Harepin

The day was White Day. However, the only thing "white" about it was the snow that had been muddied and sun-melted along the roadsides. Not very white at all; in fact, it was more of a dulled shade of sickly grey. Said snow sloshed underneath Momoi's shoes as she traveled her usual morning route to school, that route being a left past the post office, three blocks straight, and then a sharp right by the ramshackled light post that never lit the way quite right. It was there that she would meet up with Aomine, her childhood friend of many years. From there, they'd continue to walk to school together.

"Ne, Dai-chan, today's White Day, right?" Momoi questioned with a sly grin.

"Yeah, is it? What about it?" Aomine asked, seemingly bored with the topic.

"I was wondering if maybe you had a special girl in your life that you wanted to give a present to." Though Momoi was being serious about her question, it would be a lie to say that she wasn't just a little bit hopeful that Aomine would be presenting her with something. After all, she had stayed up all night making chocolates for him on Valentine's Day. Of course she wouldn't want the gift to be given with affection; not from Aomine, at least. However, she felt that they were of the age now to be able to be open with their friendly gifts of camaraderie.

"Hmm…" he hummed. "The only girl that I would want to give a White Day present to would be Mai-chan. I'd get her a nice set of white panties—"

"Ugh, you're such a pervert, Dai-chan!"

Aomine playfully slung an arm around Momoi's shoulder. The next time that he spoke, his words were much more sincere in meaning. "Hey, look. I seriously forgot about today. If we go shopping together this weekend, I'll get you something, alright?"

"But, Dai-chan, I—"

"I know you didn't ask. Don't put up a fuss about it, or I'll change my mind."

Composing herself, Momoi smiled softly and nodded. "Thanks, Dai-chan."

Although Aomine's delayed intentions were sweet and very much appreciated, somehow Momoi felt sullen throughout the day. She was faced with watching many of her close friends getting gifts from their boyfriends, all of them being themed around the color white. Deep down, she was happy for them. But on the surface, her eyes were narrowed with slight envy.

It wasn't until after the school day had ended and basketball practice was in full swing that Momoi's spirits had been lifted. She busied herself by handing out towels and water bottles to those in need of them, all the while pointing out pivotal errors in some of the plays.

"Make sure you tuck your elbows in, when you run! You're supposed to look like players, not chickens!"

"Hey, Sa-chin," Murasakibara said, lethargically strolling up to the girl, regardless of the fact that he had barely moved a muscle during practice.

"What is it, Mu-kun?" Momoi asked, placing her clipboard aside to give him her full attention.

"Can I have some snacks now? It's been fifteen minutes."

"No, Mu-kun. Practice lasts for another hour and a half. You can eat your snacks then."

"'Kay…" Though tall in stature, the way that Murasakibara had walked away, shoulders hunched over and defeated, made him look very much like a child.

Later on during the practice, just as she was about to excuse herself to the ladies' room, Momoi had been stopped by a frantic voice calling out her name. "Momoicchi! Momoicchi!" It was Kise, and when she turned around toward the direction of his calls, her heart instantly sank. Lying on the ground was Kuroko, unconscious and limp.

She rushed over to the scene that was suddenly acquiring a lot of attention. Pushing her way through the crowd of sweaty boys, she was able to locate Kise once more. "Tell me what happened!"

Waving his hands in front of his face, desperately searching for the words, Kise stuttered, "Th-there was a ball stuck between the hoop and the backboard, so when Kurokocchi was trying to get it down with another basketball, i-it ricocheted off of the ball that was stuck a-and hit him in the face-ssu."

Momoi sighed irritably, before shouting, "Alright, everyone, give him some space! Ki-chan, help me lift him up. We're going to carry him over to the benches."

Kise nodded and quickly helped Momoi by grabbing Kuroko's legs, allowing for her to take his arms. Once he was away from all of the action and safely resting on one of the game benches, Momoi quickly tended to the budding bruise on Kuroko's forehead by gently placing an ice pack over the reddish patch of skin.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Kise asked with concern.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Momoi reassured. "You should get back to your scrimmage team. They look a little lost without you."

Well after the conclusion of practice was when Kuroko had finally come to. In the absence of watching eyes, Momoi had carefully placed Kuroko's head down onto her lap during his unawareness. Her fingers within his crisp blue locks slowed when she noticed his eyelashes begin to flutter.

"Momoi-san…?" Kuroko asked, confused and dizzy.

"Did you have a nice rest, Tetsu-kun?" Momoi smiled.

"What happened? Where is everyone?"

"Practice ended about twenty minutes ago. Everyone left."

"But what happened?"

Sighing peacefully, Momoi looked up at the high ceiling of the gymnasium and said, "You got hit in the face with a basketball. Don't you remember?"

"Kind of." Kuroko moved to sit up properly, regretting the decision when a throbbing pain coursed through his head.

"You should probably see a proper doctor sometime soon. You might have a concussion."

"Yeah."

An uncomfortable silence quickly loomed over them, forcing Momoi to shift awkwardly about the bench.

"So…do you think you can stand?"

"Yeah, I should be able to." To prove his point, Kuroko rose from the bench, a bit shaky at first, but then with more confidence.

