His shots were off today. He wasn't focused. It wasn't entirely his fault however, it was hers.
***
Hyuga had overheard them talking. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but he had forgotten his lunch. As he was walking back out of the classroom, he heard them: Aida Riko and her friend, Hyodeko. They were talking about typical things that girls talk about, like hair and stuff, right?
"Don't talk to me about this right now. We have a huge game on Friday and I need to focus!" he heard Riko saying. What could be so important that it could get Riko's attention away from basketball, even for a minute? Hyuga stopped in his tracks: there was no way in hell he was going to interrupt this conversation now. If something was distracting the Coach the week of the last game of the season (and the last game of their highschool basketball career) then Hyuga needed to know so he could confront her about it. It was almost clutch time, after all.
"Come on Aida-chan, you can totally tell by the way he looks at you and talks to you. I just want to know if you reciprocated"
Hyuga was reeling. She was focusing on a guy? A guy!?
"Of course I have feelings for him, Hydeko, but that doesn't change the fact that that if we got together now, it would change team dynamics and pull our focus away from the game!"
Team Dynamics? Was this guy a basketball player? Hyuga thought it made sense, they spent almost all of their free time together. They were basically the only men that Riko ever saw outside of the student council. But who was it? Who on the team was able to pull Riko's focus away from basketball and onto them?
"It's just a distraction I don't need right now" Riko concluded.
Hydeko harrumphed. "But Aido-chan, he's so gorgeous! You guys would be perfect together!"
Riko giggled: "If you think he's gorgeous now, you should watch him play basketball."
And with that comment, the girls had turned a corner and were out of earshot, like Hyuga alone with his thoughts for a while.
So the coach was losing focus over a "gorgeous" guy on the team. Why did that bother Hyuga so much? He watched as another shot bounced off the rim and onto the floor. He was definitely off his game today.
"Hyuga! Here! Now!" Coach yelled from across the gym. All eyes were on him, the coach never yelled at him like that. He knew that the team was aware of his lack of focus. He ran over to the coach, wiping sweat off his forehead as he did so.
"Either clutch up or sit down Hyuga. We can't afford to make mistakes like this when the last game of the season is in two days! Keep playing like this and you're benched for Friday's game!"
She looked up at him, willing him to argue with her decision.
"You're right coach" He conceded. "I'm just really distracted right now."
"Run 20 laps to clear your mind. You will have extra shooting practice after everyone leaves tonight. Got it?"
"Yes coach." Hyuga mumbled. Couldn't Rika see that this was her fault?
As he began his laps, he started to wonder would could possibly be holding preferential attention over basketball.
"You can totally tell by the way he looks at you and talks to you" came ringing back into his ears. That's it then. He would just have to watch to see who looked at Riko differently.
He watched the freshmen practice their ball-handeling skills. Nobody was looking at the Coach. Mitobi was working on a drill set, Izuki was laughing with the other second years about some lame pun he just made, Kagami was focusing on his shooting from the three point like and Kuroko was working on his drive to the hoop. Nobody was looking at the coach.
And then he saw it. Teppei was talking to her, looking her directly in the eye. He was telling her something about god-knows-what. Was Teppei the one holding Rika's attention? Was Teppei pulling Rika away from her coaching duties? For some reason, this idea hit a nerve with Hyuga. He was always known as the level-headed and chill captain, but right now he was fuming. He was relieved when his legs began to hurt as it gave him something to think about that wasn't Rika and Teppei doing…things.
Hyuga was on his fifteenth lap when Rika blew her whistle, indicating the end of practice. The others quickly left to shower and go home. Hyuga and the Coach stayed. He did have extra shooting practice, after all.
Finally finished with his laps, he moved to the 3-point arch. Coach brought him a rack of basketballs and informed him that he needed to make five shots in a row, then he could leave.
Hyuga grabbed the first ball and missed by a mile. The second shot was not much better. The Coach stopped him before he could further embarrass himself with a third shot.
"What's going on Jun-san?" Rika asked, "You haven't missed this much since you broke all your precious toys."
Hyuga was angry, furious even, but he couldn't understand why. He picked up a basketball and threw it with everything he had towards the wall. It bounce with a loud thud that echoed through the otherwise silent gym.
Riko was obviously surprised, but kept her mouth shut. She knew he would talk when he was ready, and she knew not to press him when he was like this.
