Teiko arc continuation
The junior high tournament was getting closer as the players of Teiko needed to prep themselves;
however, they still need to pass their exams.
"Midorin, may I see your results?" Momoi, who was in charge of checking the players exams, asked.
"Here" He handed her the papers as she then examined it.
"You passed all of them, good work!!" She cheered and returned the exams.
"Now, Aomine-kun, let me see"
He grunted as he gave her his exams.
". . . well, I'm not surprised that you stink at academics"
"Oi, SATSUKI!" He exclaimed.
"You have to retake the exams you failed at. Jeez, you only passed P.E" She sighed.
"Ki-chan, you too"
"Alright alright," Kise sulked.
"What about Akashi? You're not scolding him!" Aomine complained.
"I'm the top student in the grade, so that is out of the question," Akashi casually smiled.
"What about you, Sacchin?" Murasakibara asked.
"I'm number four!" She replied
"I'm right in the middle. . ." Kuroko said.
"How average"
Just then, Rindou walked into the gym.
"Hello, Kaeriin!"
"Yo, senpai. What's with the gathering?" She asked.
"We have to make sure everyone passed their exams before the tournament" Momoi explained and held out her hands.
Rindou stared for a second, "W-What?"
"I need to see your results, silly!"
"Results. . .--is that what the yellow envelope was for?" Rindou asked.
"Yikes, I threw it in the dumpster"
"WHA--WHY??"
"I didn't know that they were important"
"Hurry up and go find it!" Momoi yelled.
"Yeah. . ." Rindou started walking.
"You have to run!!"
Rindou tensed up before running nerdishly at the speed of 3 miles per hour and stopped after five seconds.
She wiped off the sweat from her forehead, "Time for a break" She panted.
"YOU DIDN'T EVEN GET MUCH DISTANCE!!" Aomine yelled.
"Most importantly, you run like a nerd. . ." Kise sighed.
"Kaeriin, stop fooling around~" Momoi touched Rindou's shoulder before yanking it away, "Guah! You're actually drenched in sweat!!"
"Rindou-san, please just take your time" Kuroko said.
****
Rindou finally retrieved her exam results and handed them to Momoi.
"Ah--! You're amazing Kaeriin! You got over 90 on English, Literature, and Geography!"
"Nice work, Rindocchi" Kise grinned.
"Rindocchi?" She repeated in her mind and slightly smiled.
"Oh, thank you" She replied.
"Eh?" Momoi's eyes went dull in utter shock when she flipped to the next pages to see that Rindou got a D in both Biology and Math.
Akashi sweatdropped, "Well, everyone (except me) has their worst subjects."
"You're only human" Kuroko stated.
Momoi flipped to the last page as she stood there in dead silence, "How....?"
Everyone looked at her, "what"
"How does one get a solid 0 in P.E?!?!" She yelled.
"What the hell???"
"Yikes! Is that even possible?" Murasakibara asked.
"P.E is literally an easy A! How does someone get a f**cking 0 on it??" Midorima said.
"Honestly, all you have to do is participate. . ." Akashi added.
"I'll explain. . ." Rindou said, "I was about to take the test and I was so close to doing the long jump, but then I gave up and ran away to hide in the closet"
"Jesus christ, Kaeri. . . That score just straight up bothers me as an athlete" Aomine grunted.
"At least she didn't fail every single subject" Midorima said.
Akashi put his hand up to his chin, "Her academic skills aren't the best while her stamina and physical skill are the worst, so why would the coach move her in with us? It doesn't make sense to me"
Coach Shirogane walked into the gym with Coach Sanada following behind him.
"So, Momoi-san, did everyone pass their exams?" Coach Shirogane asked with his typical smile.
"Well, Aomine and Ki-chan needs to retake them" She nervously replied.
"Ah, maybe I'll help you two study; and if you get something wrong, you'll get a punishment of 100 pushups" He said as dark aura started forming around him.
"I-I promise to pass the retake! There's really no need for that!!" Kise panicked.
"I'd rather die" Aomine groaned.
"Anyone else?"
"Well. . . there's Ka--" Momoi looked over at Rindou who was in the middle of walking away, "Eh?!"
"Oi, Oi, Oi, SHE'S TRYING TO ESCAPE!" Kise yelled.
"YOU GOT AN F IN GYM, YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY!" Aomine yelled.
