Another Manager (Akashi Seijuro x OC)

(((Last Spring - After Kaijō and Seirin's Practice Match)))

***

Kise glanced down at the water faucet. The green-haired former teammate had left with Takao, a first-year from Shūtoku. Midorima had acquired a strange bicycle-pulled cart now that they were in high school, and the two had left to go back to Tokyo. The remnants of Mr. Ribbit's shards were cleared and properly thrown away.

Kuroko was different from before. Why didn't he focus on winning, as they did at Teikō?
Victory was everything.

Kise had a hard time focusing on practice for the rest of the day. When it was finally over, he stood in front of his locker and changed clothes with robotic movements. Something gnawed at his brain.

When his black smartphone caught his eye, an idea came to mind. He could give her a call. It'd been a while since they'd last spoken anyway. Now was a perfect time.

Pressing a few buttons, the small forward dialed a number. The phone rang for a few seconds.

"Yes?" a cool, female voice said when the line connected.

"Hey, Ai-cchi! It's Kise," he said, forcing himself to take on a light tone.

"I know. What is it, Ryōta-kun?"

"I played a practice match against Kuroko-cchi today."

"Well, good for you." She sounded as apathetic as ever, and her aura even over the phone was shrouded in mystery.

Kise took a deep breath in. "Ai-cchi, I lost for the first time in my life." It was a close match, 100-98, but a loss nonetheless.

"I see." She paused for a moment. "It was bound to happen. That's what it means to play against one another."

He laughed a bit dryly. "I thought I remembered you being nicer than this."

"I don't think I've changed all that much since Teikō."

Kise pouted to himself. "Kuroko-cchi dumped me when I asked him to come to Kaijō. He had a new partner who's from America, too."

"That's his freedom to choose, but his new light sounds intriguing. He must be skilled, then."

"Yeah. And, I saw Midorima-cchi afterward. He said our horoscope has the worst luck today," the blond groaned.

"Hmm. That would explain why the zipper on my schoolbag broke this morning."

"That's not as bad as losing," he whined.

"I suppose not." There was shuffling of papers coming from the background, as if she was working on something while calling him. "So, Seijuro isn't Shintarō-kun's only player of interest."

Kise chuckled lightly. "Guess not. Kuroko-cchi is fun to play with," he admitted. Then, he sighed before confessing, "He got hurt during the game. ...It was kind of my fault."

The line was quiet. "How bad is it?"

"I don't think it was too bad. He played in the fourth quarter after laying down for a while, but it was his head, so..."

"You should go see him, Ryōta-kun. I know you and Kuroko-kun were close. Make sure he's alright, especially if you think it's your fault." This time, he heard her sigh. "I don't want your friendships to become more strained."

He smiled a little. Her kindness was still there after all. "You bet! Hey, what about you?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Am I a player of interest to you, Ai-cchi?"

"That depends. Are you worth my attention, Ryōta-kun?"

He grinned. "I'll show you I am."

She breathed out a passive laugh on the other side of the phone. "I'll look forward to it." At the moment, Akashi was the only player she was interested in, as Kuroko was to Momoi. "Is that all?"

"Yup. So, I'll see you next at Interhigh, then."

There was a pause. Kise raised a confused eyebrow and was about to ask her name when she answered.

"I may or may not. I doubt I'll be seeing you at the tournament."

"What? Is your school's team not strong or something?" he joked.

"It's not my team, per se, but rather our differences in playing fields."

Kise thought she was talking about how she was a manager, which was different from how he was a basketball player. Never in his dreams would he have imagined that Ai would take up volleyball, or any other sport for that matter, in high school.

"We'll see how things play out. I expect to hear rumors about Kaijō's strength out here in Miyagi."

"Of course you will!" He zipped his bag and grabbed his gray blazer jacket. "Bye, Ai-cchi! Talk to you later!"

"Bye, Ryōta-kun. Keep me in touch."

.

Needless to say, Ai saw him in many magazines, both for modeling and for basketball. She made it a routine to flip through the rack at Sakanoshita to and find his featured article every month. Ai sometimes heard Karasuno's basketball club members in her class talking about it, but she didn't participate in those conversations, having chosen to take a break from her old sport.

Whenever Ai met with Murasakibara, she'd mention the small forward's name at least once. Kise would also text her about published interviews from time to time, to which she always answered that she had already seen it.

***

Total Word Count: 860