I touched my toes. And I like long hair."
"Better. And as far as I'm concerned, what can I tell you, Kotaro? I thought your "super dribbles" were nothing special, but I was surprised to find out how difficult it is to do them – and not do them when you don't need them." – he adds, probably thinking back to the poor figure in the first gym – "You have more talent than I thought."
"Wow, thank you so much Reo-nee! I enjoyed being in Mayuzumi's body. It is very... grey... comparing it to my standards, but it's not bad! Oh, not the being-invisible part though, I don't like you not seeing me! I feel ignored!"
"That's the best part of having my body, Kotaro. It saves you a lot of troubles, getting rid of all those who don't really want to see you. Akashi's body, well, it's incredible. He can do everything, really, and the eye that can predict the immediate future is not a made-up legend as I thought. I was skeptical at first, thinking of a captain whose skills everyone flaunted, but seeing the situation firsthand you can't think otherwise."
With Mayuzumi's intervention your chat ends, so you leave the gym and get ready for dinner. In the hallway, you meet Akashi:
"Hello, (Name). Would you mind talking a little? There's still time before dinner."
Once you accept the offer, Akashi guides you to the roof terrace and you sit on the swing. The view of the mountains tinged with orange, red and pink leaves you breathless.
"So how was the training day?"
"Well, despite the turbulent start everything has settled down. In the end, we all collaborated and got to know each other, just as you asked."
"Have you all managed to find each other's quality?"
"Even more than one! I was very surprised by everyone. I thought they'd refuse to do something that children would do, but they all understood the importance of it and expressed their thoughts with maturity."
"Finally, I'm very glad to hear that. This means that it's only my thought that's missing ... could I tell you about it when it's all over, (Name)?"
"Huh? Oh, sure. No problem."
"Excellent. Let's go eat now."
***
The bell pierces the air and marks the beginning of the new day. You roll over in bed still sleepy, but feel somehow light, different. Remembering yesterday's tragicomic day, you jump out of bed in an instant and run to the mirror: you're you again! It's impossible to describe your joy in having your body back again: it may be a body with a few flaws here and there, but it is still yours, and now that you have experienced what it means to leave it you have even more desire to hold on to it. You prepare yourself without worries and in peace, knowing that you no longer need to impersonate anyone and that you have your clothes, your breakfast... Everything seems to be back in place. To make sure, you send a message to Akashi, who promptly replies to you:
"Yes, we are all back in our bodies. It's a bit weird that you ask me, as the guys are screaming so much that I thought everything was heard up to your room. Would you like to meet before breakfast?"
"Sure, it's okay."
"I'll wait for you in yesterday's place."
Curious to know what he has to say, you leave the room and head to the terrace, which is beautiful even with the blue sky in the early morning.
"Hi Akashi!"
"Good morning, (Name). How are you?"
"Now everything is much better, no doubt about it. It was... an experience. Absurd, but still an experience!" – you add with a laugh.
"Little but sure. Anyway, I asked you to come here to tell you what I left hanging last night."
"Ah, right. What was it like to be... well... me?"
"It made me understand so many things. Actually, understanding is not the exact term: they were all things that I already knew, it was more a confirmation. Being in your shoes made me realize how hard your task as a manager is and how well you have done it so far. Seeing your notes and being able to complete them while maintaining your excellent standard was a challenge for me, so I sincerely congratulate you."
You blush a little while thanking him.
"But apart from that, I really realized how precious you are to me: I didn't have you by my side for most of the day and I felt much more lost than I would have thought, and seeing you suffer inside a body that's not yours hurt me much more than expected. You are a truly wonderful person, both outside and inside, and all I want is to be next to you to always make you happy, to support you in every challenge you face. Will you allow me, (Name)?"
You look at Akashi's contagious smile without being able to pronounce a word. Your lips are curling up and before you know it you are already nodding with the most radiant of faces. Held in Akashi's arms, you place your lips on his, and then lay your head on the crook of his neck. In the end, as usual, Akashi was absolutely right: there was nothing better than the experience you lived yesterday to strengthen your bonds.