Work Text:
Your name is Kise Ryouta.
You are a model. The second hottest model in Japan according to the ranking in Junon Boy after two years of modeling supremacy – and you are pretty sure you will reclaim your rightful first place again this year. Or so your manager, your sister and the agency firmly believe. Which you don’t actually care, because it only means a stricter diet, girls blushing and men complaining.
So yeah, maybe the title is sometimes more trouble than what it is worth – but you have this goal of living comfortably for the rest of your life after you hit forty and modeling is a nice source of income. Maybe you could even become a fashion magazine editor, you sure as hell have the scathing tongue required.
You are also a basketball prodigy and a cocky teenager. But you can back that up with your skills and a title that bears more grief than pride. But that’s what the Generation of Miracles entails. Everyone else in the court can suck it except for the few you respect, and those are the only ones you have ever lost to. After all you are easily bored, even if it bit you back when everything began to fall apart and you could not patch up the pieces you tore by yourself.
You are a pretty boy and a severely messed up teenager and pretty much no one understands that. You are a family destroyer and a terrible friend that cannot help the people you admire and are close to, especially this person that showed you a world and a reality you could find life in. Heck, you are not sure if you are still close with them since what tied you all has grown bitter. However this is not how everything starts.
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It begins during your second year of middle school, where you changed schools in order to avoid your fanbase. Teikou seems a respectable school for an elite institution and yet your anonymity lasts three seconds flat. Were the tuition not ridiculously high and your father giving you an ultimatum about your abysmal grades and how you should own up to your public image – well, you would have hightailed out of there fast enough to break a world 200mts record.
As it is, you only make a nice public figure and start taking any extracurricular activity involving sports to get away from the hassle. Your manager has hinted about exercise and muscle tonification, and you’d rather save the money from being spent on a private gym. You also wonder if they are less easy than what you see on tv.
They are not.
Instead you are treated like a star in the same fashion you have been since you first stepped a foot in this school. Even with your abysmal grades, no one seems to mind because you are a sports star and a model-san and the ovation feels empty and lackluster. It always has. You have hated being praised –you are a firm believer in hard work and earning your titles, this kind of platitude just pisses you off.
It is an afternoon and you are simply leaving the school after dissing sports club #6 when you get hit in the head with a ball and swear righteous fury on the culprit. You have a photoshoot in three hours. The bump on the head will be terrible when your hair is being treated.
However, the first thing this boy does is apologize. (not that you noticed at first, too engrossed on the ease of his movements and the sweat. It must be fun you think to have so much energy on a game to sweat and not mind) “Oh you are the model-san. Kise Ryouta”
Only then do you register that this man apologized for hitting you on accident and couldn’t care less who you are. You know this man is lying. The angles don’t match for it to be an accident. Yet instead of calling out the farce, you are blinded by his light and the power of his smile. This is not bullying but bait to get your interest on a sport you have not tried yet. There is a challenge and a relief on being wanted on a team that has this kind of sly person. I’ll humor him, you think stubbornly. If it is just an excuse to do something new and hoping this time it can entrap you out of lassitude – well no one needs to know that.
(Especially that sly guy with eyes like the sea and bright like the sun.)
__
The school’s basketball team is ridiculously big and yet you move ranks like a breeze but you must work hard on the first string to become a regular. Those on the team become a family of tightly knitted friends and for the first time you feel alive, be it on the court (with all the tension and first time panic) or at practice when your lungs and your body ache well spent. There is Murasakibaracchi with whom you share classes, share sweets and share hair maintenance tips (who also looks at you unimpressed when you bribe him with them in order to have a physics problem explained);
Midorimacchi with whom you don’t get all along well enough but help him find extravagant items for his lucky strikes (who also looked impressed if not a bit ruffled at finding someone who noticed how superstitious he really is);
Akashicchi who is a level head and an inborn leader who always takes reign of the team with a soft hand hiding an iron fist (who is also a very kind boy that finds an escape from his duties on the court and you admire him more so for that);
Kurokocchi who has a knack for disappearing but has enough strategic disposition and basketball knowledge to be backing up everyone (who you also respect for being your teacher and the reason you were not a mess on your first official game – a savior frankly);
Momoicchi with her sharp gaze and wondrous strategic data gathering who is head over heels with Kurokocchi and feel a bit saddened for (who is also Aominecchi’s handler and a bit of your babysitter as well –which is the main reason you shoulder her “Ki-chan” with a straight face);
Then there is Aominecchi.
Aominecchi, the guy who hit you with the basketball, an unrepentant prodigy with so much life, potential and love for the sport that still leave you breathless and inspired. A teenager like yourself, someone you admire and want to defeat. A guy who has abysmal grades like yourself and that just makes you like him even more because there is no better afternoon than broom fighting, team training and finish with a vicious one on one. But you could clearly do without having to guard your precious ice cream from him.
Everyone in the team is fantastic albeit a little insane – quirks be damned, those acts are first grade indicator of some kind of unnamed mental issue and you will not fall into that madness and become one of them.
You fail at that. At least you have Aominecchi – the man you admire the most, a veritable sun who took you to an amazing world. You have a family of friends, you have a best friend, and you earn your name and your praise – even if the comments are more of a back hand compliment, and even if you lost to this one asshole that stole a girl that you barely saw. Which is fine, you are still a cocky little shit.
But then he surpasses the limit and reaches a height beyond any imagination, you all grow bored and stronger and everything goes to shit.
(You still blame yourself for suggesting the point system. It will be a decade before you can finally forgive yourself for that.)
__
“Ryota, the sun is bright and welcoming to outsiders, but it is always in constant combustion and motion.” Akashicchi comments to you one day without any prompting. You are wary of this stranger who wears Akashicchi’s skin, even if you can see glimpses of the captain you knew now and then. You would like to shake him and bring him back but understand the warning between the lines of Murasakibaracchi’s stories. At least they still care for each other –or so you would like to believe “Without that process it will die”
(You never know the words were meant to describe you and not Aominecchi)
(You never cared because hours after that, everything that was left untouched fell apart and there was not a piece left whole)
__
You enter Tōō, even though you wanted to get away from this city and away from everything. You had received a scholarship (a sports scholarship, your grades were never the best and last year were abysmal enough to have earned your father’s greatest “Son I’m disappoint” face) to Kaijō and upon finding it was on another prefecture near the sea and the tourist pictures you smile. The sea wind can be an issue but nothing a few moisturizing creams can prevent; the sun could be an issue but nothing to care about when in the middle of a training. Kanagawa is still on the Tokyo Metropolitan Area and even if it is still too close for comfort, the pretty scenery and Kaijō’s basketball history are enough to lure you away.
