Kasamatsu couldn't stop thinking about the kiss on his lips. What was this feeling? It's warm on the inside and it makes him forget about everything else. He tossed and turned in his bed, unable to forget about her words too.
'She said she cares about me...' Just her words alone was able to render into a happy mess. He touched his lips, the scene of the kiss going in a loop in his head. He got out of the bed and then headed out to the balcony where he can get some fresh air. "I can't believe I ran away from Hakanai after she kissed me..." He was so embarrassed that he ended up belting off elsewhere. Will she think bad of him the next time they see one another during training?
At the bottom of the balcony there was an open garden for the guests to admire the beautifully made garden. Kise couldn't sleep so he thought he would take a stroll around the garden. He has been thinking about his loss against Aomine during the Interhigh.
"Ki~se!" Harumi too was having a nice stroll of the night garden too. She was wearing a dark blue yukata and her pink hair was let down from her usual side ponytail.
"Harumi-senpai..."
"Mind if I join you in your stroll?"
"Sure."
The two of them walked on the pebble path of the garden, talking quietly to each other so they wouldn't wake anyone up.
"Why is Senpai still up at this time?" Kise asked her.
"I got bored so I came out to have a good look at the hotel! Plus I didn't get a chance to goof off earlier."
"Senpai is diligent..."
"No, no, it's because Shiki-senpai has got 'it' back."
"What is 'it'?"
"Her paper fan. It is a weapon she has been using to hit stupid people. Fuu has been on the receiving end of it so far and I am trying to avoid it."
"It's made out of paper, it shouldn't hurt, right?" Harumi chuckled nervously after Kise said that and it confused him.
"Shiki-senpai is the one hitting the person with it so of course it will be painful..." 'I can't tell him I have first hand experience of the paper fan, he will no longer respect me if he knows of it, hahaha...'
"I-I see."
"Oh!" Harumi ran ahead and she was greeted by the many fireflies and their green glow. She looked around her, admiring them as they flew here and there. She held her palms out and a firefly ended up on it. She curled her hands slightly so the firefly will illuminate the darkness made by her hands. "Kise, look! I got one!" She ran over to him and showed him the little glowing bug.
"Woah! It really lights up!"
The firefly flew out of her hands and back to fly with the others.
"They have a very short lifespan as an adult so they have to perform their duty before they disappear." Harumi's words made Kise look at her, "Sometimes I think people lose sight of their goals and dreams. If your life was short like a firefly's, would you have stopped at nothing to pursue your dream?"
"Senpai, are you saying I lost sight of my goal?"
"Let's have a good look..." She looked at him in the eyes, blue eyes meeting golden eyes, "Hmm~! I see a very pretty girl reflected in your eyes!"
"Wha-! Senpai is a narcissist!"
"As if you can talk!"
Harumi laughed a little too loud and she caused an angry Kasamatsu to shout down from his balcony, "Hey! Do you two have any idea how loud you are flirting?! I'm telling Hakanai about this! You can meet the paper fan the next time you wake up!"
Thus, Kise's and Harumi's stroll came to a stop...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day of training consisted of running on the beach. The Kaijou boys were amazed that the girls from Aozora has the strength to run in the sand.
Kasamatsu was doing his best not to look at his right. Why can't he look at his right? Because Shiki was running beside him and her greatest assets beside her basketball skills were bouncing despite the sports bra she was wearing.
"This is wonderful, training with my little dear..." Moriyama was enjoying this very much because his beloved was training alongside him, how can he complain? "How about we have some shaved ice later?"
"I want strawberry syrup on mine." Akina was quick when it comes to sweet things. After all, summer was all about those shaved ice in her eyes.
Fuu was enjoying the morning run so much that she was running ahead of everyone, running all the way to the goal without losing her rhythm. Shiki was a little amazed; Fuu has a crazy stamina and she was able outrun all of her senpais and Kise.
'Kise is not allowed to overexert himself so he is forced to slow down his pace. That green haired girl on the other hand...' Kasamatsu thought to himself, looking at Fuu.
"Woo hoo~! Gooaaaalllll~!" Fuu was doing a victory dance, happy that she was number one to reach the goal. "Yay~! Ah! Shiki-senpai, praise me-"
"Moron! You destroyed the pace!" Fuu was slapped in the head by the paper fan. The force of the hit was so intense that Fuu ended up facepalming the sand.
Kise looked at Harumi, telepathically asking her 'Is this what you mean?!'. Seeing Kise's eyes, Harumi merely nodded and she started to pray that Fuu will be able to sustain her brain cells after each hit.
"Hakanai, can I borrow that?" Kasamatsu asked Shiki.
"Huh? What for?" She passed him the paper fan and he went over to Moriyama.
"For this! Stop flirting in the middle of training! If you want to flirt, go somewhere else and flirt!"
"Ow! Kasamatsu, what gives?!" Moriyama couldn't believe he was hit! Wasn't it usually Kise on the receiving end of Kasamatsu's lethal hits?!
"Eh?" Natsuhi looked around and realized her friend was missing, "Where is Fuyu?"