"Hyuga…" Riko started, realizing the situation was not going to get better right now. "Hyuga I want you to go home and get some sleep. You will debrief with me in the morning."
With that, Riko left, leaving Hyuga alone with his thoughts once again. He stood for a while trying to process what was happening. Finally he gathered his things and began to walk home.
Why was he so angry about the situation? Why did it bother him so much that Riko and Teppei wanted to be with each other? Why did the idea scare him and hurt him the way that it did?
He saw Teppei leaving Maji burger. Hyuga tried to act like Teppei wasn't there, but he didn't have Kuroko's amazing powers of misdirection. In other words, Teppei noticed him.
"Hyuga!" He called, running towards him. "What was up with you today at practice?"
"Teppei, can I talk to you?"
Teppei nodded as the boys continued to walk.
"What are your feelings towards Rika?" Hyuga asked after what seemed like forever.
"The Coach?!" Teppei responded quickly with a laugh. "I mean, she's cute but I just see her as my coach. And, you know, sometimes my friend"
Hyuga nodded, silent. Why did this answer make him feel better? The two men continued to walk in silence until they reached Hyuga's house. Teppei stopped and grabbed Hyuga by the arm.
"Jun-san, I think you need to think about this too. What are YOUR feelings for Rika?" Teppei stared at him or a moment, but left before Hyuga answered.
And there it was. The question Hyuga had been avoiding for years now. This is the question he didn't want to answer, because he knew it would change everything.
"I don't know" Hyuga mumbled to himself before he walked into his house.
Hyuga had laid on his bed all night wondering. He never really exposed himself to the idea of desiring the Coach as more than a friend. That was dangerous territory.
The answer to Teppei's question came to him slowly but when it finally hit him, it hit him hard. Like a sack full of bricks being swung at full force towards his face. He realized that he wanted her romantically for a long time. Just how long, he couldn't figure out, but it had been a while. Unfortunately, however, the realization that he liked her, that he wanted her, didn't help alleviate any of his frustrations.
Who was the guy that was holding her attention? How was it even possibly fair that he wanted her badly, and she wanted someone else? Why did she have to pick Teppei? That was a cruel twist of fate.
He fell into an uneasy sleep, these unanswered questions burning into his mind.
The next morning was a hard one. Rika had shown up at his house bright and early to debrief with him. He wasn't even fully dressed. The sat in the kitchen, her in her school uniform and him in sweats.
"Have you cleared your head, Jun-san?" She asked as she helped herself to a piece of toast.
"Yes" He mumbled, trying not to stare at her too long. What was an appropriate amount of time to stare at someone without it becoming awkward? Hyuga wasn't sure.
"Good! We need to go over our strategy for tomorrow's game. I was thinking Kagami and Kuroko could start us off, then you and the other seniors could finish the game off in the second half. Do you think you're ready to play?"
"Sure, that's fine" Hyuga replied, not really into this discussion.
Riko looked at him with concern. "If you're not up to it, we can bench you for the last game of your high school career and put in one of the freshmen."
Hyuga sighed. He couldn't take it anymore.
"I heard you and Hydeko talking yesterday."
Riko stopped looking over her plays and stared at him, her face becoming perfectly scarlet.
Hyuga continued, pretending not to notice the tension that was quickly going to suffocate him.
"I think it's a good idea to talk to Teppei and tell him how you feel after tomorrow's game. It shouldn't do much since we're graduating in the spring. I think he has a right to know about your feelings."
Riko laughed, relieved. "Is that what has been bothering you? Seriously!? I mean, I wasn't lying when I said I had a crush on someone on one of the guys, but what makes you think it was Teppei?"
Hyuga blushed, this was not going the way he planned it to.
"Well, you said that he was gorgeous and women love Teppei. You also said you could tell he wanted you by the way he looked at you, but you were waiting so that it didn't interfere with team dynamics. So I just assumed it had to be him."
"I told Teppei and he agreed. I need to tell this guy that I want him before the school year is over, since we are graduating in the spring."
Hyuga sat for a moment, dumbfounded. "Wait. So it's not Teppei?" Hyuga asked, cautiously.
"You are seriously dense sometimes Jun-san, but no, it's not Teppei." Relief washed over Hyuga. He still had a chance with her if it wasn't Teppei.
"Look, I will talk to you about this tomorrow, but until then I really need you to focus. I really don't want to bench one of my best players or my one of my seniors, and you happen to fit both of those categories."
