The three teenagers hurried down the underground station and got on the first train bound for Midorima's district. Ten minutes later, after leaving the train station, they cut through a small shopping alley and came out on the residential area. They walked down narrow alleys, only big enough for one car to drive through but the absence of traffic explained the quietude of the area. The neighbourhood seemed like a safe and great place for families to live in.

"We're here."

Ritsu stopped looking around and brought her attention on Midorima's home. It was a typical modern two-story house.

The greenhead opened the barrier of his house and beckoned them to follow him inside without delay.

"I'm home!" He shouted across the house.

Nobody responded as he was surely the first to be home. Well, it was nothing surprising considering his parents' jobs. Her mother made their acquaintance at the Sports festival and learnt from her that his father was a dentist owning his office and his mother worked as a school nurse in a private high school. So they must usually come home late. But Ritsu thought she'd see his little sister, Mei, at home since classes must have ended for her. At this hour, Shōhei was generally home if he didn't go to his club.

Maybe Mei had extracurricular activity too. Too bad, she'd have loved to see her again. She was such a friendly and HONEST girl in contrast to his big brother. Not to mention how adorable she acted around Akashi; she'd fallen for his charm at the Sports festival.

She would have been happy to see Akashi coming to her house.

And well, Ritsu was glad he accompanied them all the way. Thinking about it, the situation would have become a bit awkward with Midorima and she alone in his house.

"My room is upstairs."

In front of his room, Akashi and she stared at the sign on his door which was overly cute for a boy like Midorima. Ritsu recognized the mascot of a popular kid show. She always came upon some of the derivative products whenever she went shopping.

Noticing their long gaze on it, Midorima needed to speak, "Mei loves this show and casually put it on my door to match hers."

Even without any explanation, Akashi and she would have guessed that much. There was no way such a cute sign would come from him.

Though Ritsu couldn't help but be amused by their sibling bond.

"You're loved, big brother."

Inside, Midorima went to his closet, allowing the two other teenagers' gazes to wander. As expected of him, his room was clean and tidy. Nothing stuck out, a book or clothes, not even a speck of dust. The sight was plain but she didn't mean it in a completely bad way.

This room fit this image of him as someone strict and studious. Aside all the necessary furnitures, the only things that could call attention was his shelves full of books and a few trophies and medals. She could see that Midorima spent most of his time studying there. The negative point was she hardly noted anything which could balance out this studious atmosphere. There were barely photos or posters hang on the wall or even something related to basketball.

Now mentioning unusual object, where did he put away all of his lucky items?

"Follow me, Asaka. I'll show you the bathroom."

The ashblonde jolted a little and put back her attention on the green-haired male. For being too curious, she momentarily forgot the situation she was in.

"Feel free to sit wherever you want, Akashi." Midorima said to his teammate.

They walked across the hallway. The boy quickly showed her where the towels and the hairdryer were.

"I left you some spare clothes here." He pointed at the set of clothes put over a wicker furniture then his expression became grim as he focused back on her.

She raised an eyebrow under his intense stare.

"Y-You can take a s-shower if you need to." His voice cracked out of embarrassment.

Why did he have to pause like that? If he'd said it along with his explanation, she'd not have stopped on the details. Now she was feeling self-conscious and the whole situation became suddenly awkward!

"...It's fine." Ritsu averted her eyes, long enough for the awkwardness to naturally subside. She then glanced back his way and noted his wet hair with the bathroom light. "What about you, Midorima-kun? You had to walk under the rain too."

Since her umbrella was broken and Akashi sheltered her under his.

"Worry about yourself first. I'm careful enough not to catch a cold at the slightest drop of rain." He grabbed a towel from the shelf and opened the door. "I'll be leaving. By the way, leave your uniform on the washing machine. I'll put them in the dryer later."

She nodded.

She wasted no more time, glad to take her wet uniform off. As she removed her clothes, she couldn't refrain from sneezing and shivered. She'd definitely have caught a cold if she had gotten home in that state. Thankfully, Midorima had been here. Well, she wouldn't have been in this kind of situation in the first place if it weren't for him. Even so, she felt grateful to him, and Akashi as well.

They did go out of their way to help her. Better not worry them even more by catching a cold.

She dried herself carefully and put on the white long-sleeve shirt and gray pants he left for her. But since they were Midorima's, it came out loose on her. Even she was tall herself, he must be ten centimeters taller than her at least. So she rolled up her sleeves, the pants as well not to let it drag on the floor. Now only remained to dry her hair off.