You wanted Kaijō. You wanted the pretty scenery and people that know you only by passing by or because they saw your face in a magazine. One could call it cowardice, but you know better. You need your space because the fallout was terrible and you don’t want to see the broken pieces of everything you invested and walk on them every day with bare feet.
But you never make it there.
You received the sports scholarship for that High school and instead of telling your parents, you start making plans with your agent about the schedule for shoots in the next school years and start making the necessary paperwork. It is a process you know, you were there when your father took you to do it for your transfer to Teiko and having these copy skills are useful.
Yet when you ask for your parents’ signature you find out they were doing the paperwork for enlisting you in Tōō. It does not end well. The tense discussion that started with “They don’t have a traditional basketball history. Unlike Kaijō” and “Their sports facilities however, are much more modern” devolved into an almost screaming match, angry jabs, and your mother leaving a cold tea on the table while insisting you to think about your future and the advantages of having a flexible class schedule.
“You will thank us in the future” your father says with a tone you know means it is final and the discussion is over and you keep quiet. You do not fear or respect that tone – your captain is perhaps the only voice of command you respect. It only makes you angry because you were not like this, you respected your parents – and yet you can only think on how Akashicchi is going to kill you without doubt calling you an oath breaker and father would still say it was for your own good. At least your big sister seems to understand some of what everyone else can’t, and makes sure your agent books a crazy photo-shoot schedule a week after you start High school.
(the week after school starts is terrible and you swear to never do that again when you see double at practice on Saturday and have to sit down or you will faint – Tōō is apparently very gung-ho about training and even the excuse of having too much work is not enough for them.)
__
It is the first day in Tōō. It is the surprised face of Momoicchi, and the disbelieving glare on Aominecchi’s face (it hurts just like a knife), it is you hiding your nervousness behind a whiny “Aominecchi! Momoicchi! Akashicchi is going to kill meeee” you trying to drape yourself over the taller teenager unsuccessfully.
You would like to pretend being hurt by the cold shoulder. You are just too used to that by now.
Momoicchi is beside herself to have you here, and you two are already comparing classes and schedules. You share seven with her. She has also memorized Aominecchi’s and you whine to him about how unfair it is to only share one.
Perhaps his glare is really deserved. This guy has always been able to look past everything and see the lies. You want to reassure him that your relief is not because you want to avoid him –but that would be a lie on principle; you don’t want to be here. Even if the campus is ridiculously big and you are sure you will get lost at least twice.
Instead, you keep smiling and edge him on for a one on one (that is the language most fluent between you two) and his frown morphs into a self sufficient smirk before Momoicchi steps in to remind both of you on your abysmal grades. You get the petty satisfaction of having ten points over him. (Which is nothing when you compare 21 to 31)
“Schools are gold diggers that only wants us for our talents” you complain to her unimpressed face and he snorts in amusement
“They also want you for your pretty face model-san. Give your best public smile for them” he nags and the ease of the banter makes you smile. There is a strain in the crinkle of his eyes and you want it gone. Yet this meeting is not too bad. You push him with your shoulder in retaliation but he doesn’t budge, and you swear Momoicchi is praying to every god available to give her patience for this new school year.
(Of course, meeting in school is not bad, the breach always happens when you approach the court.)
__
It is the first basketball practice of the Year. It is the lame introduction of your coach, the fact that you are readily given spots on the regular team, the lack of surprise on the training. It is Aominecchi’s frown turning from severe to impossible before he abruptly stands up, stopping the tryouts in the ruckus and starts to leave.
Momoicchi (of course she is there with you, she is the new manager – a position given to her as readily as the ones given to you two.) starts to complain and you are fast on your legs, your arm reaching for his forearm because this is insane and Aominecchi can’t be leaving in the middle of the tryouts.
“Weren’t you supposed to play-?“
“Everyone here is a waste of my time.” He sneers as frees his arm with a rude tug and goes to his bag ignoring the commotion his words leave on the court and adds with a glare “you were the first one who broke the promise, you can’t talk”
“What about our one on one?” you shout to his back, using the trump card and don’t get a straight answer. So, you think seething and despondent This is the answer.
“Dai-chan will be fine.” She says with conviction you know hides doubt and frustration. This is your fault too. This is the result of not becoming stronger, of not becoming someone he is forced to surpass. Yet when she looks at you, those pink eyes are critically assessing you, silently asking you for your alliance in whatever she is planning. “I’m glad you are here Ki-chan”
Your nod is swallowed by the whistle and you are called for warm up. You can feel the hostility, the challenge and the wounded pride. Yet among them, there is one who smirks in amusement, his smirk only widens when you make eye contact.
You are a Generation of Miracles, but you are also known as the weakest of the bunch. Most teams would already give it up for you, but this captain, he knows what your place in the hierarchy was. Your place in this team is not set in stone, you will never have it set in stone. You love this game, and you will not allow yourself to get bored with it. At least you hope there can be a challenge for your place.
Still, you are a model and a public figure. You will enter and socialize on your terms –and if that includes making a distraction out of yourself talking about your likes and dislikes and cockily lay out the challenge for the place in the regular team between your modeling career, so be it.
“Hi! My name is Kise Ryouta. I’m a model so I will be missing some sessions because of photoshoots and stuff. Not that you would mind much since I am better than most of you anyway, just like my fashion sense.” You smile beatifically and innocent as if you had not just declared war “Really, these jackets are awful, we need a designer. How about we do that first and then go to karaoke?”
Putting them on edge will give them a will to fight –and hopefully enough incentive to bring Aominecchi back to the court where he belongs.
(Because your eventual death at the hands of Akashicchi is not an enough reason to stop playing.)
__
It’s you, Momoicchi and her notes for growth in the training room after practice. You have feared this conversation as much as the first words you exchanged with Aominecchi when he found out you would attend Tōō with them. She is looking at you with all too knowing eyes, and you imagine she would look fierce with her hair tied on a severe bun. All she is missing is a business suit.
It is the second month of school and you have been improving in training – because basketball is what you like and you promised yourself to not make up excuses, even if he is missing almost always and the absence hurts. You are just annoyed by it. The challenge to keep your regular place in the team lasted less than a week. The reality you hopped had disappeared was still there, your skills after all, are too real.
You are the weakest. It means nothing when you all were monsters instead of humans.
