Overgrown ➵ Akashi Seijuro

one

Chapter One

I realised how small my homeschooling life had been, confined to the four walls of my house, when I looked up at Teiko.

It was huge.

Sei was having a word with the driver about something – we'd been dropped off together, by Sei's request, claiming it was so he could help me adjust but we simply didn't want to arrive without each other – but the words were lost to my ears. The walls of Teiko Junior High loomed over us and I swallowed, my fingers curling around the straps of my bag. I couldn't see much over the wall, but I could glimpse the roofs of the school, and it sprawled out far and wide.

Butterflies bumped against my stomach, but I raised my chin. I could do this. If I could look at Akashi's father in the eye, this was nothing.

"Akane, are you okay?"

I looked to Sei, who waited behind me. A quick survey revealed that our car was no longer parked beside us – I hadn't even heard it leave. I must have been more nervous than I realised.

I paused, closed my eyes, drew in a deep breath and held it for several seconds. I exhaled slowly, until there was no more air left in my eyes. I reopened my eyes.

"I'm fine. It's a tad bigger than my house, is all – there might be some adjustment involved." I shrugged and straightened my back. "Don't worry, Sei, I can handle this."

He smiled. "I never doubted you could."

"Sei, you have too much confidence in me."

"I don't. It's you that doesn't have enough."

I sighed. Not this again. "Let's go," I said quickly, and fortunately Sei didn't pursue the subject.

We walked the rest of the way to Teiko on foot. My steps faltered when we neared the gate, and I saw just how many people were filing inside in a mesh of white and blue uniforms. My mouth turned dry as I looked at the ravenous crowd, ready to swallow me whole.

Sei glanced back at me with a frown, but I'd already caught up before he could say anything. I matched my pace to his own and lifted my chin. I've got this.

The crowds were loud, with several club representatives yelling at the tops of their voices to promote their club, flyers passing around like a big game of pass-the-parcel. Students on their own were cornered and pestered, and the numerous colours of various clubs blended into one rainbow, mishmashed image. I edged closer to Sei so I wouldn't lose him in the crowd, even as I squinted to make out each of the clubs being advertised.

"Were you thinking of joining a club?" Sei asked.

I nodded. "Even if I didn't want to, it's something my parents expect of me. They wish for me to join the orchestra – even though being in it would bore me to tears." I huffed and stared at the sky. "I'll make my decision by the end of the day. Will you join the basketball club?"

"As long as it doesn't interfere with my studies, my father has no problem with it."

My eyes turned to slits.

"Now, does he mean only your school studies, or does he count his own lessons in there?" I demanded in a low voice, raising an eyebrow.

Sei closed his eyes. "You don't have to bring this up again, Akane. You worry too much."

"I have good reason to! It's not normal, the amount of work he makes you do. I worry for you, Sei, since you don't worry enough."

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. I smirked. He might hark on at me about confidence – but I did the same to him about his greater-than-average workload. Even if we acted like we were annoyed, at the end of the day we balanced each other, whether we admitted it to ourselves or not.