Another Manager (Akashi Seijuro x OC)

(((2 Years Ago - Spring)))

Readers have asked, and I'll deliver!
(A chapter about the past with Haizaki.)

And, a small reminder that school years in Japan start in April and end in March the following calendar year.

***

(Third-year at Teikō)

Haizaki was well-known in the grade for being a rebellious badboy. He was a part of Teikō Basketball Club's starting lineup before Kise, but he quit at the end of their second year. Akashi had talked with him one day in the empty gymnasium and suggested that he withdraw from the club to save his reputation and pride.

It was before Kuroko had caught Haizaki at the incinerator, about to throw in and burn his basketball shoes. The grey-haired male had held a grudge for a while against the know-it-all captain and Kise, who eventually took Haizaki's place, as predicted.

Since Ai and the blond boy had only known him for a year at the time, they didn't know Haizaki as much as Kuroko or the others did. She had tried to preserve at least a peaceful relationship with him, until he used her to get back at Akashi.

.

Ai had gone to her classroom to get an extra notebook from her bag. She'd thought of a new topic to research and wanted to start it in a new notebook.

On her way back to the gymnasium where the first-string players practiced, Ai was lost in thought.

Ever since the national tournament last year, Aomine had been absent from the after-school club trainings. She knew that she couldn't just become a solution for him; it wasn't that simple. He needed someone who he could play with and could challenge him to new heights.
Ai could never physically play basketball like the guys. She could only support them as a manager. It was hard to accept how helpless she could be in that sense.

Am I really so useless? There has to be something, right? she asked herself. Could I try to find new people for him to play against? High schoolers, maybe? Adults? Or is he too strong for those people too?

Perhaps she could introduce him to a second hobby. Then, he could derive at least some happiness from something in his life.

She cared about Aomine, and it hurt to see him struggling like this.

"Well, what do we have here?"

She looked to her left and saw the former small forward of Teikō's team.

Ai had been wanting to follow up on him quitting the basketball team, but she hadn't found the time to talk yet. They were third-years now, and she didn't recall seeing him at the opening ceremony at the start of the school year; he must have skipped it and not attended.

Haizaki smirked and began walking toward her. "Long time no see, huh? Fancy seeing you again. What're you doing out here?"

"Getting a notebook," she replied.

"For your precious club?" He stepped closer to her. "Say, I happen to remember you and Akashi are a thing. Right?"

Ai stood her ground. "Since last year."

He looked her over. "Come to think of it, you're pretty hot, you know."

Ai scoffed in his face. To think he had the audacity to try to seduce her into going out with him, when they both knew very well they each already had a partner; she was with Akashi, and he was with a girl who had previously been dating Kise.
"I'm not interested in your revenge plot."

"Come on, all I'm asking for is one date." He walked forward until she stepped back. She let him back her up against a wall.
"I'll show you how much better I am than any of them."