You are still not bored. But the training is bordering on tedious –you have been treating them as children to be taught how to play. That breaks the moment Imayoshi-senpai breaks through the wall and tries to score and you deflect a ball from the net without thinking. It feels natural and you nod to your team to keep on going before the coach interrupts the match. Everyone is puzzled and yet when you see Momoicchi talking with the coach your stomach drops.
Because of course, it felt natural to block it; you were used to Murasakibaracchi, his moves so internalized like the taste of his favorite candy bar. If you were honest – and recently you have tried not to be because honesty is acid poured on freshly torn flesh- she was the main reason you pleaded and fought tooth and nail to get a chance and be in Kaijō instead of Tōō.
It is enough that you tore your team and friendship with the point system. You don’t know what to do if your farce was up.
“Ki-chan” she begins with a seriousness seldom used on you and you don’t know if there is compassion or contempt on her voice. Neither option is appealing “I know you are holding yourself back.” She states, and does not ask the reason why. She is just blunt and to the point and for the first time you can’t read her.
Instead, she only asks “How many?” and the intensity of her stare magnifies when you fail to answer her. She is sharp and she knows. She can now make peace with the chart she made for you in Teiko and the one she made for you in Tōō.
“Not Aominecchi’s” is your eventual answer and she smiles in understanding. You doubt whatever she came up with to be the truth on your situation. But you let her believe whatever she wants.
“Until you are ready, focus on the others. I will change your training program Ki-chan” she concludes with a sigh, like the resolution after a business meeting and then she smiles “if you want to hide this, you have to be more careful in the future. Else Dai-chan will storm over here demanding to play against himself”
“The only one who can beat me is me” you parrot his words unimpressed. You respect him, but that means not you can accept those words at face value. He is just a brat, a very frustrated brat, and you still can’t reach him.
“Call me when you are ready Ki-chan” she adds as parting words, a hand soft in your forearm and leaves.
There were small mercies in the world. You would not know what to do if she outed you so crassly in front of your teammates.
(Yours?)
__
It is your birthday and you are alone at home with a congratulatory note in front of the flower arrangement mom has made and you know there will be onion gratin soup and sweet pea cake in the kitchen. Father is away on a business trip (things are still tense between you), mom will not get until later since she has Ikebana class, your oldest sister is on a miai and the other on a photoshoot. You would feel saddened about your spectacular family ties were they not the norm. Usually you have a birthday gathering with them at night, eat a few slices of cake and then turn to sleep.
Birthdays at the agency are better, only because there are more people and the festivities are always inventive. They are also tiring because fans will be there and you will have to smile, smile, smile, pose and mourn the fact that you will not get much of the tasty food. At least your manager and the agency mean it when they congratulate you. You have no photo-shoot today.
You did not mind. For two years, you had friends to enjoy the festivities with. Now that you have none, the solitude seeps into your bones. It is partially your fault too, you will continue to beat yourself up for the mistakes you know you made – but cannot identify- during Teiko.
You usually turn your mobile off – you can’t stand the absurd amount of text messages from your fans. Yet when you are about to do it, you notice there is a message from Momoicchi, and one from Murasakibaracchi – outstanding really, you stop five long minutes making sure it is real- sending you their well wishes. It puts a smile on your face –even if the distance hurts-, and thank them; and just because of their unexpected but welcome messages is that you don’t turn your mobile off.
You have this terrible hope that maybe, maybe, Aominecchi would call. Instead, it is Kurokocchi who does and asks if you want a one on one game. You agree enthusiastically, anything to get out of his silent house, leave the mobile behind and just forget.
You are happy to see him, even if it took a bit of time to identify where he was. It has been a long time since you saw your mentor and you can get this as a birthday present. Yet he is not alone, he has with him a friend who is almost as tall as Aominecchi, yet there is nothing remarkable about him – other than absurd potential. You understand where Kurokocchi is going with his request, and still you try to imagine it is a birthday present that is offered in the smaller teen’s singular way.
“It is you two against me. I need warm up” you state arrogantly, because you want to see if that friend of his is any good, if the potential he has is real, and because you need a game.
It is your birthday and you crave for a game and a birthday present. It is you against Kurokocchi and his friend. The redhead who has the potential of being one of you –even when he almost collapses, his body strained with the effort. It is those two against you and you lose after stripping them almost bare with your skills –and still maintaining the farce that Momoicchi knows.
You don’t know if the tears your cry are out of relief or despair. Because you have lost and they woke you up from the lethargy and let you taste defeat not followed by scornful blue eyes and dark skin. Yet you can see in their shadow the bond long fragmented with your own teammates. Because you can see how close they will become, how they will not falter and in it, you can see all of your faults and the cruel reminder that you will never have the same with Aominecchi.
You decide these tears are of despair with the same resolution you have when you call Kurokocchi’s friend Kagamicchi.
And with it, you stop idolizing Aominecchi.
The sun is in eternal combustion after all, and it is due time he stopped glancing at it from afar and started analyzing its contents. A present from yourself to yourself.
(Akashicchi texts that as a birthday present he will not kill you for being an oath breaker; Midorimacchi texts that you should open your locker the next day to get tomorrow’s lucky item for Gemini; Aominecchi’s is only a “Fyn Bday”)
__
It is Momoicchi, in her living room with the Burberry scarf you bought for her –even if the weather is still too hot for it. She still looks severe and sharp, but the nostalgic and exasperated air around her is a stark contrast to the girl you knew in middle high. If anyone is terribly hurt about the breach, it would be her. After all she and Aominecchi had been childhood friends. You admire her drive, never giving up, always forcing her childhood friend to attend training and support him (the net is a movement of brilliance and you have sadistic pleasure on its use). She probably has plans A to Z about what to do next to keep Aominecchi on track.
As a matter of fact that is what you two were discussing (you are already on plan H –enthusiastic and hostile incitation of one on ones at least three times a week- and even if you run out of letters the girl knows other languages and will continue with the Cyrillic alphabet). It started with a plan on how to use the move you copied and the limits of them since you cannot use them at the same time. She has told you time and again to not use any of them in your sporadic one on ones with Aominecchi, she doesn’t like the odds of his violent reaction if he were to find out. You don’t know if it is prudent to do so, but she knows him the best, and you want him back not growing self-centered in that supremacy belief.
It just went into nostalgic territory about which moves you did not copy from the whole generation of miracles and about Kurokocchi. You two haven’t talked since your birthday and just a few text messages have been exchanged mostly about you trying to get Kagamicchi’s phone number without success. You don’t bother him with many petty status changes, that’s what your text with Midorimacchi are all about.