Refreshed and warmed up, she walked back to the Midorima's room. There, Akashi was alone, sat at the low table.

"You're alone?"

"Midorima went down to prepare some tea. How are you feeling?"

"Better." She reassured him with a grin. "I'd better thank Midorima-kun later."

Akashi nodded in agreement yet his red-eyed gaze scrutinized her – more than she expected him to. But he broke the contact before she could feel truly bothered and possibly read more into it.

And so, Ritsu didn't press and went to sit at the table.

"Really, one way or another, you always get dragged into our mess." She commented in a playful manner. What was supposed to be an ordinary walk turned out to be quite the adventure for him.

"I'm getting used to it."

"Is that something you should get used to?"

He let escape a chuckle and was mirrored by her. She was teasing him but his response sounded incredibly sweet of him as it echoed in her as a confirmation of Akashi reaching out to people. At least to the ones he was close with. It wasn't like he's changed in whatsoever way, nevertheless, she could sense more warmth coming from him day by day.

Maybe her feelings for him played a part on mellowing her opinion of him and caused her to read more to his behaviour than she should, but then would she have warmed up to him? Some signs were just plainly before her and allowed her to be more casual around him.

Akashi was a kind boy but there were things about him that made him hard to approach and speak with. You could not act casually with him as you would with others. She also remembered herself acting quite formal around him at the beginning.

Had had this impression lasted, she certainly wouldn't have befriended him. She wasn't a girl who'd overstep her bound.

But it was such a lovely feeling to know that Akashi had allowed her get this close to him.

"Say, Akashi-kun." He turned his head her way and noticed her serious expression. "Do you have an idea where Midorima-kun might store his lucky items? It's a mystery how I don't see a single trace of them in his room and some aren't pocket-sized."

Just like the totem he brought at the school festival. Where did he put them away? Midorima specifically told her he bought most of them, so he wouldn't throw them away as soon as the day ended as they turned out useless for him to keep. That'd be an utter waste of money.

"That's coming out of nowhere." Akashi blinked, surprised by the silliness of her question. Her gray-blue eyed gaze was inspecting the place, looking for hints. "Are you so curious about it?"

"Quite." She laughed. Nonetheless, she'd not allow herself to act rude towards her host by peeking around his stuff and putting her nose where it didn't belong. "I had a precise image of his room. Maybe I'm a little disappointed. It's like coming over Aomine-kun's house and his room reveals to be nice and clean instead of a total mess."

"It doesn't fit the image you have of them." He put it bluntly, with the shadow of a smile creeping onto his face.

"Exactly. Bedroom reflects your personality, is what we say." Concluding her little inspection, her gaze eventually landed on him. "But you know, Akashi-kun. Of all, my image of you is the one that has changed the most."

"Is that so? How do you visualize my room then?"

"It's a bit embarrassing to say. At first, I saw your room being plain like a place you only use for sleeping, without any personal belongings holding special attachment or anything unnecessary placed there." She paused as she gave him room for a comment or an objection. Akashi didn't interrupt, wanting to listen to the end. "However, since the school festival, my image began to change. Little by little, I naturally came to imagine your room being a place where you could actually relax as it's filled with all the objects you won and hold some sentimental value. And recently, I can add full collections of shōjo manga lined up on your shelves along with your textbooks, or even a put a full-size Shirabe Kotoha cardboard cutout in a corner."

"I see. You have quite the imagination, Asaka." He merely commented like a refutation.

"So I'm mistaken." No surprise here though. She was conscious this was all fantasy of hers.

"You ought to see it for yourself."

A short blank ensued.

"...Huh?" She gaped in disbelief, inevitably reading between the lines. "You would not mind me coming over your house?"

"Why would I? It mustn't be an uncommon thing at this stage."

"Ah, well, no...Sure, it's not..." She stammered, caught off guard.

Of course it wasn't strange for friends to visit one another but she didn't expect Akashi to open the door to his house in such carefree way. Even for a friend, and for a good reason : the redhead barely ever mentioned anything about his private life.

Be it his home or his family, he just didn't tell a word about it.

Him being so secretive about it would mean trying to hide something...There were some silly rumours like that around school for a period of time. But Ritsu assumed that, maybe, Akashi simply had no reason to bring those private information up rather than trying hide a dark past from others.

