"Natsuhi-senpai, if a guy asks you to have tea with him as a way to hit on you, would you say yes to him?" Harumi asked Natsuhi.
"Me? Is there a problem with the tea?" Natsuhi's too nice to say no to someone and she really can't see the problem with a man asking a lady to have tea with them as a pick up method at all.
"W-well, no..."
"Then there you go."
"But isn't it weird for someone to suddenly ask you to have tea with him?" Fuyu asked, "I don't think people like that exist..."
"It's a good thing Akina's Dad allow us to use the cafe to celebrate." Shiki put down a plate of sliced watermelons with Akina.
It's been some day since Aozora's victory at the Interhigh and they're spending time with each other at Maple Cafe that belonged to the Kaede family.
"Hmm... There is an orgy in my mouth~." Akina lazily said, munching on the sweet taste of the popular summer fruit.
"Akina-senpai, isn't your boyfriend coming today?" Harumi asked her.
"I've sent a message to him."
"That boyfriend of yours is a little late isn't he? When did you send him a message?" Shiki asked her.
"Once every hour."
"And he is not even replying?! That does it!" Shiki will personally grab that Shooting Guard from Kaijou; how dare he ignore Akina on this very special day?!
"Senpai, wait up!" Harumi followed Shiki.
"Shiki!" Natsuhi know Shiki will end up murdering Moriyama if she's not there to hold her back so she had to go along.
"Fuyu, go with them. Natsuhi alone won't be able to hold Shiki back." Akina said to the blue haired girl, "I'll stay in case Yoshitaka arrives."
"T-then..." Fuyu got going too, following everyone else.
"I wonder what Yoshitaka is doing..."Akina helped herself to to the sliced watermelons, "I hope he shows up..."
When it comes to looking for people, Shiki was an expert at it. Why? Because as the heiress to a Yakuza family, she has a way of being able to make use of people who followed her Father before he passed away.
"They are at Joseph? Okay. Keep an eye on them for me." Luckily for her, she has pinned down Kaijou's current location with ease.
"It's so amazing how Shiki-senpai is able to tell people what to do with just one phone call!" Harumi was fangirling because Shiki was too cool in her eyes.
"Why are they at a family restaurant?" Natsuhi asked Shiki.
"Fuck knows. All I know is there will be a murder scene there unless that guy gives me a good explanation..." Shiki was serious about murdering Moriyama, she was not joking in any way...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kise was able to bring a win to the team because he was the only one able to get girls to hang out with them. Their last three attempts to pick up girls failed in a epic way and they have finally took the win.
"Moriyama-senpai, you still haven't told me why you are hitting on other girls when you already have a girlfriend yourself..." Kise asked the Shooting Guard, "Are you okay?"
"You see, she is not really interested in me." Moriyama was finally explaining his reasons, "She is seeing another guy behind my back and I do not appreciate girls who would hurt a guy's pure heart."
"Wha- Your girlfriend doesn't seem like the type to cheat. In fact, she looks like she is too lazy to even think about cheating!" Kise defended Akina, "Are you sure you didn't misunderstand-EH?!" Kise looked at Kasamatsu to see the other was looking like a robot running out of gas; he was so stiff and shaking!
"W-w—w-w-w-w-what?!"
"I'm the one who wants to ask that! Are you okay?!"
"W-who knows..." Kasamatsu shakingly grabbed the glass of iced coffee, the drink and the ice cubes were falling to the table because of the severe shaking.
Kise panicked because he has never seen his senpai like this before! Why was this happening?!
"Senpai, calm down! Your cup! Put your cup down! I'll wipe it for you!" Kise went to get some paper towels to soak up the spilled drink while Hayakawa picked up the freezing cold ice cubes and disposed of them.
When Kise questioned Kasamatsu his reasons for shaking badly, Kobori explained to Kise that Kasamatsu actually has a fear of talking to girls and he hardly spoke to one within school. Kise found it very hard to believe since Kasamatsu was able to play basketball against the Aozora girls without any issues! Why would he have issues with normal girls?!