"Dammit, you guys are snitches!!!" Rindou replied.
"An F?? Nonsense!" Coach Shirogane looked at the exam result in disbelief.
"Rindou-kun, you're going to become crippled one day" Coach Sanada added.
"Is there really any way to retake gym?" She nervously asked.
"She has a point though. . ." Coach Sanada rubbed his chin.
"Don't worry, I'll deal with it" Coach Shirogane replied.
"Aomine, Kise, you two will wait for me at the third-string gym"
"WE'RE FUCKED/SCREWED" Aomine and Kise thought.
"Well? Go on" The old man said as the two started walking away. "Rindou, do you know those boxes that has been sitting outside for several weeks?"
"Huh. . .wait--don't tell me--"
"I want you to move them into the storage and I want it done in forty-five minutes when practice is over"
"What?!"
"PFFFFFT" Aomine started laughing as he walked out of the gym.
"Kaeriin~, do your best~!" Momoi cheerfully whispered.
"It's really not that hard" Midorima pushed up his glasses.
"R-Right"
Hours later, the players finished with their training routine as they packed up when the sun started to set.
"Man, that was brutal" Aomine grunted as the Miracles, along with Momoi, walked out of the gym.
"I'm never missing out on studying ever again!" Kise whined.
"Did that girl ever moved any of those boxes~?" Murasakibara lazily asked.
"PSSSH HAHAHA!!" Aomine burst out laughing after remembering what happened.
"I saw that they were gone when we walked out, so she probably did" Akashi replied.
"Perhaps she went home early" Midorima said.
"No, she's over there" Kuroko pointed at Rindou planking on the floor outside of the storage room.
"Is she dead??" Kise asked as they walked over and saw that Rindou apparently passed out while she was carrying the last box.
"How sad. . ." Everyone thought.
Aomine ended up carrying the last box as Momoi tried to wake her up.
"You didn't even complete your task. . ." Momoi flipped Rindou onto her back.
"Ah! Blood! Blood everywhere!!" She screamed.
"Eh?! It's coming from her mouth and nose!!" Kuroko yelled.
"Hospital?! Should we take Rindocchi to the emergency room?!" Kise asked.
"Why is she spewing out blood like that? ALL SHE DID WAS MOVE BOXES DAMN IT"
---
It was Saturday morning as Rindou slept on the wooden floor of her bedroom; which didn't have a bed, desk, or carpet except for piles of scattered textbooks and novels.
She wasn't poor or abused, it was her own choice to get rid of the bed and anything luxurious because of her ridiculous 'beliefs' in which she adapted after hitting 'rock bottom.' At that time, she began to believe weird things about the meaning of existence and was convinced that she needed to sacrifice her comfort as a form of punishing herself for being a cynical jerk; as a way to express her self-loathe in hopes of balancing it out.
The girl, at the moment, seems rather intrigued in the dream world that she snored a little as her mouth hung slightly open. Unfortunately, a house centipede took that as an invitation and crawled into her mouth.
Her tongue detected the poly-legged beast as her eyes jolted open. Frozen in shock, she then recognized what was settling in her mouth until she immediately spat it out and saw the intruder covered in her saliva, wriggling for its escape.
"GAHHHHHHH! WHAT THE HELL" She slammed one of her old textbooks into the centipede, ending its existence.
"Ohhh noo.....ohhh noo..." She rocked herself back and forth as her morning was completely ruined.
It was hard to find comfort in her home since she was constantly looking around the place while carrying a spatula for an insect-genocide, so she decided to help out at the gym.
It was the weekend, but some players want to go the extra mile in their training because of the few tournaments coming up.
"Oh, Kaeriin! What brings you here??" Momoi asked in surprise.
"Just wanted to help out..." Rindou groaned with a corpse-like look on her face while players tensed up in fear as they ran past her.
"Really? You also don't look too good. . . Take this opportunity to be productive under the sun! Trust me, you'll feel so much better!!" Momoi cheered.
"Perhaps being eaten alive by centipedes doesn't seem so harrowing after all..."
"Since we don't really have a lot to do, let's run a few laps outside! We're already in sportswear!" The senior grabbed the junior by the hand.
"Satsuki-senpai, I can't run..."
"You have to start building up stamina at some point."
