The next day, it was in a hurry that Hana walked towards the baseball field. Initially, she had planned to wait for Kazuya at the exit of her classroom. She wanted to return the notebooks that he had so graciously lent her a few weeks ago. But unfortunately, the head teacher happened to be an extremely talkative man, and he had kept her at the end of the course for a futility. As a result, she had missed her childhood friend, and the only option she had was to hope to run into him during his training.

But it wasn't just that. There was him, too. That boy whose name she still didn't know. The day before, several bonds had formed in her head, and since then, the young woman could not help but think about it. She understood several things, starting with the fact that since he was on the baseball team, he and Kazuya knew each other. And since Kazuya often told him about his most unruly teammates, he had obviously already told her about this boy. There was no way he hadn't.

But even if she racked her brains, the result remained the same: she lacked information to make the final link. She had not made the effort to remember the names Kazuya mentioned, and she had never had the opportunity to associate them with faces. So, even though the student realized that this boy was most likely the one Kazuya despised the most, it didn't advance her any further into her research...

Sora Amano didn't go with her, still too ashamed of the events of the day before. She was afraid that the boy who ran up with the coach told the rest of the club about what had happened. And even if Hana strongly doubted that this was the case, she had not tried to deny this possibility, happy to finally get rid of the one who acted as her shadow. It was thus alone that she reached the edge of the baseball field, in search of the face of her elder among the players already present on the field.

When Hana approached the group, several pairs of eyes headed up to her to observe her with curiosity before casting suspicious looks at each other, trying to determine which of them knew the young woman who was approaching. Shirai had formally forbidden them to invite anyone to attend the training sessions, judging them too dissipated when a spectator looked at them. And authoritarian as he was, no one had dared to deviate from his rule.

What a surprise when they saw their captain, although so taciturn, break away from the group to meet the student, a friendly smile on the lips.

—Hi, Hana, are you all right? He questioned her, a little anxious to see her arrive so suddenly.

Shirai leaned towards her and tenderly kissed her cheek, all in front of the dumbfounded looks of the present witnesses.

—Yes, don't worry, she reassured him immediately in a soft voice. I just wanted to give these back to you, but the teacher felt talkative today, so...yeah.

Hana handed the notebooks and Kazuya seized them mechanically, amazed that she made the move for such a frivolous thing.

—You could have given them to me another day, nothing is in a hurry, said he, raising his eyebrow.

—You know how's my grandmother, she replied, looking up. She would have expelled me if I went home without giving them back to you.

—Mmh. Things haven't improved between you yet, have they?

Hana remained silent. She didn't need to say more to make him understand the answer to his question, and she was grateful to him for never digging deeper, simply giving her a mere compassionate look.

—I should go, said the young woman, raising her head to her friend. Your friends seem really impatient.

As they spoke, Hana's eyes had deviated from the group behind them. Shirai followed her gaze and sighed, noticing that his teammates were spying on them with a genuine curiosity. Obviously, seeing their captain talking so casually to a pretty girl with impunity was a very juicy scoop. Kazuya was already mentally preparing to face their most intrusive questions for the next fifteen minutes...

—Do you have practice tonight ? Asked the young man, shifting his attention to the girl.

—yeah, just like almost every day, Hana recalled, without bothering to hide the bitterness of her voice.

—And when will you find the courage to tell your grandmother that you would like to stop?

Hana shrugged, indifferent.

—At least when I'm on the ice rink, she's not on my back.

Forcing herself to do what she didn't want, it had always been one of her specialties.

—That's one way of seeing things, Kazuya conceded with his usual calmness. But I'm not sure whether it's very good healthy for you in the long run, Hana.

If Hana was prone to smiling, his words would have had the power to make her smile. Of all the people in her life, Kazuya Shirai was the only one who really seemed to give an importance to her well-being. For that reason alone, Hana valued him greatly.

—Don't worry about me, she said gently, forcing a faint smile on her lips. Worry about you, though. I think you're going to have a hard time to deal with all your teammates today.

—I'll be fine, I'm used to dealing with these clowns, he replied seriously. As usual, the worst of all honors us once again with his absence, he mumbled while probing the players with his squinted eyes. It's not gonna work out if he's always late.

A shiver ran through Hana, and she had to take it upon herself not to be overly interested in hearing his words. She knew it, Kazuya spoke about him. No doubt. When she arrived, she had not crossed his eyes. She had not met him simply because he was gone absent without leave.

