CHAPTER TWO

Tiring Chores

Part I

April 2nd.

Day 1.

The things I do for this team.

A conflicted look crossed my face, and I sighed heavily. I looked around the rows of many, kinds of drinks, varying from plain water to flavourful energy drinks. What did those newbies want again? I thought long and hard. I couldn't have forgotten some names a few minutes after hearing them.

Sigh.

Okay, so maybe I did but it's not like I'm forgetful or anything like that.

Shaking my head, I continued on to the situation. "Now, what was it...?" I sigh heavily, my brain drawing to a blank. "Seems like I have to repeat that again." I chuckled, as the feeling of dread churned my stomach.

I grabbed the bottles, one after another, all types.

This better be the last time I do this.

Hopefully, I thought with slight hope, that Coach doesn't kill me.

I wiped the sweat that trailed on my forehead and I huffed at my achievement.

All the drinks, each one of a different kind and brand lined up in a perfectly organized fashion with 20 towels on the one chair on the side. I was always the organized female especially when it comes on doing things for others.

"You did it again, didn't you?" A voice asked, amusement swarming in their tone.

"Kyah!"

I jumped, surprised by the sudden question. I turned around and saw the familiar amuse look of none other than the Club's former manager and my cousin, Umeko. I hadn't seen the girl since two days ago.

When I said former manager, Umeko was actually the one who introduced me to this whole basketball nonsense (that I unfortunately got myself hooked on) and basically forced me out of my yankī tendencies and is also my anger management teacher. All in all, in my eyes and in her fan boys, she was, no is, a goddess.

"Umeko-nee!" I beamed at her in greeting and she smiled back.

"It's nice to see you making great progress, Hitomi," She noted briefly but once she caught the sight of the drink buffet I made, bullets sweated down my forehead once more. "I can't really promise you that Coach isn't going to kill you for this though..." Umeko gave me a pitiful glance and I knew what she meant.

Coach was a thrifty woman at most but as a stranger you would immediately think she was one of those stingy people who barely even spend a speck of money and that was Coach is, sometimes. Not that I'm actually going to tell her in front of her face.

I'd die of a head injury.

"Thanks, anyhow, how are you doing, Umeko-nee?" I asked, quickly changing the subject. I'd rather not talk about my punishment.

"Hm? Oh well, I'm-"

"Matsukawa." We both freeze as I noticed Umeko-nee had stopped her sentence and was currently waving at someone behind me.

That someone was probably the one whose currently glaring daggers at me.

Coach Araki.

"I'm sorry!"

Coach sighed, deeply, messaging her forehead and I swear that she muttered something about "being stuck with idiots".

I decided to shrugged it off, the fact I count or not didn't matter to me, no matter how offending that is.

I had just finished explaining her the situation and the reason for all the buffet of drinks and now, I can easily tell that she is so done with me.

My head throbbed in slight pain and I winced.

Of course that didn't mean I actually escaped her shinai, I was hit before I even explained myself. Along the process,Umeko-nee had already escaped to her home. Lucky.

"H-Hey...! That's mine!" A voice suddenly shouted from the drink buffet and both Coach and I glanced over to its direction. Everyone was on break and then all of a suddenly, it looked like two of the newbies, Murasakibara (the big guy) and Katsuragi (the smallest out of all the newbies, the one with the dark hair) seem to fight over something, probably one of the drinks.

I chuckled, feeling weary and I glanced at Coach, expecting her to stop them before it escalated to violence. But she was looking at me with this expectant look as if she expected me to stop them (mind you, one of them is a giant that's literally two heads taller than me).

I protested, sounding like a whiny child. "Do I have to?"

She nodded. "Obviously," she crossed her arms,"you're the one who started this anyway." She had a point there, I did only bought one of each brand without even thinking of the consequences.

My brown eyes glanced over the commotion, by now it was already escalated to Katsuragi nearly shouting atMurasakibara who simply responded in disregard.

"Give it to me!"

"...Why should I?"

"Because I had it first!"

"No you didn't, I did."

Why aren't the others stopping them? I looked over to the others and noticed that the guys were looking at me and Coach with raised eyebrows, expecting one of us to stop them.

I really hope I don't do this again in the near future.

I sucked in my breath and marched over.