"I-I... I see them as basketball players...b-b-b-b-b-before normal girls..."
"Wha?! Seriously?!" Was that even possible?! "I know! Imagine those girls also play basketball! That way, you won't be nervous!"
Kasamatsu shook his head in a frantic manner, "It doesn't work like that! I know they are not basketball players! It won't work!"
"Huh?!"
"You see, it doesn't work like that." Kobori explained, "So now when he tries to talk to one, he will get extremely nervous."
Hayakawa started tearing up and he shouted beside Kasamatsu's ear, "Captain, I am a(lr)eady going to c(r)y!!" Hayakawa's shouting was able to bring back the usual Kasamatsu back to the surface for a brief second but he was struck in the face by an uppercut before his captain's nervousness took over.
"T-This is nothing! I...I am also a man! I will definitely talk to them today!" Taking a deep breath, Kasamatsu ushered out a confident 'Okay!' as if he's preparing to take on his opponents.
'He is NOT okay!' Everyone thought to themselves.
"Then, which girl do you like?" Upon hearing Moriyama's question, Kasamatsu lowered the volume of his own voice because he was very nervous.
"The right most..." His face was steaming up and he wished there was a way he can disappear from here and return home where he will be the safest.
"Right most? Ah! The big breasted girl of them all..." He then deduced the reason why Kasamatsu liked the big breasted girl, "I see now why you are interested in talking to Hakanai Shiki..."
"Eh?"
"So, you like big boobs." Kasamatsu nearly choked on his own spit when Moriyama said it that way. That's not the only reason! Shiki has a lot of things to be inetrested about besides her body! Not that he will deny that her body looked great...
"Don't lump Hakanai into this mess!"
"Look on the bright side, there is a girl here you like. You have to be nice to her!"
"F-fine..." Kasamatsu shrunk into his chair.
From another table, Shiki and the girls were spying on the guys.
"I see... Moriyama is the ringleader to picking up girls. Okay, he will be the first to die." Shiki sipped the glass of juice, "I can't believe Kasamatsu joined in!"
"Why is he picking up girls when he's got Akina?" Natsuhi wasn't sure whether she or Fuyu should even hold SHiki back; no matter how one would look at it, Moriyama's at fault here and he needed to be punished!
"I wonder where those girls-" Fuyu finally saw the girls coming out of the toilets and she can see that they all dolled themselves up. "They have dolled themselves so much that they didn't look like their original faces!" Fuyu was gobsmacked at the sight.
The boys all looked shocked; compare to the levels before, they have leveled up! Fake eyelashes, smooth skin and sparkling lips, curled hair, and acting innocent as the top buttons of their shirts all opened to expose the chest!
Kasamatsu was even nervous than before!
The girls went to get their own drinks, giving the boys time to prepare themselves and collect a clear mind.
Once the girls returned to the table with their own drinks, they suggested that the boys should say 'Kanpai' (Cheers) and get the chitchat started. However, when they suggested that, they eyed Kise at once wanting him to do the honors.
"U-um... Then, let's have Kasamatsu-senpai do it-"
Kasamatsu stood up, no longer shaking. Kise thought his senpai was being reliable at a crucial time like this but he didn't realize that wasn't the case.
'He is so nervous that he can't shake anymore!' Shiki was able to see the problem straight off the bat.
Kasamatsu raised his drink in the air and...
"Oppai! (Big Boobs)"
Somehow, 'Kanpai' became 'Oppai'. The girls who were sat opposite them did not find it amusing at all.
"Oppai!!! Eh?" Hayakawa realized something wasn't right with that one and he looked at Kasamatsu with a questioning look.
"I thought he was dignified..." One of the girls muttered.
"He is a pervert..."
"Such a handsome face too, what a waste..."
"I can't believe Kise-kun is friends with that guy..."