It was merely how she perceived it from his behaviour. It all came down to his education again. There would be things he could allow himself to say, some other he must kept under control.

Akashi has always been like this.

In control of himself.

His private life was surely something he'd like to keep as a personal matter. Something which nobody necessarily needed to know when talking with him.

So the simple idea of him inviting a friend over was unlikely.

And yet...

A faint blush colored her cheeks. She couldn't contain this surge of happiness right this moment.

The doorknob clicked. Midorima entered with a tray and sensed some awkwardness in the air right after casting a glance at the two teenagers.

"Is something wrong?" He furrowed his brows with suspicion as he went to put down the trail on the table. "Your face is a bit red, Asaka. Are you feeling feverish?"

"Akashi-kun said something cute."

"Ah?" Midorima interjected, a small vein popping on his forehead. Taking it as umpteenth attempt of her to mock him, he glared at his teammate : "For god's sake, Akashi, have you got nothing to say?"

"Asaka didn't lie."

Did he just admit saying something cute himself? And that detail didn't go over Midorima's head since Akashi would never say anything like this unless he played along.

"I can't stand the both of you together."

"You see now why I'm flustered."

Judging from his expression, the greenhead wished he hadn't had those two over but continued to fulfill his duty as a good host nonetheless. He served the drinks : tea for Akashi and him and hot chocolate for her.

"Hot chocolate?" Ritsu raised her gaze up from the drink to Midorima.

"I thought that would warm you up. On very cold days, Mei always ask me to make one for her, saying it's the best to forget the cold and feel better."

"That's very considerate of you." Ritsu said with genuine surprise.

"It's my thanks for today." He reacted almost instantly, emphasizing on the fact that this was only one-time special treatment from him. "Even though I'd like this kind of situation to never happen again."

"So you say but I'm pretty sure you'd have done the same for me."

"Do not be full of yourself."

Ritsu laughed then brought the drink to her lips. The sweet and aromatic taste of chocolate and the thickness tickled her taste buds. Just from this mouthful, she could tell it was homemade.

"You should be proud, Midorima-kun. It's really good! No wonder Mei-chan always gets his big brother to make it. But it's such a shame Akashi-kun can't have a taste of it for himself."

A mail ringtone cut Midorima in the middle of his retort. Akashi took his cellphone out of his bag and flipped it open.

"It's from Momoi." Akashi told them but their gazes must have been too curious for him to enlighten them on the situation. "She informed me this morning she'd go visit Kuroko with Aomine after school to check up on him."

"Did something happen to him?" Ritsu enquired, uninformed of Kuroko's situation.

"He caught a cold after playing basketball with Aomine last weekend. They played outside a whole afternoon." The redhead explained.

"In this cold?" Last weekend, the temperatures were pretty low for the season.

"That's the problem here." Midorima growled, strongly condemning their carelessness. "Thanks to their foolishness, Kuroko missed two days of school and a practice match with another school."

"Hm? Aomine-kun wasn't bedridden too?"

"Idiots don't catch cold." He affirmed matter-of-factly.

"That's mean."

"Seems like Kuroko will come back tomorrow." Akashi said while typing a reply to Momoi.

"Hmph." Midorima huffed, pretending not to care at all. "Honestly...what a troublesome guy. Catching a cold right after making into the team. Kuroko sure has a lot of guts."

"He has, indeed. Though it is a well-earned rest after his commending accomplishments. These past months must have been quite mentally exhausting for him."

The shooting guard acknowledged this fact but could hardly let this indulgence soften his nature and show more of his emotions than he wanted.

"The real thing only begins now for him. Now that he's in the team, he is expected to work twice as hard than before. But if that is enough for him to collapse, it will be difficult to get any expectations."

Akashi cracked a smile, "You are strict to others as you are with yourself, Midorima."

"Is that a complaint?"

"It is not. In fact, I truly appreciate it as a quality of yours."

Midorima regarded him with a perplexed expression then added : "I hope he'd not let us down, is all."

After coming so far... Ritsu could almost those words from his mouth and told her about Kuroko's importance inside the team. Midorima's harsh words reflected the reality to which the latter would be confronted from this point forward – a world where seats were limited and came at a high price. However, the fact he put Kuroko in that reality, in the same one as him, showed the new esteem Midorima had for him.

He put him on a equal footing.

And as a fellow member, Midorima would not allow anything less than excellence from him.

"As I can hear, it sounds like Kuroko-kun is being fully integrated into your team."

