Chapter Text
Furihata Kouki was sure the world hated him. He was bored beyond imagination seated in the back seat looking out of the window hoping to see something interesting. His older brother, Furihata Kyo, was sitting next to him typing on his smartphone without even looking at him. His father, Furihata Toshio, was focused on driving while his mother, Furihata Chisa tried to encourage their children with her enthusiasm. She has not had much luck so far.
“You will see,” started his mother. “Teiko City could seem small if you compare it with Seirin City but I’m sure there are a lot of things to do there.”
“Sure,” answered Furihata with sarcasm. “I bet they don’t even have a basketball team.”
“What for? You didn’t even play in Seirin,” mocked his brother “you only joined because Mayu told you so.”
“That’s none of your business,” blushed Furihata. “And I played two matches.”
“Whatever,” Kyo decided to leave his brother alone in order to concentrate on the current conversation in his smartphone.
“Why did we have to move?” groaned Furihata.
“Because in Teiko City there is only one bookshop that now does not have anyone who takes care of it,” answered his father. “And that means more money and less work for your mother and me”
“But Kyo and I already had a life in Seirin. Kawahara and Fukuda didn’t even know this place existed.”
“I admit it is a little bit… isolated” said Chisa. “But you will make friends in no time.”
Furihata Kouki groaned again and sank into the back seat. Definitely, the world hated him. In his feet, there was a basketball signed by all his teammates. He picked it and observed everyone’s name starting with captain Hyuuga and ending with his favourite senpai, Tsuchida. He was going to miss them a lot, especially Kawahara and Fukuda. And Mayu of course. Remembering his crush only made the notion of a new city even worse. It was not only because of his friends. Seirin City was one of the biggest cities in the country. There you had everything you could wish for. Teiko City did not even deserve the privilege of using the name City. It was an almost forgotten small town in the east coast of the country. His family had never heard of the town until the City Hall announced they were searching someone to run the local bookshop. Watching an opportunity of a quiet life without competence, Furihata Toshio had the wonderful (awful if you asked Furihata) idea of moving there.
The car finally arrived at Teiko City in the evening and their parents parked in front of their new house. Kyo and Furihata had to admit it was bigger than their previous house. While Kyo helped their parents moving boxes inside the house, Furihata opened the trunk with a smile.
“Lion!” he pet his chihuahua. “Poor Lion, he was caged the whole journey.”
“Put the rat inside and help us a little,” said his brother.
“He is not a rat! Don’t listen to him Lion, he is just an asshole.”
Fortunately, Toshio and Chisa had previously done several visits to the house in order to organise it so in an hour they had fully moved in. They were throwing away boxes when a black car parked in front of their house. A tall man with a young boy got out of the car.
“Welcome to Teiko City,” said the man. “You must be the Furihatas, my name is Kasamatsu Sora and I’m the mayor,” he pointed the young boy. “This is my eldest son Kasamatsu Yukio.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Kasamatsu bowed.
“Oh, what a polite boy!” laughed Chisa. “These are Kyo and Kouki. Kyo is going to start university this year and Kouki is starting high school.”
“I’m in my last year of high school,” said Kasamatsu. “Hey, do you want to come with us in the car?”
“Oh, n-no… I don’t want to be a bother,” answered Furihata quite nervous.
“Nonsense,” Kasamatsu smiled. “There is a bunch of guys who usually come with me. We Teiko kids have to stick together.”
Kouki nodded without truly knowing what to say. He was not sure if he was included in the ‘Teiko kids’ but he did not want to be rude. Kasamatsu Yukio seemed like a cool guy and he had a weird confident aura that made people around him to trust in his decisions. He was a natural leader. So obviously Furihata Kouki though that he was just being polite in front of his father. In his head, there was no reason why someone like Kasamatsu wanted to befriend someone like him. But Kasamatsu insisted so Furihata finally accepted going with him in the morning.
Teiko City did not have a high school so students attended one in another city. Kyo was going to use the family car in order to go to university so Kasamatsu’s offer of bringing Furihata with him to high school was welcomed. They did not have more time to speak because Kasamatsu Sora was merely visiting the new family and had several duties to attend. Kasamatsu said goodbye to Furihata after agreeing at what time he should pick him.
The next morning, Furihata looked himself in the mirror for the eighth time. He wanted to give a good first impression if possible although he knew that social interaction was not his strong point. When he heard the claxon, he ran towards the door after waving his mother goodbye. A black jeep was parked right in front of his house with Kasamatsu behind the wheel. Furihata sat in the back seat of the jeep feeling a little bit nervous. In the driver seat was a boy of his same age with black hair and piercing blue eyes.