"Here," Momoi said, standing up with him. "You should keep this on your forehead. It might make it feel better."

"Thank you, Momoi-san," Kuroko nodded, graciously accepting the ice pack. "If you wait for me while I change out of these clothes, I'll walk you home."

A blush of pleasant shock painted Momoi's cheeks pink. "O-okay! I'll wait for you right here!"

Momoi sat back down onto the bench and watched Kuroko's receding form, so as to not become a victim of his misdirection.

Just a short three minutes later, Kuroko reappeared from the locker rooms with his school and practice bags hanging off of his shoulder. "Shall we go, then?"

"Y-yes! Let's go."

Making sure to switch off the lights upon their exit, Kuroko and Momoi walked out past the soccer fields and into the school yard. When they had made it onto the main streets, a light conversation about upcoming games had kept the air between them amiable.

Reaching that very same light post from her morning commute, Momoi slowed her walk and stated, "You know, I can walk the rest of the way on my own. You're already well out of the way to your own home, and it's getting pretty late—"

"It's not fit for a girl to walk by herself at night, Momoi-san. And especially not on White Day."

Momoi's eyes widened. "Y-you remembered that today was White Day?"

"Of course. Why would you ask that?"

"Well, Dai-chan forgot, so…"

"Let's not compare me with Aomine-kun. But now that we've stopped, I guess the opportunity has been brought upon itself. If you would, could you please hold out your hand, Momoi-san?"

Feeling as if she were in a dream, Momoi held out left hand, covering her mouth to suppress her excited giggles as she watched Kuroko get down onto one of his knees.

"Ah, hold your palm facing upward, please," he instructed. She did as she was told. It was obvious now that it wasn't going to be a proposal, and the fact that Kuroko had bent at the knee was only so that he could get something out of his school bag. That "something" was gently placed down into Momoi's hand. "Please open it."

She didn't have to be told twice, but Momoi took a brief moment to marvel at the packaging of the small box. It was wrapped with pearly white decoration paper and topped neatly with a bow of the same color. Untying the bow and unwrapping the paper, Momoi was surprised to see that the box itself was a pinkish color. Uncovering its small lid, Momoi gasped in awe.

"Oh, Tetsu-kun…is this really for me?" she asked, looking up at him with hopeful eyes.

"Yes, it is. I wanted to get something special for you for White Day. I hope you like it." Though his expression was as deadpan as always, there was a certain softness to Kuroko's voice that made Momoi's heart melt.

"Tetsu-kun…I love it. It's so beautiful…" Delicately placed within the box was a small, rabbit-shaped hairpin. It didn't look cheap, either. It was elegant, like it had been purchased from one of the finest boutiques in France.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to place it in your hair," Kuroko said, waiting patiently for Momoi's approval. Once it was given, he carefully took the hairpin into one of his hands, using the other the slowly brush back Momoi's soft, peachy-pink hair. Tucking it behind her ear, Kuroko's knuckles had unintentionally brushed against Momoi's cheek. He was able to feel the warmth from her blush because of this.

After clipping the pin into her hair, Kuroko took a step backward to take a look at his handiwork. "It suits you very well, Momoi-san. How does it feel?"

Momoi carefully touched the pin with the tips of her fingers. "It feels wonderful… Oh, thank you, Tetsu-kun. I didn't…can I be honest with you for a minute?"

"Of course."

"Okay, well, I didn't really think…I didn't really think that I would get anything from anyone today. I had hopes for Dai-chan to get me something lame, like a napkin or a bottle cap or something, but he forgot about today. I mean, he promised he would buy me something this weekend if we went shopping together, but it's not really the same, you know? And now you've given me something so special…I just feel so happy…"

With tears sparkling at the corners of her eyes, Momoi extended her arms, only to wrap them around Kuroko's shoulders. "Thank you for making my White Day so special, Tetsu-kun."

"Momoi-san?"

"Yes? Oh, am I hurting you? I'll let go, I'm sorry," Momoi giggled sheepishly.

"No, that wasn't it. In fact, there is another present that I want to give you."

"Oh, Tetsu-kun, you don't have to. Really, there's nothing else that I could even ask for—"

But in the little light that that dilapidated light post had shed upon them, Kuroko held his hand up in order to silence the girl. In one slow, yet smooth movement, Kuroko had pressed a simple kiss to Momoi's cheek, only afterward saying, "Happy White Day, Momoi-san."

On cloud nine the rest of their walk, Momoi clung to Kuroko's arm like she was a part of him. Though such a thing would usually irritate him, tonight, Kuroko was somehow very tolerable of this act. After all, he had just made Momoi's White Day one that she surely would not be forgetting any time soon.

Hello there! Chappy here! (:

Happy White Day, everyone! :D

Wow, a big thanks to my friend for reminding me, or else I would have completely forgotten! And then this story wouldn't have been written, and that would have been sad. D:

Enough with my rambling, however-! I do also want to thank Esperanz for kind of giving me the push that I needed in order to write this fic. We had been talking quite a bit about the holiday, and if it weren't for those conversations, I probably wouldn't have even thought twice about writing a White Day fanfic, so thank you!

And thank you to all of you who have taken the time to read! I hope you've enjoyed! (:

- Chappy