égoïste [Akaashi Keiji]

raison #2

"It's only been half an hour and you guys are already falling asleep?" Shiori sighed and crossed her arms, staring at Bokuto and Konoha, whose heads were bobbing up and down, trying to fight off the sleep that tried to eat them alive. "If we're going to do it at this pace we might as well have dinner first."

"Dinner?!" At the mention of food, Bokuto and Konoha were instantly reenergized, along with Yukie, whose eyes sparkled.

"Akaashi, I think you're the only sane one here." Shiori turned to the younger male, but when she saw his eyes also gleam slightly with expectation, she sighed, "Never mind."

"I'll start cooking, then. You guys continue what you were doing," She eyed Konoha and Bokuto, "And if you sleep, you won't be getting food." She warned, standing up and heading to the kitchen.

Said males rested their heads on the desk, frowning.

"But I don't wanna do this!" Bokuto whined, pushing himself off the desk, facing the textbook once again. He looked at the mathematical problems, not having the patience of doing any at all.

Akaashi put a bookmark between the English textbook and closed it, going to help Bokuto. Konoha, on the other hand, was looking through Yukie's notes on English, trying to see if he could find anything useful.

In the kitchen, Shiori sighed to herself, washing the vegetables for the curry she was going to make. It was the fastest thing to make, and it was easy. If she were by herself she'd cook something that wasn't curry.

What am I, a mother taking care of her kids? Grown up kids, too. She chopped the vegetables, putting them into the boiling water on the stove.

It was at this time that Akaashi had come to help. Yukie was going to, but he suggested her to stay and watch over the two since he wanted to talk to Shiori about something.

"Is there anything I can help with?" The male asked. He knew exactly what she was making from the mess.

"Ah, yeah, sure. Can you grill the meat?" She pointed to a plate of marinated meat, which were all already cut into thick strips, then she pointed to the small grill on the side near the stove. She got some tongs for him, "Use these."

Akaashi had never used that type of grill before. It was easy to figure out, so he stood on the side waiting for the meat to cook while Shiori started making the curry itself.

"Shiori-san, how long did you play volleyball for?" Akaashi asked, turning to her.

Surprised by the sudden question, her brows rose and she turned to him, "Hm? A volleyball question right off the bat, eh..." She paused, scooping the vegetables from the boiling water and putting them into a strainer, "Up until middle school."

Akaashi turned over the meat strips, "That's pretty recent."

"Yeah, it is."

"Why did you stop playing?"

That question stopped Shiori in her tracks. She put the strained vegetables to the side and stared at the freshly replaced water in the pot, looking up back at Akaashi to answer his question. She had a small, hopeless smile on her face.

"I guess some things just don't stick."

With the raise of a thick brow, Akaashi's dark eyes slanted as his brows then furrowed ever so slightly. He still wanted answers, so he asked a different question.

"Did you find it fun?"

"Yeah." She nodded with a warm smile, "It was fun."

Was...? Akaashi took note of her past tense. Doesn't she find it fun now? His mind went back to the match just last night, and it confirmed what he was thinking, that he wasn't imagining things.