The Athletic Royals: Shiroma Version

Part 2[revised]

1 week later-Kaijo
No one's POV

On the first school day morning, Shiroma was just putting away his outdoor shoes when he heard a commotion. He consciously lowered his presence and went to see what it was about. Shiroma slipped passed into the crowd of students and let himself be surfed to the front. As soon as he saw what was on the board, he twitched in irritation. On the weekly bulletin board school newspaper in big, bold words was the title "Archery Prince Trains Basketball Club!" and picture of himself taken from the previous morning's basketball practice.

"As you were saying, Kato?" he addressed to the female trying to sneak away. The girl shivered as Shiroma spoke to her.

"Haha...you see..." Kato scratched her chin nervously.

"Kato, you've better got a good reason why this picture is on the front cover. You know better than to let the newspaper club publish my picture without asking."

"I didn't see any problem with it. The photography club president asked if she could develop my pictures yesterday. I swear I didn't know that she was going to give your pictures to the newspaper club!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"What if my great-aunt finds out, Kato?" Shiroma questioned the girl. "What will happen to the two clubs then? Have you ever wondered what happened to the magazine Archery Special in England? When they wrongly published a picture of me that they took when they illegally stepped on her private property without her permission on the front page, she took our best family lawyers, outright sued them, and won the case. Susan-oba single handedly put them out of business."

Kato went silent. Shiroma sighed.

"Pray that she never finds out about this. Have the newspaper club take down the newspaper and make sure to tell them to not use anymore of my pictures. Even though Susan-oba's my relative, she would cut my payment in half for this is outright violating my contract with her company. Please do not give anymore of your photos to the photography club. I know how much you like to photograph things, but right now we have to focus the basketball club. I scheduled a practice game for tomorrow with Shutoku's coach between our second stringers and theirs."

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Lunch break period
In Shutoku:

"Help me, Midoten-chan!" A hazel-eyed brunette exclaimed as she glommed a bluish-black-haired girl who was eating her bento in a corner of the rooftop on a bench. "Takao-kun took my candy again!"

"Miko, please get off me." 'Midoten' replied to the girl. She tried to shover her off, but the brunette's hold on her was too tight. "Besides, you've got three more bags stowed away in your school bag."

"But Midoten-chan..." Miko wailed. "It's my favorite brand of chocolate! The one with a mixture filled with half green tea and half red bean paste!"

"I swear, you're just like Kenta-sensei when it comes to food." 'Midoten' muttered under her breath. "You two are hyper."

"Midoten..." Miko gave her another glomp. "I knew I could count on you!"

"..." 'Midoten' set aside her bento. Then she quickly took Miko's left wrist and gently twisted to give her a slight pain. Miko whimpered.

"I told you before, Miko, and I'll tell you this again." 'Midoten' said quietly as she slipped out of Miko's grasp. "I do not like to be hugged or held, Miko. Not since that incident."

"You really are strong." Miko said as she tended to her wrist. "Really, really strong."

"A-a-no" a shy female freshman student walked up to the two older girls.

"Hai?" 'Midoten' raised an eyebrow.

"Are you Kuroko Tenri Midori-senpei and Aida Miko-senpei?" The freshman stuttered out.

"Hai!" Miko said cheerfully.

"What do you need, kohai?" Tenri(Midoten) asked.

"..." The young girl stammered something that the two older students did not understand.

"Speak more clearly, kohai." Tenri sharply reprimanded the younger girl. "I cannot comprehend what you are saying."

The freshman female squealed and shivered under Tenri's pointed gaze. It took Miko a while to calm the poor girl so she could speak. As soon as the freshman student delivered her message, she bolted off the rooftop.

"Midoten, your sharpness will not help in situation like earlier," Miko scolded her friend as soon as the freshman girl left. "You almost scared her spirit out of her!"

"It's not my fault that she can't speak properly." Tenri mumbled. Silence reigned between the two of them.

"So...are you going to join the basketball club?" Miko asked as she sat beside Tenri.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Midoten, answer me!" Miko shook Tenri hard before letting go quickly.

Tenri looked up at the clouds.  "I've never thought that I would be going to hold a basketball again. Masaki-oji is so cruel... 'I'll be your guardian during high school,' he said, 'under the condition that you will join the basketball club in your second year for the rest of high school.' Then Nii-san said THEY'RE RETURNING. Now I have to work as a manager! I don't even know how to manage anything!"

"Oh, right!" Miko snapped her fingers after she wore a frown. "I forgot that Nakatani-sensei is your godfather. Couldn't you break your agreement, Midoten?"

"I can't. Nii-san was there when I made the promise. He's a stickler for promises." Tenri sighed deeply. "I knew that I have to face it one day, but I didn't believe it was this soon. Masaki-oji works fast."

"So I guess this mean you will have to leave the female kendo club..." Miko moaned. "And now I'm stuck with a huge bunch of rookies to train! The new captain is so lazy..."

"But it's amazing that you were selected to be vice-captain of the team even though you are a second year," Tenri complimented.

"Yeah, but only after you flat out rejected our previous vice-captain." Miko stuck out her tongue at Tenri.

"Hey! I only did so because I hate handling immature rookies who only joined to impress boys or have massive egos to think that they are 'good' enough to even have a chance of making the team. We were even lucky to find one quiet talent in the group."

As Tenri was going to take another bite of her bento, the end-of-lunch-period bell rang. She groaned before putting her container away.

"I'm not telling your boyfriend to give back your chocolate."