"Kuroko may not have make it easy for us. His debut was disastrous."

"Do not remind me of that pitiful incident, Akashi." The green-haired male hissed, a sigh escaping his mouth.

He sure made his debut in the most spectacular way. Akashi told her about that incident. On his first official match, Kuroko was so nervous he tripped over his own foot and fell head first, resulting in him nose bleeding and getting bench only a minute into the game.

It was the worst way possible to start his very first game but somewhat, Ritsu could almost say it's Kuroko-like. Not the clumsiness but this weak, unreliable feeling you get from looking at him.

Kuroko didn't give much of a strong image. Even after hearing many good things from Momoi and Akashi and being conscious of his strong determination, she was unable to shake off this impression of him being easily blown away by a gust of wind, as if that was imprinted on her mind.

"Kuroko-kun doesn't exactly fit the image you have of a strong athlete. He sure came a long way to make all the members of the basketball club's first-string acknowledged his worth, even though you could have hardly see it coming. It seems like only Akashi-kun and Aomine-kun had had expectations in him."

"Because you hadn't?" Midorima asked in sheer astonishment.

"I had hope in him but barely any expectations."

She had sincerely wished Kuroko to make it into the first-string but whether he had the capacity to or not was another matter. She was aware that efforts didn't open all doors.

At that time, she knew nothing about him except his constant efforts and will to join the basketball team. She found that admirable and wanted to cheer for him. Nevertheless, everybody does efforts. It was nothing extraordinary, which explained why she could only have hopes for him. She saw nothing in him out of ordinary - be it a capacity, a physical feature or character trait - that would make expect something from him.

He was merely the average player among others.

She may be very contemptuous here but she had enough experience in the sports world not to view it with a complete naive look. The sports world could be resumed as such :

Can you do it or not?

And not everyone was expected to succeed.

"I see." Midorima fell silent.

Ritsu cocked her head, perplexed. "Why does it sound so surprising to you?"

"No, it's just...realistic of you. You don't strike me as a very competitive athlete to say such things. From my perspective, you're the type to think that everyone can reach the same destination as long as they make efforts. So, whether Kuroko had the capacity to enter the team or not, you would not view as a hopeless case and blindly support him."

He didn't mince his words with her. He literally was saying she viewed the world of sports too naively...and lightly. Somehow, it resonated with Hibari and Yagami's words before the Regionals. True, she didn't show a lot of her competitive side but did that necessarily make her naive? She knew the stakes of competition not to give someone false hope.

"Do I look that naive to you?"

"I suppose not entirely now." Midorima regarded her with solemnity. "But let me tell you, Asaka, that compassion isn't needed in sports. Perhaps more than being naive, you're too softhearted."

Softhearted. This word came out often since she joined the team.

"My teammates told me the same." Hibari, Kazehaya and even Yagami hinted it.

...And it echoed more and more like a criticise as time passed.

"There might be a reason to it." The greenhead wasn't surprised. If he, an outsider, could point it out, the people who knew her the most would have already done the same. "You ought to be more responsible as the ace of your team. Your role is no longer to support but lead your team. At least, I expect that much from an ace."

Which was certainly what her teammates expected of her too. That should be expected of an ace. Hoshino had been that presence on court, so she knew what he meant, in which direction she must improve herself.

And what they may want her to be.

But...

Was she ready to become this kind of player? No—Did she even want to be it deep inside?

«Because I have other plans for you. Some where you won't be a setter.»

She thought of having find her resolve and yet...

When she was confronted to this reality...

"We're home!"

The cheerful voice of Mei came from the entrance. Another voice could be heard.

Midorima perked his head up to the sounds below then he got up on his feet.

"My mom and Mei have come home. Wait a moment."

He excused himself and left his two guests alone. Silence filled the place and lasted long enough to have Midorima's remark lingered on her mind.

"Does it bother you?" Akashi's calm voice stirred her out of her thoughts.

She gave him a reassuring glance but her forced smile may have done the opposite effect.

"Even if I want to, I can't ignore it. I'm being more and more conscious of the expectations falling on my shoulders. As this reality sinks into me, I know I'm not acting as an ace should be. But is that really immature of me?"

"The role of an ace comes along with a burdensome responsibility, it is surely not something people can reproach you for. However, the way I see it is that you're well-aware of the stakes and therefore you just won't take a step onto that path yet."

"No wonder Midorima-kun was so hard on me. I've come this far only to hesitate in pursuing on this path."

