They sat at the same table again, playing the same game like the old times. Many students found this odd as their head Councillor said that he'll only play one person, who is Sawada Tsunayoshi. Everyone in the school knows the closeness of the red and brunet heads so when the blond came in abruptly, they were pretty shocked.
Despite all that, the two friends still played as per normal.
"Say, Tsuna, do you want your seat back?" Akashi suggested as he moved his rook two tiles forward.
Tsuna's fingers seemed to freeze for a moment before moving his pawn. "No way. I'm not going to sit there and look at the paperwork again."
Akashi hummed and thought in silence. "How about being our manager?"
"I'm horrid at sports!" Tsuna protested.
"I see the opposite though." Akashi took out the brunet's record. "Let's see... 1st at Track and Field, Scored 50 within 20 minutes into the basketball game, 2 goals for soccer in one game, Second place in Tennis, Third place in Badminton, the list goes on and on. Care to explain?"
"I'll get killed by my tutor if I don't..." He mumbled under his breath, which did not get past the Emperor's ear.
"I see, all forced. Makes you a better candidate." Akashi mused, his lips curved up into a smirk. Tsuna gulped and created a comedy scene for all to see. He jumped up of his chair and ran.
"Akashi's a demon! No! I don't want to be the Manager!" He ran past the group of regulars (Chihiro graduated) who stared at him stunned. Later, a gust of wind blew by, saying "stay where you are Natsu!" Not that the voice was not recognizable, it was definitely their two presidents. Mibuchi merely laughed, pushing the others forward instead of displaying their enthusiasm to help their captain.
"That was Tsunayoshi, right?" Nebuya and Kotaro could not help but ask.
"That blond hair and out of the world orange eyes? It can't be~" Mibuchi sang.
~The next day~
Akashi carried a huge struggling luggage around the school, looking for the head coach. "Oi, Seijuuro! What's with you kidnapping me early in the morning?"
"We're going to see the head coach. My orders are absolute!"
"No! I don't want to be the manager! I don't want to be in the team in the first place!" The sack kept punching near the red head's feet, challenging him to stop. Not that the Emperor did.
"One game of chess! If not, I won't join!" Akashi stopped and opened his sack. The blond emerged from inside, his face red due to the lack of oxygen and the 'needed' struggling. "Promise?"
"If you win, I'll join as a manager and as a bonus, a player. If I win, you will have to keep me out of it. Of course, if I become a player, I would have terms and conditions such as allow me to leave when I need to. Also, don't push me for warm-ups, I have plenty already." His eyes burned in resolve. Akashi smirked and rose up for the challenge. "You're on.
But first, let me gather the rest."
As soon as the regulars and the coach arrived, there is already a table set up with Chess pieces placed in position. The two main players were glaring at each other, ready to crush each other. The air was so heavy, they can feel themselves choking.
"Manager?"
"Never."
And the pattern went on for the next hour when the moves they make leads to checkmate. None of them fell into each other's pace.
"Manager?"
"No."
"Too bad," the red head smirked as he moved the black queen piece in front of the white king. "It's checkmate."
There was a resounding thud made by the blond on the other end. He did not faint, he just slammed his head against the table comically. Akashi patted the fluffy head sympathetically. "Welcome to the team, Sawada Natsuyoshi."