Remember today’s lucky gift is a golden egg left by a Russian bird and a kiss from the prince frog! Do your best and eat food for all those poor souls that can’t! (•̀ᴗ•́)و ̑̑
Tōō will face Seirin on an official match. The thought of going against those two again thrills you. You wish it could thrill Aominecchi as well.
It felt natural to talk about feelings and then about Aominecchi. Birds of a feather, and friends tied by the same thorn. It is ridiculous, you have not left him alone during school and even a home or while shopping none of you can seem to let go and let him have his own space.
You both are scared, but Momoicchi even more. You want to cheer her up, somehow, though you both know nothing will ever be the same. Nothing will feel complete until he is back – and no briberies of becoming Kurokocchi’s future bride can sway her. You at least want her to smile freely when talking about her childhood friend.
Being honest with her about the farce you kept from everyone helped quite a bit in earning her understanding. You don’t hope she can trust you. But you still are honestly thankful about her birthday message-
“Momoicchi” you say quietly in the lull of the Korean drama you two were watching (because apparently you two are masochistic individuals) “force Aominecchi to attend the Interhigh preliminaries”
The girl only nods, visage grim but her eyes are sharp. “Imayoshi-san has a net we can use”
(“Show only a bit of Dai-chan” she doesn’t say. “I know” you don’t tell her either. Both of you know the rest of your broken family is there to see, and it is better to not show every single card on an intermediate tournament)
__
You face Kurokocchi and Kagamicchi in the prelims. Seirin is a strong team and you are sure Kagamicchi could have been one of you, Akashicchi even implied so. Yet even if once or twice you felt the flow of this game was against Tōō, in the end your teammates are too skilled and Seirin’s inexperience in official matches shows.
The guilt you feel kicking your gut gets heavier with each tear your mentor lets slip.
You won the match, and you did not even get to show the secret you had kept away. You just played with them and the feeling of having just made fun of his efforts makes you ill. You are a farce, and continue to be one.
“Next time” you whisper as the lineout breaks, eye contact still firm “next time, let’s face each other in the Winter Cup”
The words seem enough to cheer him up, and if the captain’s challenging glare is any indication, Seirin will be up to the challenge. You smile grimly; they can be a team Aomine will go all out against. First, you have to get him back, you have to touch him and bring him back. Aominecchi is hurting and he has loved this game more than anything else has. For Kurokocchi, for Momoicchi and for Aominecchi himself, you must at least try and bait him in this tournament. You must be successful.
No matter if it kills you
(You wonder if there is enough in you to make an adequate sacrifice)
__
It is the Interhigh quarter-finals and you go up against the ghost of who you could have been. Kaijō does not stand a chance, Tōō is on a roll and you feel personally vindictive for the chance that was denied to you. It might also have something to do with what you overheard of some of Kaijō’s players being disappointed on not being able to play with Aominecchi and having to settle with you instead.
You swear you could hear Momoicchi’s facepalm when at the beginning of the third quarter you start to play as Aominecchi for the whole time heedless of the strain and the danger. It was your pride on the line; it was Tōō’s reputation, and Aominecchi’s. Who did they think they were to complain about not having the chance of playing against someone? They knew absolutely nothing about either of them, about Teiko, about his shortcomings.
At least they now knew their limits. In addition, Sasu-senpai might be a bit scared with the change. You know he had been skeptical when you had asked to change positions and leave you be the power forward. You clearly remember Sakurai looking flabbegastered during the rest of the match.
If you feel a bit lightheaded at the end of the match, and if you feel your muscles tremble a little –well, you say nothing. You have always been a cocky little shit, and a prideful and stubborn bastard. You can shoulder Momoicchi’s anger and Harasawa’s admonishments later. Right now, you feel proud and petty.
Yet, it was a decent game through and through even with an 84-142 score. Their captain is a third year called Kasamatsu who is small but has courage and charisma on which the team can fall on. As you see him leave after an inspiring and prideful speech and vow to become stronger you smile wistfully.
You opponents leave with their head held high and palpable satisfaction while Tōō’s team is already smug thinking about tackling the next opponent. You cannot tear your eyes away from them, from their interactions and their evident comradery and trust.
Kaijō you repeat to yourself almost bitterly I could have been one of them.
You would have loved it there. Their blue and their smiles and the fresh air from the sea. You would have thrived and bloomed there. You would have promised with your captain to take revenge on the Winter Cup, you would have cried with them.
Yet your uniform is not white and blue, it is red and black – like charred and torn flesh. Kaijō is too bright and you, too jaded to bask in it. That means not you will wail at the missed chance. You are greedy and have the terrible habit of acquiring what you want. Copycat they call you – but really, you are a thief.
When Aominecchi corners you in the locker room (tanned hands gripping hard and relentless, cold steel against your bare back, furious and betrayed blue eyes judging, face close and ready to attack) and asks you what was all about you can only answer solemnly with coldness and resolution:
“I quitted admiring you” and then, you get out hopping that he will follow.
(You are not there to see how those blue eyes steel and then thaw and a challenging smile replaces the wounded grimace. Nor do you see the fire starting to burn again.
He is not there when you almost fall down the stairs because of stamina depletion – but Harasawa is, and you are benched for the rest of the Interhigh while he prepares a strengthening regime)
__
You are two weeks on your crusade to make the Tōō’s basketball team, a team. So far things are going well, your charm and social smarts have its perks and practice has become more emphatic. Even if Imayoshi-senpai is starting to notice what you want and annoys the hell out of you. The captain is not an unpleasant person but is quite vindictive and you suspect he thinks you are trying to usurp his position. Which is ridiculous, the only captain you respect is Akashicchi – even if everything at Teiko fell apart horribly- and so the only way you can accept becoming a captain is if you surpass him.
At the very least, the coach can see the improvements, as does the team. The individualism is still strong on each regular member and the first string, but there is still a year ahead and you will be damned if by the time Winter Cup rolls in you don’t feel even an inkling like part of a team. Which is why you keep pestering Wakamatsu, sass Imayoshi, try to understand what gives with Sasu-senpai and praise Sakurai’s bentos. Really those are a thing from heaven – barring that one time he cooked unagi.
You will do what it takes to get what you want. Even if it includes becoming a social conduit until all of them can act on their own and be cohesive. Modeling has taken a back seat, you will only give three days a week and nothing else. Between the training, the new strengthening program from Harasawa and your goals – giving more would be suicide. You will not faint on the court and send this work to waste.