This one and only path in front of her. And there were no turning back possible.

"Knowing him, he would move forward without looking back..."

Her voice trailed off as she realized her immaturity when this simple phrase rang in her mind :

Without a care of.

Because there were things she cared of.

And growing meant...

The door opened slowly. Midorima appeared holding two plates of cake. Following right after him, Akashi and Ritsu could catch a glimpse of a smaller silhouette with a tuft of green hair.

"Good afternoon, Asaka-san. A-Akashi-kun. It's been a long time!" Mei greeted them politely. She only revealed her face and partially hid behind her brother as though she didn't want to intrude on them. "Onii-chan said he had guests, so mommy told us to bring you some snacks. It's Castella cakes."

Her big round green eyes stared at them in a shy manner, awaiting for their reaction.

"Nice to see you again, Mei-chan."

"Hello, Mei."

Her face brightened up with a joyful smile. Not feeling like a stranger anymore, the little girl allowed herself in. She scurried to serve Ritsu then sat across Akashi enjoying the boy's presence to the fullest. She was radiating with happiness.

"Mei wanted to meet you again." Midorima said as he served Akashi the cake and sat back, the least annoyed by his little sister's casual behavior. "I hope you don't mind."

"Ah...!" Mei exclaimed, realizing her bad manners upon hearing her brother. "Am I intruding? I sat down because onii-chan said it was okay but..."

The ashblonde shook her head, "It's fine. We're not doing anything special."

And a silent nod from Akashi brought a smile on her face again.

"Huh? What happened to you, Asaka-san?" Mei asked curiously when she noticed her not wearing the Teikō uniform like the two boys but her brother's lounge clothes.

"A very unfortunate turn of event." Ritsu replied in jest, "I was splashed by a car on the way home."

"Ooh..." The little girl sympathised with her for her bad luck before a little glint appeared in her eyes, "May I ask your astrological sign?"

Her gray-blue eyes darted instantaneously on Midorima as this question sounded very familiar. Did his horoscope obsession rub off on his innocent little sister? Although it explained a lot concerning how chilled Mei seemed to be when it came to her brother's lucky items.

The shooting guard scrunched up his brows upon sensing her judging gaze as well as Akashi's.

"I'm an Aries."

"Aries..." Mei lifted her chin in a pondering manner. "That must be why!" A light bulb lit up as the answer she was looking for came. "This morning, Oha-Asa Horoscope warned the Aries to beware of accidents by acting without thinking and watch out for cars."

This time, Midorima returned her her judging look.

"It's kind of a terrifying prediction."

Mei giggled. "There are days like that! But I'm glad it turned out to be nothing serious for you, Asaka-san! Oha-Asa Horoscope's predictions are accurate most of the time!"

Ritsu couldn't refute it rather she would even say more. Oha-Asa Horoscope was insanely accurate in their predictions! She witnessed enough times their predictions coming true not to dismiss it as a scam. For instance at the Sports festival, Midorima warned to be very careful in high places and she would have injured herself if Sudo hadn't protected her during their fall in the obstacle course. The boy ended up with a knee injury. Fortunately, it was nothing serious even though Sudo couldn't not take part in the remaining events of the festival.

Thus, since that incident, she gave more credit to Oha-Asa Horoscope and Midorima's warning.

"Whenever I watch it with Onii-chan, I can't help believing it and worry a bit if it comes to bad predictions."

"Do you carry lucky items with you then?" Ritsu enquired, curiosity getting the better of her.

The younger girl shook her head, making her low ponytails swing in a soft, adorable way.

"If something good or bad must happen, then it will. Lucky items can't prevent things from happening, just from making it worse than it should – at least that's what I think! I don't need them! I believe bad luck isn't necessarily and thoroughly bad and may lead to very good things. J-Just like today..." Her green eyes sneaked a peek at Akashi. "I'm embarrassed to say that since it might not have been pleasant for you but I can only see good things coming from your bad luck. Had you not been splashed by that car, you wouldn't have come to our house and...I wouldn't have had the chance to see Akashi-kun again."

She shrunk into blushing when her eyes met with Akashi's. The redhead regarded her with appreciation. And who would not? Her optimism revealed a strong character and a mature and pragmatic view of the world despite her young age. And well, although she (thankfully) wasn't influenced in a bad way, somehow her words echoed the same way as Midorima's.