"Now, now, calm down..."

"I got it first!"

"No, I did."

"Yes!"

"No."

"Hey, now... let's all calm down..."

"Yes!"

"No."

Okay, me trying to talk this all out didn't work at all. I think I just made it worst.

"Look, I'm telling you, a first year, that I, a second year got it first!" Katsuragi said, a glare clear in his features and it was directly staring up at Murasakibara. Even with the large height difference, Katsuragi sure is a brave person. But bravery can take one so far. "Respect your seniors!"

"So...? I remember getting it before you, whoever you are." Murasakibara retorted, his voice bored and tired.

Katsuragi looked shocked for some reason, his was mouth dropped open. I raised an eye brow, why did he look so shocked, anyway? What, was he that one rich kid everyone's been talking about?

"Katsuragi's the heir to Katsuragi Corp., so that makes him a person whose held in high regard." Saeki, a light-haired boy with spectacles, stated, noticing the confused looks of some of us. He was the only first year other than Murasakibara to actually make it to the team.

"That is not a way f'r someone from nobility to act," Wei spoke up then he pointedly glanced at me. "Art thou not going to stop them?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

I twitched. Why do they always push these kinds of situations to me? Jerks. Wait, where is Okamura? Shouldn't he be the one to stop this? I sighed. What good is he if he didn't exactly do the jobs that captains should do?

"Now, now," Himuro (kami-sama, bless this boy) started as he smiled patiently,"Can't we just talk this out? And Wei-san, you shouldn't pressure- Matsukawa-san, was it?" He turned to me, giving me a charming smile.

Is it just me or are those sparkles and tiny hearts surrounding this guy? I blinked before nodding.

But even Himuro's calming presence and gorgeous smile couldn't stop the two, if anything, it made it worse whenKatsuragi shot Himuro a glare.

"I shouldn't listen to you or that plain-looking manager," He said in a haughty tone. I twitched, just because I'm trying to be plain doesn't mean he had to point it out! "Even if you're on the same year as I am, you are lowlifes compare to me."

"What a troublesome situation." I didn't even glance at the person to see who said, what mattered to me was the fact he finally said it well.

"Couldn't say it any better, Okouchi." Fukui nodded as he assessed the commotion, not even bothering to stop it himself. Oh, so Okouchi was the one who said it? Sort of expected. If I remembered, Okouchi was that lazy 2nd year from Class D and considering his attitude, it surprises me that he even considered basketball.

Wait, what am I doing? I should focus the current situation!

"That really isn't a nice thing to say, Katsuragi-san."

"So? You are not the boss of me, Himuro."

The entire argument had eventually stirred and it just went Murasakibara and Katsuragi to Himuro and Katsuragi. The latter sure does love to stir things up, I should keep an eye on him.

But I should really stop this. Think, Hitomi, think, what's a good way to stop them without violence or mockery? Oh! I got it! Wait, no this isn't really a good idea either but I guess I don't have a choice.

I inhaled.

"ALL OF YOU, BE QUIET!"

"..."

"..."

All eyes were on me as a tense silence swarmed the gym. Ah, what should I do?

While I was panicking, Himuro (seriously, this boy is god-sent, I tell you) decided to take over.

"Thank you for calming everyone down, Matsukawa-san," He smiled at me,"you should rest a bit, you seem to be a bit stressed out. I'll handle things here." I nodded, feeling a bit charmed by his smile. I'm getting this was the reason half of the school's female population adored him.

He was kind, gorgeous too.

"Suck up." I heard someone grumble but I didn't pay any attention to it, I was too busy silently fawning over my classmate.

"Then, Murasakibara-san, you can have the drink," Himuro started and the purple-haired male nodded, sort of looking grateful when he glanced at Himuro.

"Hah!? But I had it first!" Katsuragi cut in, angrily. He should really visit Umeko-nee sometime, he's got some serious issues here.

Himuro kept his cool (as expected of Himuro). "You didn't let me finish, Katsuragi-san," He said in a tone of voice that shut the guy,"you can have mine, it's not opened yet so it's good."

I blinked. Huh? Did I bought two by mistake or...?

Katsuragi huffed and marched towards Himuro, snatching the bottle from him. Even with his actions, he muttered. "Thank you." Guess he does have some manners.