“Welcome to Teiko City kid,” he laughed. “The name is Takao Kazunari and I suppose you already meet our respectable senpai.”
“Stop it Takao,” said Kasamatsu. “Don’t mind him, he just likes to bother people.”
“How could you say such a cruel thing senpai?” Takao made a dramatic gesture. “You are breaking my heart.”
“You will live.”
“It’s a pleasure, I’m Furihata Kouki,” greeted Furihata. “But my friends call me Furi.”
“See, that’s a good attitude! Kasamatsu should learn from you.”
“One more word and next time you will be walking to high school,” threatened Kasamatsu.
“Do you usually come together?” asked Furihata.
“Of course, Teiko kids should stick together,” Takao words made Furihata thought if maybe that was some kind of anthem. “Himuro and Kagami usually come with us too, they are brothers,” explained. “But sometimes Alex, their mother, decides to take them.”
“Aren’t those their surname? You said they were brothers.”
“Well, Alex is their mother but they have different fathers. Alex decided to give them their father surname so she could distinguish them. She is cool, she has a pizza store in the harbour. Hey, what if we show Furi the city this weekend?”
Kasamatsu nodded in agreement not without mentioning before that they should also invite Kagami and Himuro. Furihata had the feeling that he had just being included in some sort of group of friends, and he did not know how to feel about it. He was happy Kasamatsu and Takao were so nice, but mostly thought that they were just pitying him. New kid, new city, probably they will meet a few times and then ignore Furihata the rest of the year.
The car parked in front of a huge high-school. Kasamatsu was a Third Year but Takao was a First Year like him, so the cheerful boy insisted on walking Furihata to his class. To his surprise, Takao smiled and greeted a tall redhead that was seated in Furihata’s class.
“Kagami!” laughed Takao. “I didn’t know the new kid was going to be in your class!”
“New kid?” Kagami looked at Furihata. “Oh! Nice to meet you, Kagami Taiga.”
“Furihata Kouki,” bowed Furihata.
“But his friends call him Furi,” added Takao with a smile.
Kagami rolled his eyes while Furihata had a seat next to him. When Takao left, Furihata fidgeted in his seat without truly knowing how to start a conversation.
“Don’t mind Takao,” said Kagami. “Most of the times he is just teasing.”
“Ye-yeah.”
“So… do you like basketball?”
Kagami had probably asked the question waiting for a negative answer so he was quite pleased when he heard that Furihata had played on a team before. It turned out that Kagami was a complete basketball fan. He was passionate about the sport in a way that made Furihata remember his old team. Hearing stories about Seirin only made Kagami more enthusiastic, and soon he was demanding Furihata a one on one. He quickly added that he was not a good player but Kagami did not mind at all. For him, playing the sport was enough.
“Kasamatsu, Himuro and I are always trying to form a team in Teiko City,” explained Kagami. “But Takao does not seem really interested and we still need one.”
“Why don’t you join the high school team?” asked Furihata.
“They don’t have one,” frowned Kagami. “We tried to form one but as we are from the same city the principal told us to form the team there.”
“That seems difficult.”
“Not really,” Kagami shrugged. “My mother used to play, she could be our Coach and there is a court next to the arcade, so we could easily form a team… if we were five… so… want to join?”
“Me?”
“Sure. You already played.”
“But just in two games.”
“Who cares? Basketball is the important thing.”
Furihata looked at Kagami without truly knowing what to think about the redhead. He seemed nice and he liked basketball even more than Furihata. While he was in the car, Furihata had constantly thought that Takao and Kasamatsu were only being friendly out of duty. But with Kagami he had the feeling that he was really interested in being Furihata’s friend. Probably because Kagami did not seem the kind of person who did thing out of duty. However, Furihata still was not sure about forming a basketball team. He was not a bad player but just a look at Kagami and he could tell he was no near his level.
At lunch, he followed Kagami to the canteen, where Takao was already waiting with a boy with black hair, grey eyes and a mole under his right eye.
“You must be Furi,” smiled the boy. “I’m Himuro Tatsuya, thanks for taking care of my baby brother.”
“Hey Tatsuya! I know how to take care of myself and you are only one year older,” complained Kagami.
“Let me guess, he has only talked about basketball,” Himuro ignored Kagami and focused on Furihata.
“W-well, yes… but I like basketball, I played on a team in my previous city.”
“Is that so?”
