As she looked at her watch, Haruka couldn't help but wonder whether or not he would keep to his promise and come and watch her. Although it was not a major competition, she would still like to see him in the audience supporting her.
In the end, he never turned up. There wasn't even a message from him wishing her good luck. That was when she decided to give up all hopes on him.
It was a new school, new environment, a new beginning. The new term had already started but because of her busy schedule, Haruka was joining a few days after school had started.
After school, Haruka couldn't help but wonder to the basketball club. What she was expecting, she had no idea. Maybe it was just the memories of him that pulled her there even though she knew that she would't see him.
The door to the gym, in which the court was in, was slightly opened. Haruka peered inside cautiously and the sight brought back many memories. Everything in that gym reminded her too much of him. So much that it was starting to hurt to be there.
She was about to leave when she was spotted and called out to. Haruka pushed the door open and stepped into the gym. The practice came to a halt and now all eyes were on her.
The first thing that came to her mind was that someone might recognise her from her work but dying her hair seemed to be the smartest thing she had done.
"May I help you?" the only other female in the gym asked. There were a million things going through her mind at the same time but what came out of her mouth was definitely not what Haruka wanted to say at first.
"I want to be your manager," she blurted out. Even Haruka herself didn't know what she was talking about, let alone the confused basketball club. Maybe she thought that if she got herself involved in basketball, she would feel closer to him, understand him better.
"Um...I'm sorry but I don't think we need a manager," a bespectacled male said.
Haruka looked at him and for a second, there was a look of desperation on her face. Then she realised what she was doing. She had always wanted to avoid the pain that he had caused her yet now, she was seeking it herself.
"Sorry, forget what I said," Haruka whispered, turning around until a voice stopped her.
"Haruka-san?"
The girl stopped and turned her head slightly, looking at the person who had called out to her. He was an old friend and Haruka had almost forgotten about how he was so easily missed. He was her only connection to her old life so far.
"Kuroko-kun...I didn't know you came to this school. I thought you would be with one of the others," she whispered, almost to herself. She never though that she would meet any of them ever again.
"Kuroko, you know this girl?" the bespectacled male asked. The light blue haired boy nodded, stepping forward to greet her.
"Hai, senpai. She was from my old school."
"Ahh...I'm so jealous, Kuroko! They had such a cute girl back at your school?" a cat-like boy said, slinging his arm over Kuroko's shoulders and grinned at the girl. "Nice to meet you, Kuroko's cute friend, I'm Kuroko's senpai, Koganei Shinji."
"Ah, hai. Pardon my rudeness," Haruka apologised, bowing to the team before straightening herself. "Hajimemashite, I'm Matsuoka Haruka, yoroshiku."
The team just stood there, taking in whatever the girl said. That was until a boy with eagle-like eyes suddenly gasped and pointed at the girl. He just stood there, shaking until the team themselves got worried about him.
"Ma...Ma...Matsuoka Haruka!" he exclaimed. The rest looked at him with confused looks. "She's...she's Boba Cha girl!" (Boba Cha is Bubble Tea. Bubble Tea is sometimes called Boba Tea and Cha just means tea)
The rest of the team was still slightly confused until realisation dawned on them and they all gathered around Haruka, staring at her. Haruka was starting to think that maybe just dying her hair wasn't enough to mask her identity.
"You are most definitely welcomed as our manager. I am Hyuga Junpei, captain of the basketball team. It is such an honour to have you with us, Haruka-san," the bespectacled male said, shaking her hand.
"Enough! Since it's already decided, I suppose Matsuoka-san is now our manager. I'm Aida Riko, the coach," the other girl said. "Now let's get back to work."
"Riko-san is just jealous because Haruka-san has bigger boobs than her," Koganei mentioned. "Not to mention that Haruka-san is also cuted and she's famous as well."
Needless to say, Koganei was K.O by Riko.
Haruka had been in the basketball club for a few days now and maybe it was her connections before but she felt like she fitted in right away. Or maybe it was just the hospitality and over friendliness of the basketball team that made her feel welcomed.
As the girl was checking the basketballs, cleaning and pumping air into those that were a little deflated, the team was taking a rest from the absence of the coach.
Still new to the fact that a celebrity was their manager, the boys couldn't help but stare at Haruka. Suddenly, they were all glaring at Kuroko, jealous that he knew her before them.
"Kuroko, was Haruka-san already famous back in middle school?" Koganei asked, scooting closer to the blue haired boy. "And you seem suspiciously close to her."
"You're mistaken," Kuroko said. "I'm not close at all to Haruka-san. She was much closer with the others. And in midde school, Haruka-san was the captain of the dance team. If I'm not wrong, she did not get famous until the second year of middle school. That was when she got her first advertisement jobs."
The team themselves were shocked that Kuroko was talking so much. Secretly, they all suspected that Kuroko was actually a fan of Haruka's.
"What are you doing on your lazy ass?" Riko shouted, entering the gym. "Get off your ass right now!"
Almost immediately, the entire team was on their feet, afraid of what could happen to them if they didn't. Riko, however, quickly got back to her happy mood, skipping over to her clipboard.
"Oh no..." Hyuga groan softly as the freshmen looked to him for an explanation. "It's never good whenever she's skipping."
"Alright everybody, listen up. I got us a practice match with a school that has one of the 'Generation of Miracles'."