What you have found so far in the crusade is that Wakamatsu likes yakisoba, Imayoshi-senpai is a weirdo that has the smile of a polished knife, Sasu-senpai takes a kick at you complaining about the new training regime and that Sakurai likes deko bentos. Sakurai is important for the whole team and the poor boy has finally noticed it is not only because of his decent basketball skill, but because he is link #1 with Aominecchi. (Momoicchi is link #2, and you are, unfortunately, no link at all) You and Momoicchi share classes and there is only one that you share with him.
The team has marked those days as “no ace practice” (which you find heartwarming and tender because even if he has not been in practice Aominecchi is Tōō’s ace, a true testament on how the team views him as part of it even when missing). Which could be bad if you don’t compensate with morning practice. As it is, you understand you are Sakurai’s back up in Tōō’s training regime with the one on ones.
They are back, and your very soul aches with the same satisfaction as your body even if you still lose. Aominecchi is bright again, like the sun, and plays like the master and inspiring force you know him for. You will gladly do an extra hour of morning training for the rest of your school year if it means having him back.
People pleaser, Aominecchi would say. But he doesn’t know you are doing this out of selfishness. You have always been too selfish.
(The gripping fear of you destroying this team as well has left you sleepless several nights –but you can only move forward now. Otherwise, your manager will be mad.)
__
It is the fourth week of your crusade when Aominecchi comes officially back into practice and the circuit starts to mend. Also you might be in love and are trying very hard to not show it but everyone has found the big man crush you have on Tōō’s Ace. At least that is what the knowing glances Sasu-senpai keeps throwing you way implies.
It all began on one “no ace practice” day – when you and Aominecchi skipped practice. Not that it was a surprise for the taller guy but you at least had the excuse. They are called “no ace practice” because even if you do not play, you bicker and just share a moment of peace together – and skip practice. You talk about the team, and the members and how Momoicchi is doing and “you should be careful, I think one of the senpais has an eye for her. I don’t think anyone buys anymore that we are an item”. He usually listens and only makes one or two jabs.
Then one day he cuts through your blabber with a serious, “you said you quitted admiring me.” It halts you on your tracks and you throw a puzzled glance only to stop when you see him smirking “show me” and leads you to a court. You smile like a star just born. This was what you expected to happen when you asked Momoicchi to force him to come to the Interhigh. The light and challenge of those eyes – they shine on their own and you will not let them stray. Not this time.
This is how it happens. There is little to no warm up, you are too eager and after scoring the first point using one of his moves to bait him, he takes the ball and you know you are a goner. Aominecchi soars and dumps the ball in the net with a perfection that brings you back to when you were in middle school. It has all the Yes for a romantic plot twist, the sun shines and brings sparkles, the light contrasts with his dark skin, the blue eyes squint as he makes a point, the smile is savage and yet proud, even the landing is perfect. When he smiles at you, really smiles, you know you are in too deep to get out.
The sun must be in constant combustion to survive, and now that you took it, you are burnt. You want to keep burning.
The moment does not last because even if you burn, you will not stop. You have been waiting for this since everything started to fall apart in Teiko, and you are too selfish to let go of this game. You go forward and it is the clash of two titans, two beasts and friends in the court where a three point difference is of no importance because it will not last more than a minute if you are not good enough. The game last a lifetime and a half, and none of you actually notice time passing until a dog barks, you fall on the ground panting and stars are above you.
The feeling is exhilarating and when Aominecchi extends you his hand to raise you up –even when you lost (though not as badly as when you were in Teiko)- and says “See you at practice” you can only nod and pray to not cry because not only did you fall in love, you found home as well.
(You call your father who is abroad for two weeks and tell him that he might have been right.)
__
Momoicchi wants to see everyone naked to delight her eyesight. Well, fine, that is not what she said, but that is totally her aspiring goals when she steps on the court one day before the last practice matches and declares an onsen trip next weekend. The coach fully endorses the idea explaining that with a big tournament around the corner it is better for the team to unwind and rest after some grueling and intense weeks. The school has financed the trip as an encouragement to better your performance for the Winter Cup.
Of course, it can also be because Momoicchi wants to show off her new bikini and can’t wait until proper summer so she picked an onsen within a resort facility equipped with an indoor pool. Not that you mind, that model suits her well. Many members of Tōō seem to agree –all those that are not complaining about you and your fucking pick up skills.
(It is not your fault to have a designer’s swimsuit trunks; it was a freebie from a model shoot you did last season)
You just tease Wakamatsu-senpai on his grouchiness trying to make him smile and (ignoring Imayoshi-senpai’s interested gaze, after a few weeks you know that being a subject of interest for him is the same if not worse than being a subject of animosity) gang up on him with another small forward on tips on how to pick up a girl. You are about to demonstrate with a couple of interested girls when it all stops as you hear Momoicchi’s affronted scream and glance up, ready to take her away and find yourself fixated on Aominecchi and the poor scrap of cloth you belie to be a speedo. You can’t stop laughing because that speedo is just too much. You are not sure if you want to kick him or take it off of him, and the moment you feel a blush coming you dive into the pool to save your poker face. The image is still there when you surface, your shitty luck just has it that you can see how well his body works when he does a dive as well.
Scandalous, this is just a blatant display of something and you can’t grasp exactly what or even why. All right, maybe the why is easy –this is Aominecchi after all and you wouldn’t put it pass him to want to mess up with everyone not secure in their masculinity. You both were (still are) shameless, even during middle school, Midorimacchi was always on your case after all. Heck even once Kuroko gave you this evil stare.
The what might be more tricky, after all he can rile up Momoicchi on other ways. Unless of course this was a ploy to get all the unwanted attention away from her. That could be it, this guy is very sly, and flaunting himself like that would throw everyone off.
The plan seems to be working, if the reactions are anything to go by. Wakamatsu is already going on his case of blatant nudity, someone is bemoaning his eyes, there was a scream, and someone hid under the pool on an attempt to escape the horror (was that Kagamicchi? Why is he doing here?), and some just looked appreciatively at the expanse of caramel skin and those worked legs and thighs.
(Alright, so maybe he was the only one, fuck)
It is not until you find Sasu-senpai raising an eyebrow at you, smile too big –almost shaking at your reaction that you raise your white flag and go out of the pool in defeat. Imayoshi-senpai must be on the truth with him, you are sure, but at least the captain is too horrified with the speedo to give his attention somewhere else.
