A/N: Dedicated to: animeandmanga4life for all those votes! I was really happy that you enjoyed all those chapters :) Thank you!! <3
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I face-palmed myself. Kiyoshi had lost against Kagami…
All because the teme wore indoor shoes. I wanted. To. Slowly. Strangle. The. Dumbass. I began to mutter incantations under my breath, slowly scaring everyone.
“M-Masami-chan? A-are you o-okay?” Koganei asked. I glared up at Kiyoshi, who was sheepishly smiling.
“You suck.”
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I sat on the bench, watching the practice match against Tokushin. It was the first-years playing against them, with the second-years and me sitting down. I stared glumly at Riko who wasn’t fazed by my sad look.
“No means no, Masami-chan. You’re still in the wheelchair and you don’t have your wig with you today.” Riko firmly stated. I whimpered pitifully then proceeded to watch the game continue. Our score seems pretty low… but we won by 2 points.
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“This year, at the beginning and end of summer vacation, we’ll be taking two trips – to the beach and to the mountains!” Riko announced. I was bouncing on my feet, happy to be free from the constricting chair.
“The qualifiers for the Winter Cup start right after summer vacation ends!” Hyuga added in. They continued to inform us about the Winter Cup until Riko left, saying that she had to go inform the teachers about our plans.
The moment Riko left, Hyuga called us over again with a serious expression.
“We’re currently facing grave danger. In order to make two trips this year, we chose cheap lodgings.” I see where this is going…poor us. The captain continued, “We’ll have to make our own food, which is where our problem lies. Coach will be…”
The second-years all visibly gulped.
“ – cooking for us! It was so bad! Remember the Touou game? You saw her honey-soaked lemons!” Hyuga cried. Kiyoshi stroked his chin.
“That’s not cooking anymore.”
“W-why don’t we cook?” Furihata questioned. Izuki shook his head.
“Practice is so brutal, no one can move at night.” I chuckled as Mitobe was clearly frightened.
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Riko had us all sit down for her tasting. Everyone was muttering among themselves, too frightened to tell Riko that her cooking sucked. I sat on the stool, drumming my fingers on the counter.
“Hai! It’s done!” Riko beamed. She served us curry with chunks of vegetable sitting on top of the rice. “Just ignore how it looks! It should taste fine!”
The boys – their brave souls – took a bite and were instantly grossed out. I could hear their inner voices shouting out “IT’S SO BAD!”
“The rice is soft like porridge!”
“These crisp uncooked vegetables are like a salad! And the meat is raw!!”
“The sauce is mysteriously bitter and sour!”
“This is a massacre of flavour!”
“Let me know if you want seconds!” Riko said cheerfully. When no one replied, she looked down dejectedly. “It wasn’t very good, was it?” She hid her hands behind her back, but not before I caught a glimpse of her bandaged fingers. I instantly felt terrible so being the (wo)man that I was, I began to shovel the food into my mouth. Hyuga also began to lift his spoon up, eating the terrible concoction.
Riko watched in awe as Hyuga and I continued to eat. I finished before he did and stood up.
“Thanks for the meal, Riko-chan!” I beamed a smile at her, giving her my signature thumbs-up. “The flavour was really interesting!” I chuckled, getting up to leave. Hyuga copied me, “Thanks for the food. It tasted good, but it was a little spicy. I’m going to get something to drink.” Hyuga opened the door for me and we both walked out. The moment the door slid close, Hyuga collapsed onto the cold floor, crying.
“It was so terrible! I feel sick!” He whispered, tears flowing down his cheeks. I grimaced, feeling a bit nauseated myself. I dragged Hyuga down the hallway, pausing every so often to catch a breath.
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[3rd POV in the kitchen]
What men! You guys are such men! Even Masami-chan ate it all and she’s a girl! Everyone remaining in the kitchen began to admire Hyuga, Kiyoshi and Masami for finishing Riko’s food like brave people.
Seconds later, Izuki stepped out the door. “Hyuga? Masami? EH?!” He found Hyuga face-down on the floor with Masami looking quite green next to their fallen captain.
“I feel sick, Izuki!” Masami wailed.
Back inside the kitchen, the remaining people who were alive began to debate who would teach Riko how to cook. Soon enough, Kagami got up, grabbing a pan, and began to make his own stir-fry. It was time for Kagami to show Riko what he was made of…good food.
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“I smell the beach!”
“We must reach it quicky!”
“Izuki, shut up…”
“Let’s swim!”
“Yeah!”
“This is training camp, dumbasses!”
Riko and I shared a glance, chuckling softly. A black car pulled up behind us, causing us all to turn around. The window slowly rolled down, revealing Riko’s dad.
“Brats,” he lowered his sunglasses. “Lay a hand on my daughter, and I’ll kill you.”
“Y-yes, sir!” The boys saluted, clearly terrified of Riko’s father. I laughed, waving at Aida-san. “Thanks, Aida-san!”
“Ne, what are those?” Izuki asked, pointing at something behind us.
We turned around to find a basketball court…on the sand. Riko chuckled evilly, stroking her chin.