"Where is Hayakawa?" Nakamura pointed out that they were missing one Kaijou member too.
Since they were missing two people, everyone decided to pair up and look for them.
"Hayakawa and Yukihime are always missing together. It's like they're secretly dating by going missing." Kobori then realized that he was alone with Natsuhi and he noticed just how beautiful she looked in the summer sun.
"Kobori-kun, doesn't that mean we are also secretly dating? I mean, we are alone together and so are they..."
"Eh?! I... Um, secretly dating is a little weird!"
"How so?"
"You shouldn't keep it a secret if there is nothing shameful about such a thing in the first place." Natsuhi chuckled; Kobori's words were very cute and sweet, just like his person.
"Say, what happened back on Akina's birthday... Did you really enjoy it?"
"Oh god you are talking about that..." Kobori still hasn't forgotten about the humiliation of that day and how Kasamatsu destroyed what looked like a good atmosphere with a single shout of 'Oppai'. Kobori didn't know where to start to talk to Natsuhi about. Now that he think about it, if Natsuhi was there on that day it would have been a lot easier. "Honestly, it's hard to pick up girls off the street like that."
"You're just taking the normal approach, that's all." Natsuhi laughed a little at how embarrassed he looked when talking about that day, "Those girls only had eyes on Kise. Even if Kasamatsu didn't say 'Oppai', it wouldn't have exactly turned out the way you guys would have hoped."
"Hahaha! I was thinking that too."
"Were any of those girls your type?"
"Not really. Honestly, I was glad to see you after suffering the humiliation!" Natsuhi blushed at his words and smiled to herself.
"Y-you were?"
"Yeah! I know you wouldn't laugh at me even if I ask if you want to drink a cup of tea with me!" Was he coming on a little too strong?! He heard from Moriyama that coming on strong was a good thing but Kasamatsu said otherwise... Which one was right?!
Natsuhi linked arms with Kobori, "I would have said yes to you any day."
Kobori smiled at her sweet words, "Tsuyu-san, would you like to have a cup of tea with me?"
"I'd love to."
Elsewhere, a rather happy go lucky Fuu was shouting for her blue haired senpai. She was paired up with Nakamura to search for their missing teammates.
"Shinya-senpai, what do you think they would be doing?"
"I don't know. It's kind of strange Hayakawa is not here... I mean, it's hard not to notice he's gone..."
"You don't think he learnt stealth and stole Fuyu-senpai, did you?!"
"I doubt that Leu...ng?" He found it very hard to pronounce her family name right and Fuu can see that.
"Just Fuu is fi-" Fuu's mouth was covered by Nakamura's mouth because the glasses boy found Hayakawa and Fuyu together by the shaved ice stand. He hid himself from being seen so he can listen to their conversation.
"Snow P(r)incess, (l)et me put it in!"
"No. It's too big and you will crush me."
'What kind of conversation are they talking about?! Sexual harrassment?!' Nakamura and Fuu were both freaking out!
Nakamura started to sneak away with Fuu, going to find the others to stop Hayakawa's eagerness.
Fuyu wasn't feeling too well and Hayakawa helped her sit out of the sun's strong rays. He was nursing her and kept her company no matter what, even if she got a nosebleed.
"You need to shove this in!" He rolled up a rather huge tissue for her to prevent the blood from flowing out but Fuyu refused to use it because she said it was too big.
"Hiro, you'll end up hurting me more."
"I wi(ll) be gent(l)e!"
"I am sorry that Hayakawa is always causing trouble for Yukihime." Kasamatsu said to Shiki, "I'll be sure to hit him for you."
"With the paper fan."
"With the paper fan." Kasamatsu smiled a little, "I'm amazed you girls can follow the pace that we set. You have my respect, Hakanai."
Shiki felt a sense of pride in Kasamatsu's words and that made her smile; it made her feel that she was part of his pride too.
"Kasamatsu, I realize you are hilarious."
Kasamatsu looked at her with a confused look; hilarious? That word and Kasamatsu himself was a juxtaposition!
"W-why would you think that?"
"You do a complete 180 degrees character change the moment you are within range with a different girl."
"T-that is none of your business!" He refused to amuse her and he quickened his step to stay away from her.
"Hey, how about I give you a hand?"
"W-what? Hand?"
"It's embarrassing to see you, a boy and a captain, to be afraid of girls... I'll help you out." Shiki decided to openly claim she will help him conquer his fear of girls. Unlike the boys, she was very confident she can help him. Why was she confident? She kissed him and he was able to talk to her, that was the first step to recovery. "Plus, I care about you enough to not let you suffer in silence. Aren't I kind?"
"Hakanai..."
"Captain!" "Shiki-senpai!"
"Oh? It's Nakamura and the hyperactive kid..." Kasamatsu was a little glad they came on time to kill his blushing face.
"Shiki-senpai, Hayakawa-senpai is trying to defile Fuyu-senpai!" Fuu explained to Shiki.
Kasamatsu and Shiki reacted like the captains they were; one to beat up his own teammate and the other to rescue her teammate...