(It says something about your frustration that you were not aroused until you thought how weird it was that you were not. Fortunately, the showers have cold water. You are shameless, but you still have basic decency)
__
It is the afternoon and you are still slyly avoiding Aominecchi and his speedo afterimage. That had been the most awkward lunch you ever sat through (including that one where your eldest sister fiancé asked you if you had any moral thresholds when it came to modelling –sister broke up real quick after that) –and not only because you had to endure senpais trying to push food you couldn’t eat into your plate and insisting on a very deviant way for you to do it.
Wakamatsu putting eel on your plate however, you just put that piece into his drink.
Right now you are just assessing a game of one on one between Seirin’s and Tōō’s aces. In other words, you are trying hard not to be a petulant child and shout how unfair it is that Aominecchi is showing your privileges to someone else. Still, Kagamicchi has great potential and talent; you would do well to copy more of his moves. Thanks to your strengthening program, you are sure you can do them without notable strain. You have still years to go before you can say the same about Aominecchi’s. Your secret weapon, the one you will unleash in this upcoming tournament, is still too dangerous to keep for a decent amount of time.
“You are a kinesthetic learner; you have changed your strategy these past few weeks” someone states factly behind you startling you out of your reverie.
You smile at the newcomer befuddledly and relieved to have someone else to pay attention to instead of watching the match because even while you train you are still not cleared for official matches, and you know just like Aominecchi does, that your one on ones are more straining than any official match. Those are the universe built between you two.
“Harasawa-san, good afternoon” you greet and wonder if he is going to point something about your training program. You had half expected Imayoshi-senpai to be here.
“I know what you are trying to do” Harasawa says finally done beating around the bush, hands over the railing and while his body is open to the game below you, his gaze is focused on you and nothing else. He is serious, and you find there is no way to slyly avoid the conversation.
“This is the kind of person I am” you admit with a deliberate shrug and try not to show how unsettled the discovery makes you. Tōō takes pride on individuality, much like Teiko, and your selfishness on wanting Kaijō in this academy might be finally met with rejection.
“I think this can be better in the end. Tōō individually has plenty of skill, but as a team we can capitalize on that.” He says instead and you turn around assessing him and he does not lie. There is this smirk on him that speaks of an encouraging father who just caught a child on something he condones “However, I would like you to stop for a moment and see them as a Team yourself. Tōō is not Teiko.” He adds sternly, rictus neutral but firm and you flinch at the implications.
As a Model, you should have not been this transparent.
“Tōō is not.” You finally concede after a minute or two, and the weight off your shoulders in invigorating, albeit a bit terrifying. You are threading this new territory without maps or successful projects behind you. The fear is still there, the possibility of fucking this one up is real. Yet you have this hunch it will not be the same, because they are more human, you are wiser and they know how to patch things up. They don’t keep anything sacred, and you have not heard any spiel about Generation of Miracles since Aominecchi came back to practice and was absorbed into their fold. Actually, this is the first time someone says Teiko to you since May.
Harasawa only nods patting your shoulder amiably and you let him.
“That’s good.” someone says behind you and you flail a moment thinking about Kurokocchi and ghostly nature and keeping your team secrets from Seirin only to find Sakurai leaning over the door looking unusually smug. “You are Tōō now, just like Aomine-kun. We are not giving you up easily.” That is Sakurai at his most assertive and the only answer is an automatic nod. He might become a manipulative little shit if he manages to converge his apologetic side with the mean confident strike he gets during games.
Luckily, his third year is still very far away.
“I have wanted to ask you something for quite a while now Kise-kun” Sakurai fidgets a bit, but you know that is not a sign of being uncomfortable but a tic he has when he is going over a sentence on his head one last time to make sure it is not as rude as he wanted it to be. You brace yourself “Are our jackets really unfashionable?”
You try hard not to laugh, because yes they are an ongoing fashion disaster. Instead, you silently promise them both that it will be worth it.
(later that night, when you are at the hot springs, you wash your back and help Aominecchi wash his and then you rile up Kagamicchi and complain at how unfair it was that you could not play this afternoon.
And make a jab about the speedo, because you can.)
__
It is the Winter Cup and you think Tōō’s basketball team might be a bit scary.
It is your match against Fukuda Sōgō, against Shogo (because, of course you would have to play against this fucker the first time you see him after such a long time, of course) and his irritating ways of copying and taunting that hits too close to home in all the wrong ways. Aominecchi’s support is both welcome and insufferable. It started on the team debriefing, Momoicchi kept giving you these worried glances throughout the meeting and when Shogo’s name was spoken, you could see your ace visibly bristle. Heck, the rest of your teammates noticed it too, and tried to dig up any history between him and that player.
You wanted to laugh because if anyone had any history with that asshole, it was you.
Not that it was a secret for Sakurai who had the misfortune of being with you when you walked in a brawl between players. Granted, at first you did not recognize him because while being a nasty little shit, you never thought one could go so low as to go full yakuza on hair and speech. If this pathetic turn of events is what Akashicchi predicted, you understand he was justified to kick him out.
The encounter of course, ends as nastily as it began and you ask your fellow underclassman to not spill the beans to Aominecchi. However, by the guy’s face next morning you know your fellow first year can’t keep his mouth shut for nothing. Nevertheless, you don’t blame him, Aominecchi can be an intimidating bastard when he likes.
Still after the third time he intercepts a pass to avoid a frontal confrontation between you and Shogo you finally glare and complain to him during break. You don’t need babying, you are strong and you can handle this fucker just fine –and yet when you do you just freeze and then seethe.
“Our skills are frustratingly similar” he says mocking smirk and condescending gaze upon you “yet there has been a clear line on who is better between us. Eh, Ryouta?”
There is cold rage on you. This boy was the bully you were not aware of, this boy was fixated on something and purposely thought to harm you even if you did not understand, this delusional boy just said that shameful score you got in Teiko still stood. This asshole still thought of you as Teiko instead of Tōō.
The sweat running down your face is cold when you show him your metaphorical middle finger and do a perfect Midorimacchi 3-point-hoop. From the corner of your eye, you can see Aominecchi smiling savage and free, and you nod not wasting time. You can only last five minutes flat like this, but in the next five minutes, you will mop the floor with his horrible hair strand by strand. The ball is on Sakurai’s hands and the flow is unabashedly Tōō’s. Ace, that is your friend’s title. Yours is Predator.
You have the ball and are about to make another perfect pass when something rushes through and it is only after the blinding hothothot pain has left you that you realize Shogo stole the ball and your foot is pulsing rapidly. It takes some precious seconds to realize what has happened and blink in disbelief at how the referee did not notice. The ball is stolen back by Aominecchi and the score that follows is savage and unsettling.
