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Ah, shogi is complicated... [But she doesn't seem put off by it or anything. There's just a sort of sigh in resignation before she sits up with renewed sense of determination.]

Ugh, I hate losing. This is the kind of game where reading minds would definitely be helpful, huh? [She pauses just long enough to let that sink in and then smiles] I won't, don't worry. Winning by cheating isn't nearly as satisfying.

[ Is this what he looks like to Akashi after every game they play? The sigh sounds simultaneously familiar and foreign- he's used to hearing it from himself, not someone else.

Except for the cheating joke, but Midorima is way too serious to even think about joking like that. ]

Cheating is admitting you're too incompetent to win on your own.

I guess it's a little hard to cheat in something like basketball, isn't it?

[She can't imagine there's much room for it, unless some kind of performance enhancers are used...]

It's difficult, but it's not impossible. There is a team that specializes in causing player injuries out of sight-line of referees, for example.

[ He's playing a similar strategy to before, to help Miu get used to some common strategies for shogi. If she can start to recognize and prevent the basic ones, they can move onto more complex ones. Foundations first. ]

[Miu immediately makes a disapproving face, her tone thick with disgust] What kind of team specializes in injuring people? How low.

[She sits up a little straighter when she realizes she recognizes the patterns here, looking a little pleased with herself. Progress! She's learning! She's aware he must be doing it in purpose, but she's fine with it. She's enjoying herself, so it's fine.]

[ It's a teaching game, it's fine to do it on purpose. He'll start playing her seriously once she can overcome the teaching "levels." But if he starts off with impossible challenges, she's not going to learn and she's not going to become a good opponent for either himself or Akashi. It'd be like asking her to shoot a 3-pointer from the end line her first day on the court. ]

They threw their match against Shutoku by only putting in second string because they thought it would be easier to take Seirin down than us in the preliminaries and lost to both of us because of that reprehensible behavior. Even without the referees taking notice, they paid the price.

[ And that's basketball justice. ]

[Does this mean she might actually win a round?]

Ha! Serves them right!

[Miu chuckles to herself, looking pleased] I think I would've liked to see them being taken down a notch like that.

I don't have any stories that are quite that...cheery. [For a given value of cheery.]

[ What level of Kirisaki Daichi is cheery. He's concerned for you Miu. It may not show on his face, but he is. ]

Not even here?

[ This place is enough of a disruption he'd imagine it'd be hard to go through whatever she'd been through in life here.

That said, he's not actually going to let her win. He'll change his strategy at the last minute to an alternate but similar one he knows. In the end, he's not so soft as to let her win even if he's willing to help her see the patterns. ]

[A big justice boner like that is definitely cheery.

...Did she have good memories here? She never really thought of it before] I suppose, compared to home...

[She trails off, making a small noise as she loses again, but she doesn't look disappointed by the loss. She learned from it, after all, and it certainly didn't feel like Midorima's was beating her to be an ass so. This was fine.]

There isn't really anything specific I can think of. Just in general it's nice here--I like it. I don't think I'd like to return home if I have the choice.

[ He doesn't feel comfortable enough with her to really ask about home, especially if it's all bad memories. Though she might not mind talking about it since she brought it up, he figures it's better left untouched for now.

He doesn't know about not going home. Akashi and Kuroko are here, and that's important to him, but his team isn't. His family isn't. It's dangerous, the basketball leaves a lot to be desired, while she helped him find a fortune teller, it's not the same as Oha Asa (though that might be attributed to being in another world) and there are a lot of things that make no sense to him. He doesn't want to leave Akashi and Kuroko here on their own, but he doesn't know that he understands not wanting to go home. Rather, he'd want them all to go home.

Which he supposes would leave Hinasaki in a pitiful spot, considering the reason they're having this meeting right now, so he simply stays quiet for now. It may seem like he's being an asshole, ignoring her, whatever, but it's a kindness to keep it in instead of speak his usual selfish thoughts. ]

No one has the choice, it's irrelevant. Set the board up again.