"No...no...I'm serious. Like--"
"It won't be anything intense! Off we go!"
"AHHH"
****
"Ah~ the weather is so nice!" Momoi smiled as she gracefully jogged at a steady pace while Rindou desperately tried to catch up.
"I can't anymore!"
"You'll get used to it"
"My body just doesn't work that way! Ever since I was little, I was never that strong!"
"If you can talk while running, then it means that you have good cardio! You still have a chance to improve!"
"Don't give up Rindocchi!" Kise cheered as he ran past them.
"You two are running at the same pace as an old man on a mommy-bike" Midorima commented as he ran past.
"Midorin, you're so rude!"
"Oi Kaeri, your form is terrible! And you're going hella slow" Aomine said as he slowed down to talk to her,
"Give me a break! This is the most running I've ever done!" She wheezed.
"Wow, you don't sound too good" He dropped his jogging form and casually started walking next to her as she painfully ran.
"Are you walking?!"
"Well yeah...goes on to show how slow you're going"
Rindou finally gave up and stopped running to catch her breath.
"Hahah...you know what, I totally get it. It's not going to work this way" She ironically laughed.
"I think I should run at my own pace for now and maybe it'll improve over time once I get comfortable. Once day, I'll catch up to you guys." She sheepishly smiled.
"Wow, so inspirational. I wish ya good luck!" He started sprinting really fast across the field as Rindou watched his figure getting farther away.
"Yeah, no" She thought while walking another direction.
"Where are you going?" Kuroko suddenly said from behind her.
Just when her body couldn't take the overwhelming tension anymore, blood started gushing out of her nose and mouth as she collapsed.
"R-R-Rindou-san!" Kuroko panicked.
Luckily, the leak wasn't as bad as usual and it stopped almost instantly, allowing the blood to be easily wiped off before going back to normal.
Minutes later, the girl regain consciousness as she was laid under the tree.
"Good, you're awake" Kuroko stated. "Sorry that your clothes are muddy, I had to drag you"
"I should be sorry for making you see that...I hope it wasn't traumatizing..."
"It was rather questionable"
"I can't even run a few meters without literally ending up in a coma. What am I doing as a sports manager...?"
"It's okay. I've thrown up twice in the gym" He simply replied as she did a small, nervous smile.
"While we're on that topic, I noticed that you seemed ill today"
"Oh, well if I wasn't assaulted by a malicious beast this morning, then I wouldn't have been so miserable today"
"What happened??"
"A centipede crawled into my mouth while I was asleep."
"Gross"
"Everyone calls me a jerk for not letting it escape outside, but what's the point if it just continues to live the garden"
"I agree"
"Huuh?"
"A fly flew into my vanilla shake once. Ever since, I've lost compassion towards any insect that came within my range"
It was silent for a while as Rindou looked at the boy in shock, "Wow....I....."
"Anyways, are you feeling better?"
"Yes, thank you for taking care of me"
"It's no problem. We should head back" Kuroko stood up before lending Rindou a hand to help her up. She hesitated, but gladly took it.
"Also, Coach Shirogane said that he needs to see you. He sent me to tell you" He added.
"Alright, I'll be there soon. You can go without me" She replied.
"Are you going to continue running?"
"What? No. I need to do something else. Please excuse me" She said before walking away.
She walked towards the second-string gym and peeked through the door and saw that they were in the middle of a match. She was able to hear their yelling from outside as she instantly spotted Ryuuji within the court.
Rindou suddenly heard another shout coming from a different individual, which was when she saw Sudouhiro. Just like Ryuuji, he had an outstanding presence but in a different way. Ryuuji was rough, impulsive, and intimidating while Sudou's aura simply screams 'leader.' His light green eyes had a determined shine to them and his presence was reassuring and protective, potentially creating an impenetrable foundation on the court.
Her eyes trailed around the court before she saw a very unique player, one that didn't want to make noises but is just as quick as the others; which was Deatoro. His black hair was a complete mess as the ends stuck out in many directions and he had heavy bags under his brown eyes. He did not shine, and the shadow that casted on his face had deflected the light that was to make his eyes twinkle. Right away, he was not easy to read.
For once, she felt curious to learn more about the athletes before her and began to think about why she was assigned with the first string when she felt a stronger force pulling her towards the second string.
Not only did they catch her interests, she felt a deeper connection with these people.