Hana breathed in, her heart beating abnormally fast, realizing that the missing piece of her puzzle was at her fingertips. Shirai had handed her an opening without even realizing it. All she had to do was seize it and finally put a name on the one whose eyes were as clear as the sea foam.

She had to know. She had to find a way to get that information from him without raising his suspicions.

—Is someone missing? She asked innocently in a detached voice.

—Not anymore, Kazuya replied harshly, looking over his shoulder.

As usual, Akaashi made his entrance with a dragging approach and not in a hurry. Everything in his nonchalant attitude proved that he cared little for his lack of punctuality. The warnings had passed over him for a long time, so that he hardly reacted when his captain reprimanded him in a severe tone.

—You're late, said Shirai in an icy voice. What's your excuse this time, Akaashi?

The boy didn't respond immediately, having suddenly noticed the presence of a third person alongside Shirai. She had turned around while the captain was grumbling, and when their eyes hung, the little effort that Akaashi put into listening to his elder evaporated. His eyebrows frowned as he gazed at the young woman, silently asking her what she was doing here. Or more specifically, what she was doing here with Shirai. He didn't know they knew each other. They seemed close, according to their body language, before they noticed his presence. Akaashi didn't know whether this news bothered him, or on the contrary, pleased him.

Maybe he could use his «relationship» with her to drive Shirai over the edge? This individual was calm in any situation. Aside from giving him menacing looks, Akaashi had never seen him get angry for real. Moreover, the movement Shirai had to put himself between him and the young woman strengthened his idea that he cared very much for her. Or at least he wanted him, Keisuke Akaashi, to interact as little as possible with the one who stood behind them. The only thing Keisuke had to determine is whether this girl would be enough to stir up the wrath of his captain.

Probably yes.

Akaashi, however, put his reasoning in a corner of his head and pulled out the anthracite eyes that started at him in order to look at his captain. The latter was still waiting for an answer from him. Akaashi sighted.

—I had something to do, said the blue-eyed boy, without much conviction.

This poor excuse satisfied no one, but Shirai didn't bother to discuss further with the insolent boy. Instead, he simply ordered him to join the others for the warm-up before completely ignoring him, finding the one who accompanied him much more worthy of his attention. Akaashi didn't complain about being so quickly forgotten and, without adding a word, he passed the two of them. A few steps later, he joined the others.

—Dude, Shirai didn't even bother to argue with you, Igarashi cried out as if it was a big event. You're lucky his girlfriend distracted him.

—His girlfriend? Said Akaashi, raising a dubious eyebrow.

—Look!

Following the instructions of his best friend, Akaashi turned his head just in time to see their captain lay a kiss on the young woman's cheek before the latter turned her heels.

—Ah, that's not fair, whinnied Igarashi in a desperate tone. How could a chick like her choose a guy that is so... so... serious? When I exist?

Akaashi certainly would not have chosen this adjective to describe Shirai, but he didn't bother to give his opinion. Nor did he make the effort to correct his friend on the fact that these two were not dating, already feeling lazy by the perspective of having to justify himself on how he could assure this. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders with indifference, causing Igarashi to sigh again. The latter, however, didn't have time to lament again since, at the same time, Shirai came up to them and he joined the others to tease him.

—I didn't know that being a captain gave the right to derogate your own rules, boasted one of Shirai's friends while giving him a well-heard glance.

—She just had to give me my notebook back, replied the captain in a calm tone.

—Come on, you can tell us she's your girlfriend, laughed another, giving her a pat on the back.

—Who, Hana? She's not my girlfriend, denied Kazuya without even blinking. We're just friends.

—Just friends, but you call her by her first name? Nah, I don't buy it.

Although he stepped back, Akaashi missed nothing of the joyful conversation his teammates were having. He simply listened in silence, mentally noting every new information that might be useful to him. Therefore, he had just received confirmation that they were good friends, since Shirai referred to her by her first name with an ease that reflected his habit. They were close, no doubt. And then...

Hana. Her name was Hana.

—So if she's not your girlfriend, is there any way you could introduce her?

When he heard the question asked by his best friend, Keisuke snapped out of his thoughts. Although no particular emotion crossed his face, the young man could not help but be interested in how Shirai would respond. It was obvious that the captain had no desire to introduce Hana to anyone, let alone Igarashi, someone so close to the person he least liked.

