After hours of looking for the right dress, Sayuri finally found one that she thought was 'good
enough'.
As a kid, Sayuri was an absolute tom-boy. She disliked dresses, skirts, and anything with the colour pink on it.
She would even go as far as to tease Akashi for his 'girly' hair colour, naively mistaking the fierce red hue for a dark pink.
But as she grew up, her mother would dress her up formally and got her to look presentable for their business partners. After all, she was the Hamasaki's only daughter.
Rina was pleased about the dress choice, and she was quite proud that Sayuri learned a thing or two about styling.
She was now rambling on about what hairstyle she was going to do on her and what type of curling iron she'd use.
Sayuri shifts her attention to the contents of her shopping bag and smiled when she saw the item that she particularly picked for Akashi.
The moment her eyes landed on it behind the glass window, she knew she had to get it for him.
As they walked down the busy streets, Sayuri couldn't help but notice the handful of couples
lounging around the shops and restaurants hand in hand. Somehow she felt envious. She never had a relationship with a guy before and it was stirring up her curiosity.
There must be a reason why people uphold the saying; 'love will make you crazy,' the thought ran through her mind.
She blushed when the idea of being in a relationship with Midorima crossed her mind and she blushed even harder imagining herself walking hand in hand with him. It brought uncontrollable grins to erupt and she was unable to hide the rush of excitement she felt, so much so that Rina noticed her from the corner of her eye.
"Sayu-chan?" she questioned, raising her eyebrows suspiciously at her, "What's the matter?"
Sayuri shook her head and gave her a reassuring smile, "Nothing. Don't worry about it."
Rina eyed her suspiciously, "Um, okay. If you say so."
After talking a quick snack at Maji's, the two young ladies decided to head home and call it a day. They said their quick farewells and headed their separate ways.
As she walked through the dead-quite neighbourhood, she couldn't help but shiver under the night breeze. She hated quiet places. It somehow made her feel like she was the only human existing in the world. Maybe it was familiarity, but she was so used to having Akashi by her side.
She hated to admit it, but she regretted not listening to Akashi's lectures about getting home before the sun goes down.
Of course, she had to forgot -again- to remind her driver to pick her up from the city, and conveniently, her phone's battery was drained, thanks to the endless selfies Rina and her took that day.
She shivered at the thought of Akashi saying the words; "You're so irresponsible Sayuri" while shooting her that signature glare of his.
If her father finds out about this, he'll most probably go berserk.
It wasn't that she hated walking. It was the fact that she'd have to eventually walk through that side of her neighbourhood.
There was pin-drop silence out there. Not a single cricket singing its late-night song, not one fearsome howl from a guard dog, not even a sound of the swaying of trees.
Her hatred for silence was the reason why she childishly did a little sprint towards her house which was thankfully not too far from where she was.
As she stopped to catch her breath, she passed by the Akashi's residence. The sound of squeaking shoes against the rubber floor and the vibration of a bouncing ball fills her ears. She notices a half-naked redhead playing basketball by himself on his mansion's basketball court.
Oh how his fangirls would react seeing him like this; she thought.
She let out a sigh of relief knowing that she wouldn't have to suffer from the deafening silence of the neighbourhood.
She ran towards the mansion's metal gate. "Seijuro!" she shouted, trying to catch his attention.
The redhead swiftly scooped up his basketball in his arms and turned around to find out where the voice was coming from. When he noticed a waving Sayuri, his expression quickly changed from irritation to his usual poker face.
"Sayuri, what are you doing there all alone?" he questioned, eyeing the blonde suspiciously.
She felt nervousness gush through her body.
She scratched the back of her head and let out a subtle laugh.
"Uhh, well..."
She didn't want to tell him the reason she was alone because she was a hundred per cent sure that he would give her another hard-hitting lecture.
"Uh, I just went go shopping with Rina-chan earlier-" she explained, unsure of her answer.
"And you're walking home. Alone?" he commented sarcastically and let out a deep sigh, "Can you start being more responsible? Seriously, how hard is it to call your driver?" he lectured.
Sayuri quietly swore under her breath.
Of course he would guess it right, she thought while looking up at him with an innocent grin on her face.
"I still wonder why you're not a psychic," she joked, grinning sheepishly at him.
He walked towards the gate and unlocked it from inside. He bobbed his head towards the right indicating that she should enter.
"Oh, it's fine, I won't stay for too long. Father will probably get home soon anyway," she said, giving him a reassuring smile.
He nodded and proceeded to lock the gate.
As he was walking back to the basketball court, Sayuri suddenly remembered the item that she
bought for him earlier.
"Wait, Sei!" she shouted, causing him to turn his attention towards her.
"What?" he responded flatly.
"I got something for you," she revealed while searching her shopping bag.
She quickly found the item and held it up for him to see. Dangling from her finger was a black Shogi piece keychain with the words ōshō or 'king general' carved onto it.
"What do you think?" she asked while placing the keychain on the palm of his hand.
"I have the same one in white!" she revealed as she took her Shogi piece out of her pocket to show him.
He stared at the piece, eyeing it carefully before mumbling the words 'thanks'. He gave her one last look before lazily signaling her to go home already.
She could have sworn she noticed his smile from the corner of her eyes.
She chuckled quietly and walked towards her house.
At least I got a reaction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pretty long chapter huh?
Ooooo, maybe Akashi has developed feelings for Sayuri?
Read on the found out ;)