Synchronized Love

Secrets

CHAPTER 6: Secrets

Heavy rain poured down one friday night. The members of Kaijo Basketball Team; Kasamatsu, Moriyama, Kobori, Hayakawa and Kise, were all staying over at their manager's house..

And to their surprise, their manager and captain were childhood friends!

"Oi" Kasamatsu called. "Wait a minute." After placing the last plate on the table, Iyami faced Kasamatsu.

"Can we talk?" He asked. The girl sighed knowing what was going to happen. "Is it about what happened earlier today?" Kasamatsu nodded. Before he could open his mouth though, Iyami's mom called for her.

She sighed in relief and silently thanked her mom. She didn't want to tell Kasamatsu what it was about nor was she ready to tell him what had happened. "Iyami, are you okay?" her mom asked and she smiled. "Fine, just thinking about something..."

Then she helped her cook. It was quiet as they worked and Iyami was really thankful that her mom isn't forcing her to talk. "I didn't want to bring this up when Yuki-kun and the others are around so I'll ask now." her mom said as they were finishing up.

"...Have you ever once.. thought about playing basketball again, Honey?" she asked slowly. Iyami had her back turned to her and she didn't want to face her. They've had talks like this before and she always hated how her mom would look..

"No, mom.. I'm a manager and a second year. I've got a lot of things more important than that so I haven't really thought about it." she answered and turned the stove off. "But since Yuki-kun is here maybe—" "Mom... I said I haven't thought about playing again. I didn't and I won't. I know that this might be rude but I'm eating in my room.."

She hurriedly took her share of the meal and locked herself into the room. Her mom sighed defeatedly. "Uhm.." she jumped in surprise and immediately put a smile on her face. "Oh, Yuki-kun.. Are you hungry now? Iyami and I just finished cooking so why don't you call the other boys and wait at the table? Hm?"

Kasamatsu looked like he wanted to say something but instead he nodded his head and turned on his heel to the living room. He guesses that it might not be a good time seeing as their conversation didn't end well. Not that he was eavesdropping... he just happened to pass by!

The dinner table was filled with light banter from the boys and though there was a moment of awkwardness when Moriyama asked where Iyami was, Kasamatsu was quick to cover up for her and giving a small smile to her mom.

Kasamatsu was kind enough to offer to do the dishes once they were done while Akihito helped lay down some extra mats for the boys to sleep on and some blankets and pillows.

"It's really nice seeing you again Yuki-kun" Iyami's mom mumbled. "It's been so long and so many things have changed..."

"That's true, I didn't even recognize Iyami when I met her again last year. The only first year that was brave enough to apply for a manager role." he mumbled chuckling a little as he realized that was something only she could've pulled off.

He grabbed the towel to dry his hands as he faced Iyami's mom. "I don't mean to intrude or anything but uhm..."

"You're wondering why she's not playing right?" Kasamatsu nodded and saw the sad look in her eyes. "You know, the day you said goodbye a few years back, Iyami never missed a day practicing. Even when Akihito became more busy with school she always managed to find time to go to the court because she said she promised to improve a lot so she could beat you once the two of you meet again."

Kasamatsu watched as she got up from her seat and went to make some coffee and asked him if he wanted some too. He politely declined, and took a seat waiting for the continuation of the story.

It was a few minutes of silence as Iyami's mom focused on making her coffee. Once she was done she took her previous seat and sighed deeply.

"She improved a lot. She was the star of her middle school basketball team. Even became a captian in her second year. But half of the school year, she quit playing and said she'll become a manager instead."

"Why? There must be a reason why she did that."

"I think it's best to let Iyami tell him herself Mom." Akihito stated coming from the direction of the living room. "That's right, I suppose. I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for. Anyways, the guys are all set in there. But you could always stay in my room like the old times." Akihito offered. "I'll take that offer. I don't want to stay in a cramped space with them." he says with a teasing smile.

He loves his teammates, and maybe that new addition too, but he'd rather sleep outside than with Moriyama and Hayakawa blasting his eardrums off. He prays for Kobori to have a peaceful sleep though.

"But really though, you two didn't notice who the other was for the past year???" Akihito asked. "To be fairly honest, she's changed a lot from the last time I saw her." Kasamatsu said as he arranged the futon on the floor.

"But I recognized you when I met you last year. Didn't you wonder why I was suddenly friendly with you while I glared at Moriyama for the first few weeks since Iyami introduced us?"

The first time the team met Iyami's brother was after their major defeat at the Inter High preliminaries. It was a rough time for them and now that Kasamatsu thinks about it, he did act that way. "I never really paid that much attention so I didn't notice." Akihito suddenly laughs and Kasamatsu threw a pillow at him. "Stop laughing. Besides, if you knew from back then why didn't you say anything?"

Akihito threw the pillow back at Kasamatsu before answering. "It was fun seeing how she became her old self around you even though she didn't recognize you." Kasamatsu was done fixing his futon and was ready to go to sleep so Akihito layed on his bed. "Besides, it was for the best." He whispered to himself.

"Anyways, hope you sleep well."

"Yeah, you too."

In the middle of the night, the rain was still pouring down outside. Iyami tiptoed towards the kitchen to place her plate without making any noises and to get a glass of water, too. She didn't want to wake anybody up considering that they had a tough day.

Just as she grabbed the glass her wrist started to throb painfully. With a hiss, she immediately placed it down before accidentally dropping it and making noise. It's been a while since it hurt but it seemed like fighting with Kasamatsu more than usual placed a huge stress on it. She sighed as she massaged it to help ease the pain.

After a while, she used her left hand to grab the glass and to pour herself some water. "Oh, you're up too?" She heard a sudden voice just as she was about to drink and almost dropped the glass again. "Eek! Kasamatsu? Why are you up?"

It was obvious he was still half asleep but he managed to make his way down the stairs without Iyami noticing.

"I was thirsty, too." "Oh" Iyami placed the glass she held in front of Kasamatsu. "Here" then she went to grab another one for herself. It was quiet as the two drank their water. Once they were done, they both made their way back upstairs. She was about to go into her room when Kasamatsu called out to her.

"By the way, I just noticed you keep using your left hand but aren't you right-handed?"