[She raises her gaze up at him, quiet and contemplative. She can't read his mind-- okay well, she can, but she's not--but it doesn't really take a psychic to guess he might be thinking of home now. Probably he has a nice, loving family to go home to and friends and teammates that will miss him.

It must be nice.

She's a little jealous; she'd be inhuman if she wasn't, but it's not something she dwells on much either. Instead she quietly sets up the board before asking:]

What's your family like?

I have two parents and a little sister.

[ He left his information at the welcoming center in case any of them or his teammates showed up. (or he guesses.. other GoM but they can be Akashi's responsibility as far as he's concerned). ]

We're well-off, though not on the same level as Akashi, and we get along well.

[Miu looks up then, looking pleasantly surprised.]

A little sister? That's cute. I always thought it'd be nice to have a sibling. What's she like? Do you get along?

We get along fine. She likes to watch Oha Asa with me and helps me keep track if I'm unable to watch. I was teaching her to play piano, and I help her with her homework so she has good grades. She would like your monstrous cat.

[ He's not sure he wants to talk about this anymore, so that's all he says. Not because he's embarrassed about liking his sister- he isn't. But he doesn't want to miss her in front of someone else. ]

[Miu laughs softly, smiling as she finishes the board set-up again.]

That's cute. She sounds sweet. [Miu looks up at hi a moment, trying to decide what to say. She can't remember if she went over it before, but she'll reiterate it.] I don't remember if I told you, but when you return home, it'll be at the exact moment you left... So you don't have to worry about worrying her or missing out on anything from her.

[Talking about her cat seems to have summoned it though, and Cat comes wandering over to see what they're up to. She even sits on Midoria's side, hopping up on the table to examine the board.

Miu grins at it and reaches out to scratch behind her ears] Do you want to play too?

[ Ah. So daring to speak its name summons it like some kind of feline demon. Maybe if he never talks about it again it'll leave him alone. Midorima gives the cat a glare, but doesn't move to shove it off the table. That way lies getting scratched. ]

Cats don't belong on the table, tell it to get down.

[ He doesn't respond to the rest, largely because there's a fuzzy asshole on the table, but he does remember her mentioning that before. ]

If you want her off the table, you tell her.

[She laughs thought and Cat purrs loudly as she rubs her head against Miu's hand, before moving to sit at the edge of the table and stare at Midorima.

Expectantly.]

Maybe she wants to play shogi. You should teach her too.

[ He just looks even more unamused at this situation. ]

Get out of here, cat. [ He makes a shooing noise and just kind of.. glares the cat down... He's not putting his hands near this thing to actually making a shooing gesture though, they're too precious for cat scratches?? Fuck off?????? ]

[Cat meows at him and DOES hop down from the table... to rub up against his legs.

Miu leans back in her seat and covers her mouth with her hand, snickering.] She really seems to like you. Who knew you had such a way with girls, Midorima-san. Such a charmer.

[ Why is this!! He holds still. Too still to be natural. Then he carefully nudges the cat with his foot to try to push it away. ]

I have no intention of charming this cat whatsoever.

I don't think she's giving you a choice.

[Miu leans back in her seat, crossing her arms loosely over her chest and grinning. Cat makes an annoyed noise at trying to be shoo'd away, rubbing against his leg again before she seems to get tired of that and wanders off towards the kitchen again]

Do you like any sort of animals?

[ He's actually good with most animals. ]

A lion fell asleep in my lap once at the zoo. I don't like cats, that's all. I hold nothing against other animals. [ Lions don't count as cats. ]

A-- lion? Why were you-- How?

[WHAT]

They had a cub that visitors were allowed to interact with.

[ Lions don't normally fall asleep on people even so, Midorima.. ]

Lions don't really fall asleep like that on people... I think you just have a way with cats you don't want to admit to, Midorima-san.

[She shakes her head in amusement]

Maybe you should get a pet.

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