STEPBROTHER (HAIKYUU X KUROKO NO BASKETBALL SUMMER CAMP)
81
"Excuse me, Sir. Can I ask you something?" ask Akashi. The old man smiled amiably, though his face still appeared lethargic and tired.
"What is that, son?" ask the man.
"My friend saw you looking tired and lethargic, he felt sorry for you. If I may know, what makes you like this?" akashi asked back and pointed to Ushijima, he was really scapegoating Ushijima.
"You're such a good boy, you rarely notice a parent like me." The old man clucked in awe, he felt very happy to be noticed like this by young people like Ushijima and Akashi. But, Akashi hastily denied it.
"Thank you to him, because he was the first one to worry about you. But if you may know, why are you like this? Did you have a drink?" asked Akashi without hesitation.
The man shook his head, "No, I haven't had a drink in months. I had to work hard on my son's treatment, even though it looked like my lethargic face couldn't lie." The man laughed as if laughing at himself.
"Yes, your face looks lethargic. What kind of job makes you look so tired? Not that you work as an office employee, then why do you look gloomy and unkempt."
"You're blatantly criticizing me, yes, you really look like my wife." The man laughs more and more so, he stroked Akashi's hair like his own son which made Akashi stunned for a while.
"I'm not actually an office worker, I'm just pretending that my wife isn't worried. My son's medical expenses are getting bigger, our savings are running low and the only way to get my wife to calm down is to lie to him about my job. I can't be frank with him if I've been fired from the office for a long time." The man again still laughed, he did not show any burden at all when telling about his suffering.
"You're very strange, sir. You can laugh in the midst of your difficult life" lamented Akashi who could not interpret all the words of the man.
"What else am I supposed to do, son? I didn't have much time to cry and give up. My son is in need of medical expenses right now, I have to work for him. In fact, I'm no longer picky about jobs to be a building clerk or freelance work to paint the road and fix electricity and other things in other people's homes."
"What is your child sick? You're talking like your son is seriously ill,"
The old man reached into the pocket of his pants, he took out a small photo from his leather wallet that had been torn to Akashi.
"His name is Asahi, he is my only son. My wife and I have been looking forward to her birth for over 20 years, lucky Fate still kindly gives us offspring. But it seems that happiness does not last long, Asahi suffers from Leukaemia which makes her on the verge of life today. And the only way to help him heal is a spinal cord operation" the old man explained.
Akashi could see the face of the man who was still smiling amidst his current sadness. Then, he returned the photo to the old man.
"It looks like he is the most valuable person to you" Akashi said.
The old man nodded, "Yes, he is my most precious son. And I promise I won't be a bad father to him, I won't make him have to feel the same way my brother used to."
"Your brother first?" tanya Akashi was confused and curious.
"There's no way I'm telling you that, forget it." The man was reluctant to tell Akashi. It's not that he's uncomfortable, but it's also impossible that he's telling his dark past to young teenagers like Akashi. But it seems, Akashi still insisted that the man tell a story that made him give up and began to tell back to Akashi.
"My brother also had Leukaemia like my son, but unfortunately my parents gave up on his treatment. They also cursed my brother to die soon, he said, so that they would be free from their parental responsibilities. And because of not being able to bear the curse of my parents who begged Brother to die soon, my brother chose to end his life. I was completely destroyed back then, not to mention they also put me into the nearest Orphanage. With the reason that they can no longer bear the responsibility as parents."
Akashi could not say anything more, he felt surprised when he listened to the man's life story. And to calm himself down, he turned his head for a moment in direction for a while.
"I'm sorry, no adult like me should complain about your life. Anyway you can't live as shamefully as I do, son." The old man's advice, Akashi just smiled faintly.
As he began to understand what Ushijima was talking about earlier, he realized that the adult next to him was also a child. And he begins to understand that not all adults end up as bad as he thought.
"Yes, me too. Your attitude like my peers even makes me comfortable to tell stories like this, It feels quite relieved to take out all the uneg-uneg that I've been harboring."
"Yes, you can't hold it for too long. Later your Inner Child is getting injured," Akashi said, taking out his Handphonen.
"May I have your full name and contact number, sir?" akashi Pinta.
"Make what?" ask the man with a confused look.
"I've been listening to you tell stories. So, I think you owe me a story." The old man who listened to Akashi immediately smiled.
"Well, you can tell me one day so I can pay my debt. It's true, yes, it feels great to be lent an ear by someone else to listen to our complaints." The man shook his head while laughing.
Akashi takes back his phone, he lyrics the name of the man who turned out to be named Mr. Udai.
"Alright, then I say goodbye. May your child recover soon," said Akashi who immediately walked back to meet Ushijima, he also did not forget to call Secretary Kenta at the same time.
The conversation to be too long, Akashi only gave orders to Kenta so that the next day Kenta immediately donated money to Udai for the treatment of his son's surgery. Not to forget, Akashi told Udai's contact to Secretary Kenta. After conveying his intention, he immediately turned off the call without any intention of lingering on Kenta. He did not want his father's secretary to be suspicious of his current whereabouts.
"Who are you calling, Akashi?" ask Ushijima.
"Kenta-san," Akashi replied.
"Make what? You told her whereabouts?" ask Ushijima.
"No, I just asked him to donate money for the operation. You seem right, Ushijima-San. You can hit me now" Akashi said resignedly.
He gave up his forehead so that he could be hit as soon as possible by Ushijima, clearly a triumphant look on Ushijima's face. His hand was also getting ready to land a hard punch on Akashi's forehead and make Akashi close his eyes to enjoy the pain.
Not waiting for a long time, a hard punch landed on Akashi's forehead which left his eyes wide open and tried to endure the pain. Moreover, Ushijima is known to have a strong punch in Volleyball, surely the effect is also felt by Akashi at this time.
"You" Akashi said nothing, stroking his blushing forehead while enduring the unbearable pain. Ushijima's laughter further irritated Dimata Akashi, but he was still able to endure it at the thought of his exhaustion.
"Do it one more time, Ushijima-San." Akashi closed his eyes this time. He could listen to Ushijima's laughter which still sounded ignorant, but unfortunately Ushijima did not hit him this time.
He leaned back in the chair, smiling at Akashi, "Where might I be able to beat your eel again for the second time."
"You underestimated me? I've already lost a bet, there's no way I'll let you pity me." Akashi glared at Ushijima instead.
"Where might I underestimate you, instead I want to hit you all out if you're not my sister. Besides you did good today, let's just say your kindness to the old man was my blow."
"You're really weird, I'm going to sleep. Wake me up when I get to Osaka, Ushijima-san." Akashi feels facing Ushijima's nonsense is a waste of his time. On the other hand, he was also a bit uneasy to see Ushijima acting like a brother to him.
In his mind, he also still remembered the old man's words. Somehow the destiny made him come back to realize that the man loved his sick son, just as Masaomi loved Yuki very much. And now, he hesitates to mix with anger that is many times more burning than before.