The name of the group itself was a taboo for Haruka. She dropped the basketball she was holding and it bounced, rolling toward the team. Everyone had their eyes on her but Haruka faked a smile, giving them an apology.
"Oh look, this issue was when Kuroko was in Teiko, right? It features all the members of the 'Generation of Miracles'. Kuroko didn't get an article..."
"Some came but they forgot me," Kuroko stated.
The senpais looked at Kuroko with pitiful eyes, unable to imagine the pain of being forgotten. That was when Izuki noticed another magazine, a non-basketball related one but with a very familiar face on the front cover.
"It's Haruka-san," he said, picking up the magazine. "This must be what Koganei said he wanted to show me." Izuki opened the magazine to Haruka's article and started reading while the rest gathered around him.
"Amazing...Haruka-san is amazing! Wait, what does this part say?"
"It seems that dancing is not the only thing that captured our Haruka's heart. Our sources had shown that when in school, the only other place that Haruka visits besides her own club was none other than the basketball club. There were rumours about one of the 'Generation of Miracles' being Haruka's boyfriend."
All eyes were now on Kuroko. Kuroko gave them a blank look and shrugged.
"I only knew she came to our club a lot. Not like she noticed me and would talk to me about her boyfriend," he said. This made the senpais less hostile as they all felt sorry for Kuroko.
"Gambatte!" Haruka shouted as she watched the team practice. However, for those who were in the changing room reading that magazine, they couldn't help but think which lucky bastard of the 'Generation of Miracles' dated her once.
When Kagami made an amazing turn and scored, Haruka cheered for him as well. After that, Riko gathered everyone around to give them the details of the practice match.
"Our practice match is with Kaijo High."
"Is it true what you said last time, coach?" Hyuga asked.
"Of course it's true. This year, Kaijo is one of the schools that have a player of the 'Generation of Miracles', Kise Ryouta."
Haruka perched up from her sitting position, surrounded by basketballs. Some of the guys noticed and looked at each other. Maybe they had hit the jackpot. So Kise Ryouta was that lucky bastard.
"Isn't Kise a model as well?"
So maybe that was why Haruka dated him. They were both working in the same industry after all.
Look around the court, Riko suddenly realised that they had more people than usual.
"Damn...I didn't come for that, but..."
At the end of the queue of girls was Kise Ryouta, signing autographs for his fangirls.
"Kise Ryouta!"
They were both shocked to see Kise and eager to see how Haruka would react to him. They also prayed that they were right about Kise and Haruka.
"Ano...you're creating a mess here," Haruka said, pointing to the crumbled paper from the notebooks of the girls who were his fans. This was the moment everyone anticipated; the moment of truth.
"Ah, gomen," Kise smiled then stared at her. "Haruka-san! It's been such a long time! I saw your advertisement on TV the other day, as expected of Haruka-san; so cute."
"I've seen your modelling work too," she said, nodding gently. "Thanks for your compliments."
The others watched them with high expectation but they talked more like they were friends, rather than a couple. So Kise Ryouta was not the lucky bastard.
"Ah...it's a shame how we never met, considering that we work in the same industry."
"Sorry to interrupt this reunion but...why are you here?"
"Well, when I heard our next opponent was Seirin, I remembered it was the school Kurokocchi went to. So I came to say hi, since we were the closest in middle school," Kise smiled, looking to Kuroko.
"Not really..." Kuroko said in response.
The others quickly opened the magazine from before to Kise's article and read up on him. The article mentioned how he had only started basketball in his second year of middle school but because a regular rather quickly.
Kise was being modest about being called one of the 'Generation of Miracles' when suddenly, a basketball was thrown his way. He managed to stop it with one hand but since it caught him by surprise, it hurt a little.
"Sorry to interrupt your reunion but you didn't come all the way just for a greeting, right? how about you be my opponent, Ikemen-kun," Kagami smirked, excitement overflowing from him.
Kise accepted his challenge and demonstrated the turn that Kagami did only moments ago. Everyone was shocked how perfectly he did it after only seeing Kagami do it once.
After seeing Kise play again Kagami, Haruka left the gym without anyone knowing. She realised that no matter how much she seeked to understand him, the pain was still too much. Whether or not she had the courage to face him again, she did not know.
She pulled her phone out and flipped it open, staring at the background. It had been almost a year since she stopped talking to him but she just couldn't bring herself to change the picture and delete it. Each time she tried, something in her mind stopped her.
"I see you still like him," Kise said, putting his arm around Haruka's shoulders, looking at the picture on her phone. Haruka quickly shut her phone and put it away, shrugging his arm off.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Kise-kun."
"Don't lie to yourself, Rukacchi," he said, taking a step away from her to keep her from feeling uncomfortable. "In fact, it would be nice if both of you stop lying to yourselves. It's obvious that you still like each other-"
"Kise-kun, please stop. You don't have to lie to make me feel better. We both know that our relationship was nothing but another thing for him to play with. He never cared. I'm not even his type and I know that, Kise-kun."
"Rukacchi, don't be like that! You're making me very sad!"
"I'm fine, Kise-kun!" she faked a smile for him. That was why she was chosen to do all those advertisements. No matter how much she hated a product, Haruka was always able to put on a facade and pretend that she liked it. She was a professional. "Also, Kise-kun...please stop using that nickname for me," she smiled at him.
Kise gulped. That smile was neither fake nor real. It was threatening. Many a times she had told him to stop using that nickname when they were in middle school but obviously, it did not catch on with him.