Not Just A Sport!

Episode 36

It was now the very next day and  Sakina stared out the classroom window as she hummed to herself, not bothering to listen to the teacher's lecture.

Her mind was still running over the events of the tennis match between Atobe and Akashi.

She peered down at the classes who were outside for gym not really paying them any attention.

She continued to hum to herself and gaze out the classroom window right up until class was over.

A soft tap on her shoulder alerted her to the class's end.

"Geez, at least pretend to pay attention," Sakura said, a stern look on her face as she shook her head, her pink pigtails swishing to the sides.

"Sorry," Sakina said, gathering her things and standing up.

Sakura sighed heavily and walked with Sakina to the tennis courts.

Sakina was seemingly lost in thought and didn't notice the change in atmosphere around her. Many of the Kohai were looking at her and whispering around her.

"Hey, Saki, is it just me or is more and more guys here at school staring at you?" Sakura questioned.

"Hn?" Sakina turned her head and gave a confused look, signalling her absentmindedness.

Sakura rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"I gotta go, see you later," Sakura said, giving Sakina a pat on the back before walking in the opposite direction.

Sakina nodded and entered the changing room and quickly got dressed into her Tennis clothing.
Exiting with her racquet in hand, Sakina was stopped in her tracks by a group of Kohai staring up at her with glittering eyes.

"Y-you're Sakina right? C-can you sign my magazine?" A boy asked, thrusting said magazine in front of Sakina.

She blinked. On the cover was a picture of her wearing a cute outfit. It was a photo that was taken of her when she was headed over to Aomine's house a few days ago.

"S-sure..." She murmured, signing her name.

A few other boys asked for her to sign theirs as well which room up a total of ten minutes.

After completing all of their requests, Sakina realized that she was late for practice. A rush of dread filled her and she ran as quickly as possible to practice.

As expected, the regulars and everyone else were already in the midst of practice. Catching sight of Tezuka, Sakina knew, before she heard the words, "One hundred laps,"

As she ran her laps, Sakina couldn't help but feel sympathetic to Kise who had hundreds of fans interrupting his practice.

Sakina began to think back on all the times she's ran one hundred laps and realized that running these laps have come to be sort of like a habit.

She finished running much faster than she anticipated and wiped her forehead as she twirled her tennis racquet in her hand. She sighed and peered up at the blue sky.

"You seem to be slacking off. If you've got time to stare at the sky you should play a match," Momo said, interrupting Sakina's thoughts.

Sakina looked at him curiously and could see the smile on his face. She smiled as well, "You're on!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sakina sighed heavily as she walked home from practice. The sky was getting darker and the cool air felt refreshing against her skin.

But despite the gentle atmosphere, Sakina's mind wandered back to the chilling gaze of Akashi's emperor eye. She shivered in spite of herself and clutched her tennis bag closer.