After singing our last song, we thanked the audience for being with us and ran to the backstage.
"Great job on your performance, Miko-san."
I turned around seeing a familiar face walking towards me. It's him! It can't be him! Itsuki told me before that he ran away and never came back! Why is he here?
"K-Katsuki..."
He smiled and gave me a thumbs up. I wonder what he sees in me now. I haven't seen him for a year now... so I feel uncomfortable around him. Especially the fact that he yelled at me when we last saw each other.
"Nice to see you walking again, Miko-san. How are you?" He placed his hand on my shoulder which startled me a bit.
"I-I'm fine, Katsuki. So, you're b-back?"
Suddenly, he hugged me. I was so surprised with his actions that I couldn't move.
"Miko-san... I miss you... I-I'm sorry for my actions before... I am just like you! You know? We both want to have trophies... we both want to hear the word 'champions'. We both want to be part of the national team in the future. I-I just got really surprised hearing that you will quit. I didn't consider your feelings. I'm sorry, Mikoto..."
"K-Katsuki... b-but I'm not the sane as before anymore... Katsuki, I forgive you, can you let me go-"
"Hey, what are you doing?" Someone suddenly pulled Katsuki away and stood infront of me.
"Itsuki?"
Itsuki only looked at me and smiled before turning to his older brother.
"You can't just face Miko like this after what you and your girlfriend did to her!"
With Itsuki's words, Katsuki stepped back, looking shocked.
"Itsu-kun...h-how?"
Itsuki only shrugged, grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Katsuki.
"Hey, Itsuki, where are you taking me?"
He was only silent. But then I heard Miyuki-san call my name so I have to tell him to let go of me.
"Itsuki... my friend is calling me, can you let go?"
Itsuki obediently put my hand down and stopped walking.
"I must've hurt you, Miko-san. I'm sorry. But please... stay away from Katsuki for a while... please..."
He looks down and I could feel the concern in him. I placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled.
"I understand that you only wanted me to stay away from getting hurt. Thank you, Itsuki. Don't you worry, I'll stay away from him..."
"You really know me that well, huh?" Itsuki looks up and gives me slight grin.
"Well, we're best buds after all!" His grin seems to fade and let out a sigh.
"Yeah, you could say that... Go now, your friend is searching for you..." I smiled at him before turning around and ran towards Miyuki. I have a feeling that I said something that hurt Itsuki because of his sudden mood change. But I let it slide when Miyuki suddenly grabbed my hand and dragged me towardd the group.
I just hope that Itsuki is okay...
________________________________________________________________________________
Itsuki
I watch her go and disappear from my sight. She had changed over the months, she became more feminine now... for me, it's weird seeing her like that.
"Oi, Itsu-kun, there you are!" Hibiki suddenly wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I was surprised for a bit but calmed down when he didn't choked me. Well, that is what he usually does when he wraps his arm around me. "Did you meet Miko-san? She was on fire earlier!"
"Yeah, we met, but her bandmate called her, probably to congratulate themselves. Anyways, we should go now, Coach Takagi must be looking for us." I turned around and started to walk away. I'm not really in that mood right now, maybe it's because of what Miko-san said earlier.
That we're just best buds.
'Calm down Itsuki, calm down. You have gone through this twice now. Be a best friend for her, just stay by her side even if it hurts you...' I spoke to my mind. Since before, I have already accepted the fact that Miko-san will never end up with me. But I still chase her like an idiot. I don't know why.
Maybe because I love her? Is it because of her kindness? Her personality? Her smile?
Argh, I don't know!
But what's important right now is she staying away from my brother. I should be relieved with that.
I didn't noticed that I already passed the place where my school is stationed at, luckily, Hibiki grabbed me and pulled me towards the others.
Sigh, why does this happen everyime I meet Miko-chan?
"Ahahaha, Captain-sama is in a cloud nine again!" Kaori laughs at me but when I stared at her, she suddenly changed her mood. "G-gomenasai, captain-sama!"
"Eeehhhh? Did you meet Miko-san, Itsuki-kun? You are always like that whenever you meet her nowadays!" Sora let out a cheeky grin which creeps me the heck out.
"Cut it out guys, by the way, why is there only ten of us? Where's Jaeyong?" I looked around them and recounted but there is really only ten of us.
"Have you forgotten that Jaeyong lost the bet earlier? We used a dare on him to buy us some snacks. Hehehehe so you really did meet Miko-san earlier!" Hibiki wrapped his arm around my shoulders and now he's really choking me.
"A-Ack! Hibi-Hibiki... red card, red card!"
They all laughed but stopped when Jaeyong arrived with our food.
"Did I miss something?"
"Your captain-nim here has some crush issues again." Stefan went to me and patted my back.
"Uh, hehe, yeah... u-ugh, my stomach is growling, let's eat..." I quickly made an excuse to not let this issue grow huge. Argh, these teammates...
"Alright, let's go to that corner everyone!" With Jaeyong on lead, we all followed him so that he could distribute our food. I quietly sighed in relief, realizing that my teammates easily moves on from an issue.
________________________________________________________________________________
5 days later...