"Hey, everyone, I'm back!" Okamura suddenly appeared, approaching us.

"Why are you even announcing it? Can you even talk? You're a gorilla, aren't you?" Fukui stated, giving Okamura a deadpanned glance.

"Is that how you speak to your own captain!?" The latter reacted as his lips quivered slightly.

"Ye art simply a gorilla rather than a captain." Wei added, taking a gulp from his drink.

"I apologize, captain, but Fukui-senpai and Wei-senpai made a point there."

"Wait, why do we have a gorilla in the gym?"

"Even the newbies!?"

"Well, he does look like one, doesn't he, Himuro, Matsukawa?"

"No comment."

Poke. Poke.

I turned and looked up, meeting the face of the droopy eyed giant.

"What is it, Murasakibara-san?"

"Do you have any snacks?"

I slapped my forehead in disdain.

Day 5.

"Matsukawa, Matsukawa, Matsukawa..."

I heaved a loud sigh and I grabbed a clean towel, shoving it towards him, this him being Okouchi. Lately, the brunett had bugged me since day one and keeps asking me for towels and by far, it was annoying. He reminds a lot of that one character from a shounen anime I saw last night, Shikamaru Nara. I mean, they're both lazy and but in intelligence, not really sure about that.

I continued on to my work which was planning for the next practice match. Usually, Coach Araki would this kind of work while I would do the basic chores and give her the information needed but just for today, she left the Gym for some teacher's conference and I was put in charge.

It reminds me of that one scene where- [1].

No.

No, Hitomi.

Don't even dare.

I sighed and jotted down on one of my notebooks, a purple, small notebook where I usually put the information of the team we're having a practice match on.

April 7th.

Match: Practice Match.

With: Hoshioka Gakuen.

Location: Yosen Kōkō, Gym.

Designated Time: April 9th, Afterschool.

Opposing Team:

Coach: Kisaragi, Minato.

#4 - Daishi, Akira. Third Year. PG [2]. Captain.

#6 - Hamada, Shin. Second Year. SG [3]. Vice Captain.

#7 - Ijiri, Kiri. Second Year. PF [4].

#8 - Jukodo, Takuto. First Year. SF [5].

#5 - Komura, Satoki. Third Year. C [6].

As far as I remembered, Hoshioka Gakuen was more of a academic school consisted of many of the smartest in Akita. Not a really shabby school but I heard the fees we're as high as American College fees (I heard that they were literally a thousand US dollars [7]).

Well. That checks off US as a potential place to start my abroad career.

I glanced down at the information, observing the features of the players. They don't really look that bad, maybe above average overall; they're nothing compared to that one angel-like classmate of mine.

He reminds me of that nice and kind person that would turned into some sort of person with an obsession with another person and would literally kill just for that person.

I don't know why, but that really sounds attractive right now. Scary but attractive.

Poke.

I jumped, and immediately turned around, only to see Okouchi (can't he just leave alone? Is he some sort of clingy person whose hiding it through a lazy attitude?) who held thousands of used towels.

Okay, maybe not thousands but it sure looked too much for my taste.

You really got to be kidding me.

A/N: Hello and Hi! I'm really really REALLY sorry for the late update and maybe the lack of quality in this chapter and to make it up to you; I'll be posting the next chapter on this week's weekends! Or Friday.

Oh! Also for chapters that are titled - Tiring Chores, I can say that they show the days in Yosen before the actual plot; "Yosen's own practice matches" and stuff like that (similar to how Seirin did) and it's off to Inter High and the Winter Cup.

Moving on;

[1] - A gory horror scene that I believed I made up or I saw somewhere back and it's where this girl was in charge of taking care of all those guys (who were literally obsessed with her to the point where they're a YANDERE) and they got into a argument who the girl should give a drink or pass a towel first and the Gym floors ended up in Blood, including the girl's. *Note: Matsukawa enjoys gory movies and relates them to reality sometimes but is really scared that it might actually happen even if it's Unnatural.

[2] - Point Guard.

[3] - Shooting Guard.

[4] Power Forward.

[5] Small Forward.

[6] Center.

[7] - I heard a lot from my American friends who are in college right now that College in America is REALLY expensive to the point that it's thousands of dollars. I am not really sure if it's true or not.

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