Queen Of Cards || Akashi Seijuro x OC

Chapter 14

"Be quiet! They're gonna wake up."

"We're only 30 minutes away anyways."

"Look at how cute they are. My two kouhais are gonna get married!"

"Akashi will kill you if he hears you say that."

"Oh how fast they grow up."

"Just take a picture before they wake up!"

At the mention of his name, Akashi Seijuro opened his eyes, causing Mibuchi, Nebuya, and Hayama to quickly return to their seats. Taking a moment to regain his senses, Akashi looked down to see his manager, the vice president of Rakuzan's student council, sleeping peacefully with her head resting against his arm.

"Reo. I heard that."

Without turning around, he could almost see his motherly senpai gulp in fear. Fortunately for the male, Akashi didn't have the heart to wake the sleeping girl up by moving.

...He didn't have the heart to wake her?

Akashi backtracked his thoughts, confused. There was no way he, Akashi Seijuro, was incapable of something. The thought almost made him shudder. Looking back down at the sleeping figure of his friend, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

He really couldn't do it.

Did she possess some sort of magical ability that made his hand freeze up when he went to shake her awake?

Immediately dispelling that thought, he shook his head lightly in annoyance. Magic wasn't real. He was mad that he even thought of something so outrageous.

So what was it?

Staring at the girl confused, he frowned a little. He wanted to run his fingers through her hair. It looked soft and light. Acting upon his impulses, he touched her hair and of course, it was silky and delicate. He suddenly felt a light churn in his stomach.

That night at Airi's apartment had made him feel weird as well. He didn't mean to make it so awkward and venereal, but he couldn't help himself. The words had just slipped out of his mouth without a thought.

"Come closer then."

Why did he say that? He certainly hadn't planned to.

The rough jerk of the bus stopping made him pull his hand away in an instant. At the action, Airi awoke. As soon as she saw that she had been leaning on Akashi, she turned a dark shade of pink which Akashi had to admit he found a little cute.

"S-sorry for sleeping on you."

"It's fine."

Regaining his composure and deadpan expression, he got off the bus with Airi following him.

Was she a witch?

How could she possibly make him stop his actions with just her looks? Sure, she was pretty, but was that the reason he stopped? Akashi was at a loss. There was no way he would be stopped by mere charms, nor was there any way witches were real.

Something felt off for Akashi Seijuro.

~

"What do you mean you're not playing?!"

Airi didn't mean to yell at her captain, nor would she actually have the guts to under normal circumstances, but Akashi told her less than 10 minutes before the semifinals that he would not be playing.

"Murasakibara will not play either, and don't ever scream at me again. I will put you in your place next time."

His cold tone made her flinch and withdraw herself on the bench. Even though he wasn't playing, he left her side to lead warmups. The coach was frowning beside her, but he didn't say a word.

They won the semifinals by a mediocre gap, but Airi would make sure to keep an eye on Himuro Tatsuya's activities for the upcoming Winter Cup. He was the driving force behind their scoring, being almost the best any human could possibly be. Fortunately, true to his word, Murasakibara Atsushi did not play. In fact, he sat on the bench with two giant bags of lollies, not really caring about the game at all.

The finals were admittedly close, and Aomine was out of the game due to an injury. Akashi once again didn't play, which ticked off Airi more than she would admit.

Airi would be keeping tabs on Kise Ryota too, since the game against Touou that had just occurred had somehow triggered an improvement in him.

On the bus back to school, Airi took extra care trying not to fall asleep against Akashi. Despite being in love with the redhead, she was scared to disturb him in his thoughts. His heterochromatic eyes were glazed and gleaming as he silently stared, seeming deep in thought. Airi swore he occasionally threw a glance at her.

She was aimlessly staring out the window when Akashi let out a sudden gasp that made her jump and stare at him.

He was already looking right at her, a look of surprise etched on his face. This, admittedly, scared Airi more than anything else.

Akashi Seijuro never got surprised. He was confident, knew everything, and never showed any weakness.

"Are you ok?"

"...Yes."

Not buying it for even a second but not willing to lose her eye to his infamous red scissors, she turned back to the scenery. There was only one thought going through Airi's head.

What on earth did he realise?

~

The senpais and coach all bid each other goodbye before making their own way home as brisk as possible. There was already heavy rain pouring down which was the cause of the team's dispersement.

Airi was stranded in the gym. She had gone to the gym with Akashi to return the club bags and papers, and the male was silent as per usual.

She stood at the open door, staring at the pouring rain.

"I'll walk you home."

Turning around, she nearly let out a scream when she met the two ruby orbs of Akashi. How was that even possible?

"A-Akashi-san... your eyes..."

"It's complicated." He let out a chuckle, his usually cold and intimidating aura gone. Airi was surprised by his friendly demeanour, and she was sure this was the first time he had ever laughed.

"O-Oh...I see..."

"Shall we go?"

"Huh? Oh...yeah."

He opened his umbrella, waiting for the stunned girl to follow him out the door. Snapping out of her trance, she shifted her bag to her other shoulder before walking beside the captain.

"Are you excited for Winter Cup, Akashi-san?"

"I am, Yuna-chan."