Your foot hurts a lot but the perfect copy drive will not let you rest. It is only when Wakamatsu swats off a point with the same viciousness as Aominecchi’s previous score that you realize your team is three kinds of pissed off. It is almost as if a hellhound rose from your side of the court to conquer the defenseless prairies of Fukuda Sōgō. The anger is making Tōō focus instead of blinding them and you can feel the current under your skin as the Ace keeps leading the attack with you as his lancer.
You foot still hurts and your leg will be sore, but you will not show it on the lineout after the game. You are too proud and too smug to break the atmosphere. Shogo’s face is petrified and you wonder if it is too evil to feel happy about it.
(There is also the relief that Tōō is almost team, and that you did not fuck this one up and that you can trust them –you want to cry. Something you did when Imayoshi-senpai asked about your foot and Wakamatsu-senpai about who was that fucker in the locker rooms)
__
It is the Winter Cup, it is the locker rooms after the match against Fukuda Sōgō high and it is Aominecchi holding your injured foot and applying a bag of ice. It would be normal, were not for the fact that he just threw everyone out of the room, leaving you alone and he is looking at you with an intensity that seems zone-like. It is the closeness you had in middle school, and yet there is the underline of something boundary pushing that has you on expectation.
(Also, Sasu-senpai did this sign of good-luck on his way out and you are terribly puzzled by the whole thing)
Still you try not to wince at the temperature and smile instead because you are grateful. The situation is awkward when it should not be, and maybe, this is the final push you need to talk and set everything straight between you two –or set things gay between you two. You know which option you like better.
“Nurse Aominecchi has been so kind to me! He deserves a Reward!” you tease all smiles while he grimaces a bit. Yet, when he takes the bait, you find you took more that you could chew.
“You can repay my kindness with a kiss”
The words are out and you don’t know if this is reality or just an illusion. The ice on your foot is real –that much you can tell, just like that heated and determined gaze. You would like to do more than just a little peck –you want to kiss him senseless really, ever since that speedo you have wanted to touch those legs. He tries to shrug it off, and for a moment, you fall on the banter so familiar between you two. You can’t stand it though, and finally give in and ask what the kiss was all about. He smiles –all smug and proud- as if he had been waiting for it and says:
“Because we both want to be together Kise”
That leaves you breathless and after a silly banter, you throw caution to the wind and get on with what you have wanted to do. There is nothing to hide anymore. Aominecchi kisses like he plays –dominant, conquering and bright- so you answer the only way you know how when he challenges you and kiss hard, sneaky and enthusiastic.
You kiss once, twice, your hands exploring and questioning trying to know each other bodies as you know each other’s thoughts. It all ends when your leg is pushed uncomfortably against you and the ice pack falls between Aominecchi’s legs. He curses awkwardly and you laugh silently (this is all so you, that the familiarity is endearing) before pulling his hand and hugging him close. Here you can feel the warmth, the tangibility of this and you smile.
“Home” you whisper on his ear, breathless and hopeful “we have a match tomorrow, let’s go home together”
(you sleep on Aominecchi’s bed that strangely is spacious enough for you both when you keep close to each other)
__
It is the Winter cup and you lost to Seirin after a too close match.
Your leg is killing you and you are bitter about the defeat. Most of Tōō is, to be honest. Sakurai looks like he could murder someone, Imayoshi-senpai has this smile on his face that hints about how willing he is on helping the other hide the body, Wakamatsu is all glares and frustrated huffs, but Aominecchi is calm. Almost relieved. You understand the feeling of having lost, of finding a wall to climb after such a long time wandering on plain ground.
It is the first time in a year that he has gone all out, all reserves depleted. The first time in so long that you felt him enter the zone and then see him equally matched. The joy of finding that which you thought impossible accompanied with the bitterness of losing the one game you decided you wanted to win against all odds. Aominecchi is back, and like this, he will grow stronger and when he smiles at you, it is devoid of the strain you saw on the first day in Tōō.
You want to do many things to him right now. None of them allowed in the court –especially asking for a one on one.
You are monsters, but you lost as a team. Next time, you swear nodding to everyone even if your tears mix with your sweat, next time you will win and take the cup. The lineout sendoff is a mix between respect and Awkwardness. You can barely hide your limp and by the knowing glances between Kurokocchi and Kagamicchi, you are sure you are not fooling many. When Sasu-senpai turns around to thank everyone who came to cheer for Tōō you cry. Next to you, Aominecchi keeps a straight face.
Then in the afternoon, after a poignant debriefing on Tōō and Imayoshi-senpai’s announcement on leaving Wakamatsu as next year’s captain that you two go back home. You have dinner with your parents, and they suggest Aominecchi to sleep there. They know emotional and physical exhaustion when they see it. You finally understand that.
(He breaks down on the way home and babbles about how you all will take back the cup and how he will overcome Kagami’s zone. At night, with yor futon down he still rants about how exhilarating and bitter losing to Kurokocchi is, and how as a team you will trounce them.
He also says that he finally understands what can be the answer to the second door, that he will open it when the time comes and you half listen to it while entwining your fingers and gripping his hand tightly. It is a silent message of comfort, I am here, I will always be here, let’s to that together next time.
He smiles and then snickers “You have to do the 3 point hoop again in front of Midorima. Just imagine his face”
You laugh)
__
Midorimacchi really stands no chance. You would feel bad for him (that thing Akashicchi did is unforgivable) if Tōō was not pissed because of the score against Seirin. That is not to say that Shūtoku was eaten alive. The differences were clear but it was not an emotional and physical slaughter than the match against Rakuzan. They too, are bitter by how it ended and how crassly were they dismissed by Rakuzan’s team.
Still with Aominecchi’s newfound resolution, Sakurai’s will to kill everything in sight (you are worried about him really, you don’t want to find Seirin’s captain body on the missing and found list), Sasu-senpai’s drive (all gentleness gone) and Wakamatsu’s enthusiasm on crushing. Yeah they are a though team.
Imayoshi is also an old ferocious fox with a bone to pick with Shūtoku’s team. That helps too. In the end you win, and on the lineout hands are shaken warmly and congratulations and banters are given easily and respectfully. This is how a team match should be –even better when you see you won with a 4-point difference. Midorimacchi’s face when he saw his technique used against him was priceless. You would like to have a picture of that and frame it on your bedroom, or at least have it for your contact’s profile.
(It can also be because you were benched for the better part of the match. Momoicchi is so exasperated with you that she practically hauls you up after the match and throws you to the locker room to “cool down”.