“Huh? Oh those? Fufufu, my dad brought those here for me.” I grinned, pulling my basketball out of my duffel bag.
“Let’s play aready!” Hyuga punched down on my head.
“Baka, listen to Coach!”
I glowered at him, pouting. “But I already know why we’re at the beach…” Riko arched an eyebrow at me.
“Oh ho! We have another girl who is intelligent! Unlike you guys… Tell the team why we’re at the beach for camp!”
“To play!” I smartly joked, earning another punch to the head. “O-oi! I was kidding! The sand will strengthen our legs and hips, seeing as the sand isn’t firm or concrete like what we are used to.” Riko nodded her head proudly.
“We’ll start by doing three times the normal amount of practice!” She stripped off her top and the guys squeaked. “Let’s get this training camp from hell started!”
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“I can’t move at all!” Kagami growled. Mitobe took the chance and passed the ball to Hyuga. Seeing that Kuroko was open, Hyuga deftly tossed it to the blue-haired teen.
“Over here!” Koganei shouted. Kuroko used his misdirection and bounced the ball on the sand. The ball sank into the sand, causing Kagami and Hyuga to stare at Kuroko disbelievingly.
“Kuroko, you can’t bounce your passes!” Hyuga roared, a vein popping out.
The ball was then in the hands of Izuki who threw it over to Kagami.
“Dunk it!” The blue team shouted. Kagami’s feet pounded hard on the sand, creating indents as he charged for the basket.
“Raaaaaarrrr!” He jumped, going for the dunk only to fall short onto the sand. I roared with laughter as Kagami laid in the sand face-down.
“Is dunking the only thing you can do, Bakagami?” I laughed. He growled at me as I pushed myself onto his shoulders with my hands.
“Hai, hai! We’ll be moving into the gym in the evening!” Riko shouted. Everyone sighed a breath of relief as we all thought the same thing: dry, hard ground and air-conditioning.
“Hyuga!” I twisted past Mitobe and passed the ball to Hyuga. His sneakers squeaked on the polished floors and an amazed look on his face appeared. He has a way better than he usually does… I noted. Not only that, but everyone’s movements have improved! It’s more certain and the muscles aren’t too taut. My theories were correct. I grinned when Kagami pulled off a lay-up easily. This is exactly what we need.
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The next morning my muscles were all aching. I grudgingly got up to brush my teeth. Kuroko and Kagami were already there, brushing their teeth. Their eyes widened at the sight of me I in the spacious restroom with them.
“Ehh?! What are you doing in here?!” Kagami shouted. I yawned, stretching my arms up. My t-shirt rode up a bit, exposing my bare stomach.
Rubbing my eyes, I replied, “There isn’t a sign separating the rooms, so I just came in here. It’s not like there’s a bath or shower in here.”
“Masami-san, there are toilets here. What if a male was in here?” Kuroko asked. I raised an eyebrow at him.
“I’d either wait until he finished or tell him to go into a stall.” Suddenly, the three of us heard voices echo in the hall outside the bathroom. We walked outside to investigate.
“This place is a dump. Are we really staying here? I feel like I’m going to see a ghost.” At that moment the two people that I least expected to see waltzed into the area – Midorima and Takao.
“Shut up, Takao.” Midorima and Takao paused in their walk, slowly turning around. When they saw us, they shrieked.
“Gahh!” Midorima, Takao and Kagami shouted. Kuroko and I stood there, watching them interact.
“What are you doing here?” Midorima demanded, pointing at Kagami.
“I could ask you the same thing!” Kagami huffed. Takao grinned amusedly at their expressions.
“Shutoku has a long tradition of coming here to train together,” he explained. Midorima continued to glare at Kagami, not noticing that I was there. “And here you are enjoying your vacation! What’s with the tan?!”
“We’re not on vacation!”
“Huh?” Midorima looked at Kagami with a confused expression.
“Hey! We’re all waiting for you three in the cafeteria!” Riko stood at the end of the hallway with a bloodied knife and red dye splattered over her apron, shirt, neck and face.
“GAH!” The four boys exclaimed. I tried to contain my laughter, but then I had to laugh. I giggled, catching the Shutoku boys’ attention.
“WHEN WERE YOU THERE?!”
A beat later, Takao’s face had a scatter of light pink on his cheeks. “Who are you?”
I smirked at Midorima, winking at him. “Midorima knows, but it’s a secret.”
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“For today, we’re going to be practicing with Shutoku High!” Riko announced in the gym. Mitobe stood next to me, helping me fix my red wig. The starting players stepped onto the court as I pouted on the bench. Riko sent a glance at my way, smiling.
“Oh, Kagami-kun, wait. I want you to go buy drinks for everyone! Run on the beach to the convenience store 500 meters away!” Riko ordered cheerfully. “Give your jersey to Masa-kun.”
“EH??!” Kagami exclaimed. He narrowed his eyes at me as I smiled sweetly at him. Blowing a kiss at Kagami, he stared at me, blushing. “T-tch.” I took his blue jersey and slipped it on.
“Practice, start!”