Suddenly, Himuro was looking at him with a strange interest. Furihata had the feeling this was the look snakes gave to mice before eating them. Himuro smiled pleasantly and Furihata missed Kasamatsu’s presence. He was sure that the Third Year could control Himuro. When Takao suggested (again) a meeting, Himuro quickly agreed and looked at Furihata waiting for an answer. The boy only nodded shuddering before Himuro’s gaze.
“Perfect, then,” smiled Himuro. “We could even play a short match” Himuro stood up and waved goodbye.
“Man, we are doomed,” groaned Takao. “Now he is going to tell Kasamatsu, and even if you could get pass Basket Brothers here,” he said pointing at Kagami “there is no way Kasamatsu is going to let you go.”
“What does that exactly mean?” asked Furihata.
“I told you,” said Kagami with his mouth full of food. “We have been waiting for a long time for someone who wanted to play with us. Now we are five!”
“I didn’t say I will play,” pointed Takao.
“Shut up! You want Kasamatsu to take you to the city so you can trade cards? Well, you will have to play.”
“Dammit.”
Furihata sighed foreshadowing disaster. When they discovered that Furihata was only an average player they will turn their backs on him. It was true that Kagami did not seem to care about his level but Himuro was another story. He had the impression that the Second Year had an incredible technique and will not be happy with his lack of talents. Kasamatsu will probably press him in the same way that Riko did. And he was sure that even Takao was an exceptional player. There was no way that kind of people will stay by his side when they discovered he was useless in the sport. After all, Furihata was sure the only possible interest they could have in him was because of basketball. He arrived home with the pessimistic feeling that he will never have friends in that city.
If Furihata was hoping to spend a quiet afternoon he was terribly mistaken. Barely an hour after lunch, his mother entered his room without knocking.
“Mum!” shouted Furihata. “I told you to knock before you enter!”
“Oh, Kouki, that’s stupid,” smiled Chisa. “I am your mother. I can enter whenever I want.”
“Fine,” Furihata laid down on his bed.
“Are you really going to spend all day without doing anything?” frowned Chisa. “Come on honey! There is a whole new town to explore.”
“I don’t want to explore anything. I want to go back to Seirin.”
Chisa sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. She knew that this move was not easy for his younger son. His eldest, Kyo, was a sociable boy full of charming smiles for everyone. Kouki was different. He had low self-confidence and was constantly scared of disturbing people with his presence. But he was also a caring boy who will do anything for the people he loved. His old basketball team knew this and cared for Furihata in the same way. Chisa knew that it was going to be hard for his son to find people like that again. But she really had a good feeling about this city.
“Why don’t you go walk Lion?” suggested Chisa. “You know, I heard there is a strange building to the east of the beach, like a temple. You could go there and explore it.”
Furihata grumbling was muffled by his pillow. Chisa ruffled his hair and encouraged him to get up off the bed. As if he could understand them, Lion barked and started to jump around Furihata. The boy looked at his dog and finally agreed.
If Teiko City had something Seirin City did not it was the beach. To the west of the city, there was a small port followed by an arcade and several restaurants and shops. Furihata figured Kagami and Himuro’s mother worked there. He decided to go in the opposite direction just in case. Taking his mother’s advice, he walked to the beach. There was no one in that part so he decided to remove Lion’s leash. The dog ran happily by the shore while Furihata let the sea breeze caress his hair. He had to admit it was peaceful. And nice. But he was not going to tell his mother that.
Suddenly, Furihata heard a gentle voice singing in the distance. At his right, there was a cliff that functioned as the corner of the beach. But what was truly interesting was the fence that surrounded the cliff. Furihata could see what seemed to be two stones arms projecting out of the cliff. Curious, he approached the fence following the voice. It was clearly a female voice but Furihata could not see much from the fence. He spotted a small hole in the fence he doubted he could fit in. He was about to turn around when Lion crossed the fence through the hole and started running towards the voice. Furihata screamed and without thinking he jumped the fence and ran after Lion.
He skirted the cliff hoping Lion did not run too far but he suddenly forgot about that. In front of him, there was a huge statue of a man with four pairs of arms. He had short hair and what seemed to be a mask over his head. Furihata did not know much about architecture but the statue was beautiful.
A bark took him out of his dreaminess. Lion was in the arms of a young girl, about the same age as him. She had a weird long pink hair with pink eyes and she was really attractive. She was wearing a white t-shirt with a yellow star and a blue skirt with a light green sweater over her shoulder. The girl looked at him with a curious semblance, as if she could not believe Furihata was real.
“I-I-I’m really sorry,” stuttered Furihata. “My dog suddenly entered your property and I had to jump over the fence” he bowed offering multiples apologies.