In the sense that lucky items weren't some miraculous things to be relied on.

Midorima didn't carry lucky items to rely on them, he merely had them with him to be at his top condition every day by using every means available to make it so. As someone who'd give their all in what they do to achieve the best outcome possible.

"You may be right, Mei."

The little greenhead perked her head up in surprise,"You think so too, Akashi-kun?"

"Yes. I can at least say good things had happened today."

Mei squealed deep inside as he smiled to her.

"Hey!" An idea surged along with her bliss. "Wo-Would you both like to stay for dinner? We're having nabe tonight!"

"We can't impose ourselves for so long." Akashi refused out of politeness.

"You're not!" She insisted firmly, slightly leaning forward with both her hands on the table, "Mommy is delighted to have Shin-nii-chan's friends over! And nabe is best with more people!"

Ritsu casted a look at the green-haired male. She was certain he'd dislike the idea and try to stop his little sister from inconveniencing the two of them. Knowing him, the quicker they left his house, the better it was. But Midorima stayed silent and the most surprising fact was that he was not glaring at them to refuse the invitation.

"Well, if you don't see any inconveniences in it, I don't have any reason to refuse. I just have to phone my parents. What about you, Akashi-kun?"

"I've already made an exception so far, one more won't kill."

"Yay!" Mei shouted in joy, lifting her hands in the air. She then got up and ran to the door. "I'm going to tell mommy and help prepare dinner! Enjoy yourselves while you're here, Asaka-san, Akashi-kun!"

Honestly, Mei was such a cute girl. Her character contrasted so much with the serious and strict nature of Midorima but at the same time they seemed so alike.

"Do not say a word, Asaka." Midorima read her thoughts as soon as her gaze shifted from the door to him.

"You getting embarrassed means I'm not the only one to mention it."

A frown showed up on his face.

"That aside, are you sure we're really not bothering you, Midorima-kun?"

He let out a faint sigh and looked at her :

"You know me well enough not to ask that question."

"Then thank you for having us!"

And it's over. To be honest, I had so much fun writing this chapter I could have continued for a bit longer. Like the dinner with Midorima's family to get some bits of his childhood or Akashi suggesting to drive Asaka home for the romance. But well, it would not have brought much to the story development. Maybe as an extra later.

Originally, this chapter was supposed to come right after the conclusion of Kise's arc and was a Midorima-Asaka bonding moment. Without Akashi being with them. He'd only make a short appearance to lend his umbrella to Asaka thinking she doesn't carry one with her and solve the problem of Midorima being unable to go home because his is broken. Then Akashi vanishes into the darkness, Asaka and Midorima make the way together to the main street. But on their way, Midorima is the one splashed by the car by protecting Asaka like a real man. And thus, they end up going to Asaka house. While waiting for his clothes to dry, they'd talk and move on to serious topic related to conception of a team and blabla. That's how it must have gone. Just for curiosity, would you have prefered this version?

Trivial note : Mei is one year younger than Shōhei (9 yrs).

Phew, I talked a lot in these A/N but this is something I wanted to share with all of you.

I've already written half of the next chapter, it won't take months for it to come out this time (Btw, I wrote this chapter in two weeks, way to go me!).

Until then!

Nuvola De Demone : That would make a very funny scene! xD Poor Akashi, nonetheless. He had to deal with basketball freaks all day long (he's one of them though) but the most amazing thing is that he can handle them all! Be it as oreshi or as bokushi. No wonder he has pride in being the captain of GoM. Haha. I watched KnB for the umpteenth time several months ago and I love it when bokushi says something along the line "Who do you think lead the GoM to the top?" *squeal* Condescending but so representative of the huge task it is to make them all come together. I don't know why but when I read the part of Kise trying to escape Akashi in your review, I imagine the scene as Akashi as a cold-blooded assassin chasing after his target. Sorry.

Addicted-to-GazettE : All I can say is thank you for reading and keeping an interest in this fic all these years. That means a lot to me and encourage me to try my best into delivering the end of this story in a near future. And yes, clouds are slowly forming in the horizon but they're still not above them yet. So let's stay positive! There's still time before the storm. Me too I wish for their happiness! But the drama and despair make everything all the more precious.

tralalaxyui : I'm soooorrry...! *dogeza* Kise's arrival has been pushed back. So yeah, currently, she hasn't met them all yet. In the new version, you might understand why Asaka is not ready to take the responsibility of the ace. At least, much more clearer. The festival Arc is one of the craziest installment I've ever written, and considering how heavy and story-focused the recent chapters were, I can understand your request. I try to get back that feeling in the current version and genuinely hope it will satisfy you for the moment. You will have more romance here as requested too xD. I wish I can answer that question but I must let you discover it by yourself. Don't worry! Their happiness is my happiness! Lol.

