An unexpected life

Why her?

The next two or three days passed without much event. Neither Michiyo, nor Ayumu had any matches. It was around the fourth day and the two of them were getting bored. So, they decided to "explore" the boys' dormitories. They had mostly explored everything else and this was the only thing left for them to do.

So, the two of them were roaming about the boys' building when they heard Aomine's voice. He was talking to someone who kept on referring to him as "Aominecchi". Aomine didn't seem to mind though. Michiyo had a message for him from his captain so she asked Ayumu to wait there for her for two minutes.

Ayumu agreed. She really needed  to sort things out in her head, anyways. Her father was in the hospital and she wondered if Shou had been visiting him everyday as she had asked him to. She sighed. "Of course he would...He is his son after all..."she said to herself. She wondered how her mother was doing. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear two approaching voices from behind. "Oh come on Shin-chan! One last time!" "Takao, I don't go back on my words. Quit annoying me-nanodayo." "Hmph. I know. But pl...uh, Shin-chan?"

"What?". But by the time he had stopped walking, he had already bumped into Ayumu who had been standing there. Midorima, not seeing the girl's face, apologised immediately. Suddenly, she sprung up. "Caught you!" Ayumu said, with a wide grin, "finally you admit that-ouch!" She leaned on her left leg as she realised that she had injured her right during the impact.

Ayumu wouldn't have minded much, but the next day she had a match. "Blow!" she thought, "I've sprained my ankle and all thanks to Midorima Shintarou" Aloud she said, "You injured my leg; how am I supposed to play tomorrow?" "That's not my concern. And anyways, had you not been dreaming, you would've avoided it. Besides," he added in a softer voice, "you are weak anyways. You can never win against Toru-san. So why bother?" Saying so, he walked off. Honestly he regretted saying so the moment he did but well, there was no point in denying the truth. He had watched Toru Maeko play countless times before, courtesy of Takao of couse, and obviously she was pretty good at her game. 

After a pause, Ayumu closed her eyes and sighed. "Midorima Shintarou," she said in a low voice. Midorima stopped in his tracks. No stranger acknowledged him in that way. It was intimidating, and yet there was a strange shade of respect and acknowledgement in her voice. "I may not be the strongest," she said, "but I'm certainly not weak." Midorima turned to see her facing towards him. Her eyes were determined and she looked him straight in the eyes as if to say, don't cross your limits or I'll quit respecting you. And for some reason, for the first time in his life since Akashi,  Midorima was overwhelmed. He didn't know why, but he didn't want to lose her respect. He gulped a little and said in a deep voice, "Okay, we'll see." Then he turned around and walked away with Takao tagging behind him.

                                                                        x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Don't move too much today or you simply can't play tomorrow. Got it?" Michiyo looked at Ayumu who was in deep thought. "Normally, if a player is injured, the match may be postponed, so if you want me to, I could-" "No"Ayumu sighed. "This isn't selection, it's a real tournament. All the first matches will be played tomorrow and we'll have matches every single day after. They obviously can't postpone the entire tournament just because I managed to let some idiot trample over me." Michiyo shrugged her shoulders, understanding her friend's situation. "Fine, do whatever. You want me to get you some food?" Ayumu nodded. 

After she left, Ayumu called her dad. After a long time, he finally picked up. "Hello?" 

"Hey dad, it's me." 

"Oh, Ayko. I'd been waiting." 

"Hmm, sorry I'm late. I injured myself and I have a match tomorrow, so Michiyo was fussing over it a little." She glanced over at her swollen ankle now covered with crepe bandages.

 "Oh Mitsuhide-san is there too? Then she can watch over you for a while."

 "Daddy!" Her father chuckled.

Ever since his diagnosis, Ayumu had visited him every day, every single time he had to be admitted, no matter what. Now that he was stuck here, till the end, she had had to move in with her mother and brother. His face now turned serious. "But then, will you play tomorrow, Ayko?" "Yeah. Of course." hearing her father's tone of concern, she added, "Don't worry. I won't lose."

He smiled. "Good'" her father said. Looking at the nurse outside his door he realised the time. "Okay, it's my bedtime now. Good luck for tomorrow." "Yeah, I'll have my lucky item on me, so there's no need to worry." He sighed. "Ayko, you know you can't depend on your lucky item, right?" "Yeah, I know." She recited the lines she'd always believed in, "You've got to believe in God and he'll believe in you too. I'll do my best and let him do the rest, okay?" 

"Sure," her father said, a silent smile on his lips. He used to believe in God, but not anymore. What was the use? But he didn't want to hurt Ayumu's faith and so he wished her goodbye, and hung up.