"So, why are you so down, Itsuki-kun?" Suna went to my side and leaned on the railings. We are currently at the school's court waiting for a friendly match in basketball between our school and Meiji University.
"It's nothing, really..." I let out a deep sigh. I couldn't tell her about Miko's interaction with my brother...
"You are like that when there is a Mikoto-related issue going on in your head. Come on, you can tell me, we're bruhs afterall." She went to me and patted my back. Suna is the first one who found out about my crushing with Mikoto and she seems to be supportive with it.
"It's just... days before... she and Katsuki met, I don't know what's gotten into him. He just randomly went back to Miko's life without even apologizing for what he did before..." I stare at the court and I saw a player with the name "Asahina" printed on his jersey. This guy must be Mikoto's older brother who is an athlete.
"So you're jealous? Because your crush's ex-crush is coming back to her life?" Suna crosses her arms and sighs, "Itsuki, there's still a lot of Mikotos out there but you only have one brother. Are you... jealous over your brother again?"
"N-No, it's just... what if he'll use Mikoto like how he used her before. And I'm still mad because he looked down on us before. He may be my brother but I still can't believe that he's uses people for his pleasure." I didn't notice that Suna already placed an arm on my shoulder, telling me to calm down.
"Itsuki... past is past, Katsuki may have changed now. So chill, okay?"
"Yeah right, I just can't believe that he sees us that way..."
I watch the players as they started their game. I couldn't see Miko's older brother, assuming that he is a substitute player.
"Hey, Suna... how much will you pay me if Miko dates me in the future?" I watched as a player from Meiji University shoots a ball which they scored three points.
"My yearly allowance!" She lets out a grin which made me chuckle. "But what will you give me if you don't end up with her?"
"Hm? Date me if I don't end up with her." I gave her a serious look but she only laughed. It came to my realization that Suna isn't interested at boys.
"Dum dum, luckily, Mikoto isn't my type or else I would have already dated her years back, but I'll be always here for you, Itsu-kun, don't forget that!"
"Thanks Suna-chan." We both continue to watch the match. I'm happy to have a friend like Suna...
________________________________________________________________________________
Mikoto
I greeted my brother inside their waiting area. He and his team recently had a friendly match between my old school. Its purpose is to invite the basketball players to enter their university once they graduated here.
"Nice game, onii-chan! You did so well back there!" I sat beside him and gave him a towel and a bottle of water. Sadly, I am the only one who can be with him today because the others are busy. Ema, Yuusuke and Fuuto are preparing for their school's festival and Iori-nii is currently out of town because of a tournament in Mathematics and the others are busy with their jobs.
"Thank you for being so supportive, Miko-san." He opens his bottle of water and takes a drink from it.
"Oooh, is this one of your younger siblings, Asahina-kun?" A team mate of his approached us and looked at me. "Nakamori Mikoto, but legally changed her surname to Asahina after finding her real family, the first female to be the captain of Hayato Eagles and lastly, a legendary highschool foot ball star. Nice meeting you, Asahina Mikoto!" He smiles but because of his long statement about me, I only gave him an awkward grin.
"You must be Captain Minatozaki. Nice to finally meet you too, Minatozaki-sama!"
He only smiled and patted my head like I'm some kid. But I don't bother though, since most of my brothers do that to me.
"Asahina-kun, you're lucky to have a sister like Mikoto-san. Anyways, you should hurry now, the next round will start soon."
I gave Suba-nii a thumbs up before he stood up and left the room. He insisted that I should just stay here while they play, besides, there is a television where I can see them playing.
"Don't go home early, okay? We still need to practice for our turn tomorrow."
"I get it, I'm the captain so I should be the one who will remind you guys."
Those voices...
I stood up from my seat and walked outside, once I popped my head out, two figures stopped what they were doing and looked very surprised.
"Mikoto!"
"Suna, Itsuki!"
"Miko-saaaaan!" Suna first ran towards me and pinched my cheeks. "What are you doing here?"
"S-Sunaaaa, I'm here for my brother, duh!" I rubbed the part where Suna pinched. It hurts a lot, Suna's pinches are always painful as heck.
"A supportive sister I see. Well then, we will go to our training for this year's spring tournament soon. Wanna come with us?" Itsuki joins us, I know that I have always wanted to meet with the team again, but sadly, since Subaru-nii is still in the game and I don't want him to look for me later, I turned his invitation down.
"Sorry, Itsuki-kun, Suna-san. I've wanted to see the team once again but I don't want to leave my brother here. But don't worry, I'll come cheering for you guys in your tournament next week."
Suna patted my back and grinned "It's okay Miko-san. And Itsuki would be very happy if you cheer on us that day. Promise us that you will come, okay?"
I suddenly changed my mood and raised my hand "I, Asahina Mikoto, promise that I will show up in your game next week."
My sudden actions made them laugh which I am happy about.
"Okay, Miko-san, see you next week!" They both waved at me goodbye and watch them walk away from me.
----------------------
Thanks for reading! Don't forget to vote and comment your feels!
And I'm sorry if this chapter is lame. I just don't know what to write here. I'll just let my future self edit this. I am actually just looking forward for the ending of book 1 so that I can finally start with book 2. See you all next update!