—Certainly not, replied Shirai with an extreme quietness and Akaashi would have sworn to have seen him cast a black eye at him in the process.

—Come on, Zuzu, be nice!

Kazuya frowned at the ridiculous nickname, but didn't give in. Instead, he ordered them all to continue the warm-up, hoping it would be enough to move them on. But it was without counting the tenacity of Naoki Igarashi, who didn't give up and kept bothering the captain.

—At least tell us her name or her class, he tried to negotiate under the collective rattling of others. We'll manage the rest.

—Let's be real, if it's just your friend, there's no big deal.

Shirai was about to refuse, but was overtaken by another, obviously much more inclined to speak.

—She's the daughter of the Hoshino's, isn't she? I mean, I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that I saw her on TV when...

—Guys, Shirai massaged his temples in exasperation. Believe me, you'd better give up already. Hana is more of the reserved type. She wouldn't like it if a bunch of fools keeps clinging on to her.

The sentence of the young man resonated in the mind of Akaashi who, this time, could not contain his astonishment. Shy? This girl ? Her actions and words were the opposite of what one would expect from a reserved person. The dark-haired man knew that the alcohol she had the night of their meeting had surely helped her to relax in his presence, but the day before, it was totally sober that she took the first step. If he wasn't certain they were talking about the same person, Akaashi would have had a hard time believing it.

—But...

—No "but", the captain replied, squinting. She is fifteen years old, he added as a disclaimer. She could be your little sister.

No one noticed that Akaashi had slightly twitched at this announcement, and that his eyes had widened for a moment. No one had grasped this subtle change that could have betrayed him all along the line, because no one could have foreseen that such emotion would one day escape on his perpetually taciturn face. But if anyone had the power to observe what was happening in his heart, everyone would have discovered that Keisuke Akaashi was far from being as calm as it seemed.

His heart had just missed another beat as his mind gently processed the information and the weight of his actions fell to his face, like a cold shower. Even colder than the one he had the "joy" of taking after his penalty for being late. With horror, he saw himself in the company of this girl, carefree, while he totally ignored the most important element about her.

Fifteen years old. She was fifteen.

Hell, he must have heard wrong. He didn't actually sleep with an almost-three-year-old younger girl twice without realizing it, did he? And on top of that, he had made her smoke unsavory substances...

If there was a limit that Akaashi had always set, it was to limit himself to girls who were approximately his age when he chose one for his activities.  Even if there were always exceptions, most tended to automatically understand that there would never be anything more between them. They understood because they knew what to expect from a guy with a reputation as his. They understood because they had passed the age of believing in prince charming and fairy tales. So they just gave him everything he wanted, taking what they could in return.

Over time, he had become used to attracting those who already knew his conditions. He had become so accustomed to his reputation that he had not imagined for a moment that he would face an ignorant woman. And of course, the day he finally rested on his laurels, it had to be the exact moment when he crossed her damn path.

She's fifteen. And he'll be eighteen next month.

This revelation had had the effect of a bomb, and Akaashi cursed himself for not having made the connection earlier and by himself. Above all, he cursed himself for his negligence. He should have dug deeper into things that troubled him, such as the fact that he had never seen her in more than two years in the same school. Then, he would have immediately discovered that she was not, like him, in third grade, nor even in second. But in first. First because she only had fifteen damn years.

But she didn't give like her age. He really believed that....

The dark-haired boy shook his head, and his surprise gently passed the leads to his anger. Anger for being so negligent, but also anger for being so deceived. If he had known earlier, he would never have put a finger on her, and above all, he would have never thought of repeating the experience. She didn't owe him anything, but that, it wasn't something he could ignore.

Akaashi closed his eyes and took a deep breath, making a quick inventory of the choices available to him. The most reasonable thing to do was to have a little conversation with the person who was embarrassing him. Just to clarify things. But before that, he had to find out once and for all everything about her. It was a simple precaution, in the eventuality that other information, just as vital, were maybe still unknown to him.

Hoshino. Hana Hoshino.

By resorting it, the name vaguely reminded him something, but he could not recall where he had already heard it. Well, it didn't matter. This area of shadow was of no more concern to him. The light would soon shine.

There's nothing Keisuke Akaashi couldn't find out about.