“It’s ok,” smiled the girl. “What’s his name?” said looking at Lion.
“L-Lion…”
“… You named a chihuahua Lion?” Furihata nodded and the girl started laughing. “You are really funny. My name is Momoi Satsuki, my father gave me that name because I was born in May.”
“I’m Furihata Kouki and… I really don’t know why they chose that name.”
“Are you from Teiko City?” asked Momoi with curiosity.
“Well, more or less. I was from Seirin City but we move to Teiko City.”
“You were from another city!? Wait… there are other cities!?”
“Of course there are,” Furihata raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure about how many cities our country has but I bet they are a lot.”
“Country?” Momoi tilled her head.
“Could it be… you have never left this beach!?”
“No,” said Momoi with a sad smile. “My fathers said humans are dangerous and I should not leave the temple.”
“Humans? And what are they, aliens?” joked Furihata.
“Yes.”
Furihata waited for Momoi to tell him it was a joke but the moment never came. He looked at the poor girl, confined to a small corner without knowing anything of the outside world. Her parents probably were joking when they told her about being from outer space, but she probably had believed them anyway. He pitied Momoi so he decided to follow her game.
“I see. Well, even if they are alien is not good for you being locked here,” said Furihata. “Why don’t you go out and visit Teiko?”
“I… I’m scared… I don’t know anyone” confessed the girl looking at her feet.
“That is not true,” smiled Furihata. “You know me. Hey, a few boys from my high school are going to meet this weekend so they can show me the city, what if you come too?”
“Really?” Momoi eyes shined. “Will you really accept me? Even if I’m not human?”
“But… you are human.”
The boy believed he was just stating something obvious but his words seemed to move Momoi. The girl smiled as if a miracle had happened before her and hugged Furihata with all her force. Lion happily barked by their side, clearly pleased that his owner has accepted Momoi as his friend. It took him a while to notice that Momoi was crying of happiness.
Then, someone punched him in the gut sending him metres away. His body rolled on the sand while he tried to comprehend what has just happened. He got up with some difficulties only to see six boys surrounding him. Furihata gaped at them while his brain was trying to understand why these people have such a weird color of skin, hair and eyes.
What are they, aliens?
Yes.
No way.
It was impossible.
Completely impossible.
The one who had punched Furihata had dark skin with a bluish shade, short navy blue hair and dark blue eyes full of hate. He was quite strong and wore blue trousers with high black boots and a short dark blue t-shirt with the symbol of a black star in the middle, just like Momoi. In his arms, right in his triceps he had a teardrop-shaped gemstone embedded.
At his side, there was a small boy with light blue hair with eyes of the same color. He had a fragile appearance and was by far the most ordinary of them. His pale skin could even have passed as human. He wore a gray shawl with the contour of a star on the right side over a simple black shirt. His trousers were several shades of gray until they turned into black at the end of the leg. He had a black oval-shaped gemstone at the back of his hand.
Behind those two a pale yellow boy was looking at him with a mischievous smile. He had blond hair and golden eyes and even Furihata had to admit he was handsome. He also had a silver piercing in his left ear. His tank top was bright yellow with a white stars pattern. He wore black leggings with yellow shoes and had a yellow rhomboid-shaped gemstone on his outer thigh.
At the other side, taller than any of the other was a huge boy with pale purple skin. He had long purple hair with eyes of the same color and a bored expression. He wore an oversized black shirt with a jagged hem over a sleeveless white shirt. His trousers were dark purple with stars in his knees and black boots. In his chest, there was a purple circle-shaped gemstone.
Next to him, there was a tall (but not so tall) pale green boy with glasses. He had short green hair and eyes and at that moment was speaking with an agitated Momoi. He wore a sleeveless green V-neck shirt with a lime-green start. His leggings were also lime-green with long green boots. He also wore long dark green globes. In his forehead, he had a triangular-shaped gemstone.
Furihata turned his head to the last one of them. It was probably the scariest person he had ever seen in his short life. Even if he was not as tall as the others, he had an imposing aura which made clear who was the leader. If Kasamatsu had a gentle and reliable air, this boy had a ruthless and intimidating atmosphere around him. He had pale red skin with a short red hair, even more red than Kagami’s. His right eye was red while his left eye was golden. He wore a red shirt with red stars shades and black shoulder pads. His trousers were divided in two, the right part was red and the left part was magenta. There were two circle-shaped red gemstones in the palms on his hands.
“Who… who are you?” asked Furihata while the red boy looked down at him.
“We are the Crystal Miracles.”