"I didn't think he would be this open about it..."
Kasamatsu wanted to die on the spot. Will somebody come and kill him to put him out of his misery?
The girls from Kaijou's table left with a very uncomfortable impression on Kaijou's captain.
"Pfft! Ahahahahaha!!!!" Harumi's laughter directed all attention to the table she and her friends were and she was hitting the table so much. "Oh my god! That was hilarious! Hahaha! Is he serious?! That is how he's going to pick up girls?! Hahahaha!"
"Harumi-senpai!" Kise didn't think she would be here, "Senpai, when were you here?"
"Enough to watch the whole thing~."
"Eh... I am embarrassed!"
"Not as embarrassed as that guy." Harumi pointed at Kasamatsu.
Shiki went over to Kasamatsu and took his drink from his hold and put a hand on his raised arm to put it down again. Kasamatsu was so frozen that he was not capable of basic function anymore.
"Hakanai..."
"What? No need to be embarrassed that you like big boobs. You are a guy after all..."
"Please kill me."
"In your dreams. The one I am killing is Moriyama."
"Eh?!" Moriyama was in trouble?!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Akina went out for a walk, tired of waiting at her Dad's cafe. She was lonely and she wondered if her relationship with Moriyama was even worth keeping anymore. Maybe she was dumped by him without a single message...
"Happy Birthday..." She was telling that to herself; today's her birthday and Moriyama's not here to tell her that.
Moriyama was running while trying to get a hold of Akina from his cell phone. The call would not pick up and he saw no one at the cafe when he went there.
'Akina...!'
"The fuck?! Akina didn't cheat on you, dipshit! The guy with her was Ying and he is a servant to us, nothing more." Shiki explained to him, "Akina has no feelings for the guy, he just insisted of holding her bags for her."
Moriyama's jaw dropped; his girlfriend didn't cheat and he has been giving her the cold shoulders...
"You are a dick, Moriyama, you need a condom on your head."
"I..."
"I think you should go and tell her about the misunderstanding you have. Today is her birthday and she wanted you to tell her that." Natsuhi thought he was an idiot too but she accepted the fact that her best friend liked this idiot so the least they can do was make him less idiotic.
"Akina!"
Moriyama found Akina on the pedestrian bridge. She was watching the cars driving by without a care in the world, choosing to ignore Moriyama. The Shooting Guard smiled a little and went over to her. She gave him a glance and then ignored him by choice again.
"Your friends and I had a long chat."
"I see." Akina was aloof as usual.
"Aki-" He looked at her to see tears flowing down her aloof face. 'Has she been bottling her feelings up? She's suffering because I was afraid of asking her about what I misunderstood...'
"I-I'm fine-" Moriyama didn't let her finish her sentence and pulled her into an embrace.
"I'm here now. I believe I owe you some words of my own..."
"I don't want to hear them." Somehow, he knew that was a fib.
"I'm sorry..."
"I don't care." That was a lie.
"I love you."
"I don't believe you..." That was another lie
"Happy Birthday, my sweet heart." Akina looked at him to see a kind smile on his face, not expecting to hear him tell her that when she hasn't told him a thing. Maybe her friends told him?
"Yoshitaka..." There was a part of he who told her to ignore him but there was a part of her who wanted to forgive him.
An idea popped into his head and he lifted her right hand, making her palm face upwards.
"The heart line runs horizontally across the upper palm. Look, you have two heart lines, this good indication suggest excellent luck in relationships... In-in terms of marriage, you will be happy and prosperous." The perks of knowing how to read palm lines was finally put to use! He was so proud of himself! "I will be successful and supportive for you."
"W-why are you including yourself into my palm reading?"
"I want to be your spouse."
"Huh? What are you talking about..." She looked away with a slight shade on her face. The sadness completely taken over by embarrassment and happiness at the same time.
"If you don't mind me, I'll be yours only..." Moriyama finished his words with a sweet kiss to the lips.