Hyuga nodded, vowing to let this blow over until after tomorrow's game.
For the next day and a half, he threw himself into his studies and basketball, anything to get his mind off Riko. The game seemed to come faster that way anyways.
As he stood in the locker room, he made a promise to himself: "If I win, I tell Riko. If I lose, I don't deserve her anyways." He pressed his head against the locker as the others began filing out of the locker room.
"It's clutch time" He whispered to himself.
The first half went off without a hitch, but it was too close for comfort in Hyuga's opinion. Kagami and Kuroko really are a force to be reckoned with, especially since Kuroko learned how to shoot. Good thing too, since Kagami would be captain next year. The team would be hopeless without him.
The second half of the game had yet to be played however, and it was crucial. Okanawa High was only down by 10 points, and he had seen enough comebacks to not be comfortable with that lead.
"Get out of the way everyone, the seniors are coming through" Teppei announced, as they entered the court for the second half.
"Go die, Teppei!" Hyuga stated as he ran past him. This was the time for Hyuga to shine.
The first pass to Hyuga was from Mitobi. The defense had set him up perfectly for his first shot.
Swoosh. The crowd went wild. 3 more points for Seirin, thanks to number four. Hyuga was in the zone now.
Okanawa High wasn't the toughest team they ever played, but they weren't a walk in the park either. They were rough, constantly pushing and getting fouls. The guys were aggressive, which was not a good tactic when Hyuga was fired up the way he was.
The ball was thrown to him. He pushed himself away from his mark and released the ball. Swoosh. Another three points for Seirin.
But the other team wasn't letting up. By the time the third quarter was over, they had closed the gap to five points.
The fourth quarter continued roughly. Both Teppei and Hyuuga got fouled on twice, while Hyuuga himself accumulated a couple fouls of his own.
Time out called from Okanawa. Twenty seconds on the clock and the game was close. Okanawa was only down by three points.
The Coach threw Hyuga a water bottle.
"You are on fire, Jun-san! Defense! Tighten up! Do NOT let them get any more points. Understand?"
A chorus of "yes, coach" echoed down the bench.
"Good." Riko gave one last glance towards Hyuga, and that's when he saw it. That one look showed him everything he needed to see. He realized in that moment where Riko's feelings stood. How could he not have seen it before?
"Well there's no way in hell I'm going to lose now," he smirked.
The game continued. Seirin had the ball and was trying to break through to get to the hoop. That's when all hell broke loose.
Okanawa's point guard had snuck through the cracks and stole the ball from Izuki. Cutting past Izuki was easy for him and he moved in. He passed, giving a clean shot to his teammate. 3 points for Okanawa. The crowd went wild: the game was now tied with ten seconds remaining!
Seirin quickly recovered, moving the ball quickly down the court. Teppei faked a pass to Mitobi, but snuck a backhand pass to Hyuga. In the middle of the confusion, Hyuga had been left wide open.
This is why Hyuga was such a good clutch shooter. Everything seemed to slow down. He planted his feet and set himself up. He saw the defenders running from all angles. He chose to turn his attention to his shot.
3…2… he released the ball with just enough time. The arena had fallen silent as the crowd watched in anticipation.
Swoosh.
The buzzer sounded.
Everything was quiet: Hyuga had just managed to make a buzzer beater look easy.
Then, simultaneously it seemed, the crowd erupted into massive cheers and whistles. Seirin had just won the final game of the season, 101-104, making them undefeated.
The Coach stood on the sidelines, smiling with tears running down her face.
"Good job, Jun-san!"
He walked up to her and pulled her close.
"I finally understand Riko" He mumbled into her neck, "How could I mistake those looks you had given me for so long? I'm so stupid."
"What look, Jin-san?" she whispered, blushing furiously. If he hadn't been holding her so closely, Hyuga would not have heard her over the crowd.
"Don't play dumb with me, Riko. Now is not the time." He told her as he slowly pulled her face up so that it was looking at his.
She gave a coy smile. "You know, you really are gorgeous when you play basketball, especially during critical moments!"
Hyuga knew for absolute certain that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Without further hesitation, Hyuga lowered his heads towards hers, colliding their lips in a rough kiss. She responded just as feverishly, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him impossibly closer.
"Hey look!" Izuki commented, "Looks like Hyuga always scores during clutch time!"