AnxiouslyWaiting : I too was the most disappointed of all to not deliver you some romance between Akashi and Asaka. After reading your review, it reassured that this chapter was kind of interesting to read. Nonetheless, Asaka's doubts are too confusing to understand why she can't grow as people expected her to. Always keep things simple, lol. And to be honest, the dynamic wouldn't not be the same if another GoM falls in love with Asaka. Ugh...Friendship is precious! Like in this chapter, just imagine Midorima having feeling for Asaka. I can't imagine him reacting and behaving the same. Besides, I love the best friends relationship idea between Akashi, Midorima and Asaka. Midorima as a best friend (wingman), yay!

I want to reach that point of the story too! The drama at his climax! Haha. I agree with you concerning Bokushi. I can see why he is often depicted like that. Bokushi has yandere vibes about him so it isn't so strange for him to be written as a crazy and violent character. And well in the original work, the scissors moment kind of makes it canon. Still, I can't picture him as the possessive type, and what I will say next might be very extreme but I can barely see him falling in love or have affection towards someone at all. It's only my take of Bokushi (you can disagree). I can't explain why I feel that way, it's just the way he acts I guess.

Following that line of thoughts, I can't see him being jealous and possessive towards Asaka to the point of wanting to rule her life. That's not how I imagine him to act and I mainly based my opinion because of his original self and of what the others say about him in the original work. If my memory serves me well, at the time Bokushi emerged, Kuroko (not sure about it) tells that nobody aside his close surrounding (aka the GoM, in extent the basketball club, and his close friends) could tell about his change of personality. For other people, he was just about the same. So I take he isn't as much of a crazy violent guy. Of course, I'm not toning down the crasiness of his character (because it is part of the way he's written by Fujimaki) but his authoritative (and crazy) side only comes out when people crosses the lines of insolence and insurbordination. Kagami really had it coming by barging in the GoM reunion and not listening to Bokushi's "request" of staying out of it. All that to say, you can sort of guess the future interactions between Bokushi and Asaka based on my opinion.

Hmm, I am tempted to go into Akashi's home life but I probably won't do it in too much detail. It is huge work, and not just that, I'm not confident enough in my writing skills to write it the way I want it to be and go into detail. Nonetheless, there will be an Akashi POV chapter. I cannot not do that, right?

Asaka's high school choice will be given in their third year. The scene is already stored in my mind when she announces it. The problem is it's soooo faaar!

As for my update schedule, it is random lately. It depends on my inspiration and my free time to write. When inspired, I usually take less than a month to write. And I'm currently in this period.

Sorry for the long reply. When it comes to Akashi, I can't stop.

Krim : GaaFR will end at their middle school graduation. I plan it that way since I started writing this story. In fact, I'll write the ending in a way you won't need a sequel. Haha, I'm joking. Honestly, it's still too soon for me to decide anything. My only objective right now is to finish this properly before taking another project as big as a possible sequel in their high school years. I'm really not rejecting the idea because I can feel you. Given how the Teikō Arc ended, it doesn't look like a happy ending for Asaka. But I don't like the idea of making a sequel for the sake of it, I need more stuff to work on and a solid base for a story. Hehe, thank you. Kise is currently the character I had the most trouble to write. Must be why his arrival has been pushed back to later. xD

deadlywhisper21 : Now I feel bad for erasing the only chapters we have a glimpse of the volleyball club. But I'm glad you like to Ritsu as a volleyball player. To write this chapter, I had to do a lot research since I know next to nothing about it aside my little volleyball experience from PE classes. And you could have felt that amateurshi-ness in my writing but well...I apologize. In the new version, you will perhaps have a better grasp of the problem rising for Asaka as the ace. As you put it very well, an ace is someone you rely on in dire moments. However, it means for her to do things she isn't used to and doesn't view as a good things. Don't forget that the position she'd wish to play was setter, and she explained the reason why she wanted to play it. Haha, everyone is worried about the second year. I didn't expect such a dread. I legit was so happy when you said I portrayed Murasakibara right. I always found his attitude towards basketball very challenging to write on.