Which is kind of silly because Aominecchi is there. You cool down during the Razukan vs. Seirin match, barely.)
__
It is Kagamicchi’s apartment for a celebration and you are on your merry way to being banned from ever stepping in that place again. You idly wonder how much is Kagamicchi’s allowance to have such a spacious apartment (you could afford a bigger one, but why do that when you can still live at your home until 18 without expenses?) although the suspicious state of the furniture makes you wonder the uses it has. They are barely touched, but comfortable enough that you and Aominecchi proclaim the couch as your own independent Republic of Tōō.
Kagami as you guest-host is allowed in, and even he understands your intentions are not to annoy the occupants. Mostly. You did arrive with a crutch and after assuring everyone that it was nothing critical, the redhead was the one who graciously offered his couch. The celebration is small enough; you are surprised to see Midorimacchi and Takao. Surprisingly of Seirin there is just the team’s manager and captain. You hear Kurokocchi say Kagamicchi was talking with a childhood friend and that he was invited but could not assist, you hear that the red head also invited Akashicchi as well but declined.
(You silently pray for Kagamicchi’s continued existence)
This is how it happens: Kagamicchi somehow has the weird notion that you and Aominecchi helped him to grow and thanks to that, he could become better and help his team to victory. Such is the reason why he invited you two to his small party of celebration. You don’t know if he is joking or genuine. However, you are sure he has not an evil bone on his body –and that’s the only thing that is holding your scathing tongue. Also, he seems to have a lady friend, the one Shogo was bothering the other night, her name is Alexandra and you suspect she and your eldest sister would get along well.
You and Aominecchi take control of the couch (Independent Republic of Tōō) and act like the worst ambassadors ever. He just talks and bothers Kagamicchi, nags the team’s captain and you pay no attention to that because Alex is very interesting and Kurokocchi seems bothered by something you can’t put your finger on.
Alex moves to bring in some kind of junk food you are sure you can’t eat without your manager having a heart attack. Then, because it is more comfortable, you pull your legs over Aominecchi’s lap, lean on the couch with your head on the armrest and keep talking with Alex when she returns about Basketball and what else he can learn. She is very insidious and you can picture the difference between the rules and plays of the WNBA and NBA.
She also cannot believe you started playing three years ago and something in her eyes tells you she thinks you are a genius. You preen at that and hear Midorimacchi scoff. You turn around to argue with your former teammate when you realize he is not paying any attention to you and instead is focusing on Aominecchi’s hand, which is idly massaging your knees and calves.
So that’s why it felt so comfortable.
He glances at you, blue eyes full of mirth and affection and you just smirk and hoist yourself up. You sit across Aominecchi like there is nothing wrong in the world and he has no qualms about circling you with his arms and continues the chatter as if nothing happened. Except for Midorimacchi’s scandalized face, Seirin’s manager freezing analyzing what this is all about and Kurokocchi looking eerily pleased. You wouldn’t put is past him to have predicted this outcome since day one.
(Akashicchi had)
Kagamicchi looks aghast while Alex looks awfully interested.
That’s exactly what you are looking for and so you lean more and keep talking with Alex about the differences between the basketball school basketball level of Japan and the States. Takao adds himself to the conversation soon after and it grows to a debate on whether or not talents can flourish on different environments.
Questions are asked to Kagamicchi and he has a hard time trying to find the answers. You know it is less because of the translations issue and more because of how you pass an arm around Aominecchi’s shoulder for support and how he pushes you closer to do the same.
Alex however, seems overly enthusiastic with the answers; you can read it on her body language. Your boyfriend doesn’t know anything about reading people, but he knows when something is being encouraged and leers at the redhead while edging at how she can answer them while he can’t. It seems to do the trick because he starts answering questions, even if his blush grows more and more as one of Aominecchi’s hands dips lower and you kiss under his jaw. You are both silly little shits with a mean and petty vindictive strike.
Then, because Alex either has no shame or has something to be vindictive for, she asks sweetly “So, have you guys done it in the locker rooms yet?”
From the corner of your eye you can see Midorimacchi is about to leave this room for his own sanity and how Takao is trying hard not to laugh.
“We hooked up in the facility locker rooms after the game against Fukuda Sōgō” Aominecchi announces proudly to the world and you cackle evilly.
When the captain spits his drink, you toast to Sakurai.
(Kurokocchi never truly forgives you. You know you will never apologize for that.)
__
You are a model, the second hottest model in Junon Boy ranking for the second consecutive year. You know you will reclaim your rightful spot as the Model King of Japan next year. You don’t need your manager, your sister, or your agency to assure you or tell you that. You have seen your competition and know that by far you have the most attractive body and face, something Satsuki has stated, Tōō has complained and Aominecchi has confirmed.
Not that you mind. The complaints are always in good humor and you make sure to complain right back. That’s the kind of comradery you have with them. Aominecchi’s appreciation is always welcome –though Imayoshi has insisted very strongly to keep them at home.
You are also a monster in the basketball court –a genius Alex has hinted, dead sexy Aominecchi has whispered in you ear- where you help your team attain victory with a vicious attack. You have still ways to go before you will let this dream end and focus mostly on university and work. Your dream of retiring at forty still stands, but you now plan to enjoy retirement with a long-term partner.
You had a team before. One that almost felt like a family to you and it still is. But you now understand there are things that can only be learned through hardships. Your Teiko family was broken, mended and the ties between you all only became stronger after that. It is not the same, but personally, you feel that is for the best, you are all wiser and forgiving.
You also have a new family –even if it contains some old faces. This Tōō team is the family of friends you thought Teiko’s would always be. You have fights, you bicker and complain, but there is a strong sense of unity and fall back –and an oath to accomplish next year. Here you are appreciated but not directly complimented. You have a coach that is both a big brother and a stern father, and had a captain that was an old fox with enough blackmail material to retire comfortably at 20.
Your grades are still abysmal, but Tōō’s school system is adaptable to your schedule and as long as you apply yourself a bit you know you will pull through. It is as uncomplicated as it sounds. You find that amazing. Encouraging really.
You are still a cocky and reckless teenager even when plagued by doubt and insecurities. They are accepted, and it is both a relief and joy. You might also be on a serious relationship with your best friend. That is not as surprising as it is to know you have always been friends –even when you thought you were estranged. He is also your closest confidant, the person you know the best in the word –who in turn knows you the best as well.
You love him more than words can convey.
As of now, you are looking forward to next year, and everything that comes.