Unrequited

Riko counted heads and made sure no one was left inside the hall. It would be a pain if someone was still inside as she was locking up. She sighed. The boys had done a good job cleaning up today after practice. Even Nigou had chipped in: although, his efforts were more adorable than helpful.

'Um, hey, Aida-san...'

Riko turned around and held her heart. 'Who the...!' she exclaimed and Furihata retreated, his hands surrendered and he was stammering; bright red and awkward. 'Oh, it's just you Furihata.' She sighed and looked vaguely embarrassed. 'You need to stop hanging out with Kuroko. It's bad enough he scares me when he wants something. Anyway, what can I help you with?'

Usually, Furihata was amongst the first out of the gym so it was strange to have him hanging back like this. Kuroko and Kagami had been a good influence on Furihata so Riko was hoping that he wanted some more training to do at home or something. Even if that's not what he was after, it's what he was going to get anyway.

'I don't know how to say this...' Furihata mumbled. 'But I'd... I'd like to know something... About a certain someone. It's alright if you can't tell me... I'll ask someone else... Go on Facebook or somethin'...'

'Oh, just spit it out.' Riko screeched.

'I want to know if you know the name of Touou's first year... shooting guard.' Furihata's voice decreased in volume as he spoke.

Furihata's knees were knocking and he was sweating bullets. His eyes shook and hands trembled. His face was bright red and Riko couldn't help but feel pity for the poor, tiny chihuha that was standing in front of her.

'Why do you need to know?' Riko asked, suspiciously. This was a highly unusual question. Her eyebrow twitched. Furihata met her eyes briefly.

He whimpered. 'I think I'm gay for him!'

Furihata's voice went squeaky and Riko couldn't believe her ears. She blinked and even pinched herself. There was a lot of things a coach would do for their charges but was helping Furihata through his apparent sexuality crisis one of them.

Thoughts of a certain manager with pink hair crept into her line of thought, Riko sighed and she had to admit, she could relate to the gay panic that Furihata was clearly wallowing in. 'You realise that I may not be the best person to talk about this with...? Kuroko is still friends with Aomine and Momoi so you could have gone to him.'

'But would you want to go to him for lessons on sexuality?' Furihata asked pointedly.

Riko paused, pursed her lips. 'You have a point.' she admitted. Everyone could see the sexual tension between Kuroko and Kagami. Everyone but themselves which probably means that they're defiantly Heterosexual or they are just that far into the closet. However, Koga had poised a very interesting theory about that which stated the opposite is true: they're actually not so secretly sleeping with each other and that's how their resolved sexual tension manifests.

'His name is Sakurai Ryou. Now get a move on or else I will force you to do extra laps.' Riko replied.

'Thanks!' Furihata chirped and he dashed off.

Riko smiled nostalgically. She'd never felt more maternal than right now. She officially felt like the fairy squad mother of this motley crew of basketball loving dorks. It was fantastic.

Today had been an interesting day for Momoi. There had been unexpected tests during class and she found a hole in her shoes and Aomine had been uncooperative, again although that's not unusual, but to top it all off she had gotten a very unusual request from her shooting guard. He wasn't normally the type to come to her with non-basketball or school related tasks but today had been interesting indeed.

Momoi had been trying to share her honey lemons but nobody was taking them and were instead raiding Sakurai's locker for any of his treats. No one had even noticed that Sakurai wasn't even helping them in their quest for sweet treats. Instead, he was sitting dejectedly next to Momoi.

'Excuse me, may I take one?' Sakurai asked and Momoi grinned.

'Of course!' she chirped and he reluctantly took a lemon from the tray. He swiped some of the honey off it and licked his fingers. 'Do you like it?' Momoi asked expectantly, eyes glittering with misplaced pride.

'Yeah... It's good.' Sakurai lied. 'Hey, can I talk to you later... privately?'

'Oh yeah, sure... When's good for you? We can sneak out now if you like if it's quick.' Momoi suggested.

'Okay.' Sakurai replied.

Whilst the other members of the basketball club were clustered inside the change rooms, Momoi and Sakurai were out in the cold. Momoi smiled soothingly. 'So, what can I help you with?' she asked.

'Um, I... am having some personal issues.' Sakurai replied sheepishly.

'Oh...' Momoi mumbled. 'Are you sure you don't want to consult someone else about it? Like the school councillor or even Harasawa-sensei...?'

'I'm too embarrassed to go to the school councillor but I guess that's just context stuff. I just have this really weird question but do, um... do you know the name of the Seirin point guard?' Sakurai asked.

His words were soft and jumbled yet there was an honest desperation in his voice. His fists were tightly clenched and he couldn't look Momoi in the eyes. She smiled softly and pulled him in for a hug suddenly. 'Aw, you're such a cutie pie.' she cooed and she squished the boy in her arms. 'I understand completely.'

'You do?' Sakurai murmured surprised as he tried to free himself from Momoi's affectionate if constrictor-like grip. Momoi let him go after a while.

'Yep. Well, his name is Furihata Kouki and if you like, I can track down some, um, material for your viewing pleasure centring him and his best angles if need be.' Momoi said with a chipper smile and a strangely icy tone of voice.

'That won't be necessary...' Sakurai replied hesitantly.

Momoi pouted. 'Please, it would be my pleasure.' she insisted.

'Again, I'm right. I think I'll just approach him over Facebook or something.' Sakurai replied.

'Well, if you ever change your mind you know where to find me.' Momoi said. She spoke like a drug dealer more so than a Cold War era spy.

Momoi paused. 'You and Dai-chan are good friends too... Why didn't you just ask him to find out Sakurai-kun's number through Tetsu-kun?' she asked.

'Well, um, I don't think Aomine's advice would be very useful to me.' Sakurai replied diplomatically.

'Nonsense. He's surprisingly great with that sort of stuff, well I mean he learned from me so that shouldn't actually be all that surprising.' Momoi mused with a devilish smile.

'Really?' Sakurai replied.

Momoi didn't reply verbally, just with a wink but that spoke volumes in itself.

'I believe you.' Sakurai said. 'But thanks anyway, I feel a little better now.'

'Good luck, I hope it works out for you but if you need advice, I'm always ready to chat. And I'll keep it a secret, if you like.' Momoi offered.

'That would be good, thanks.' Sakurai smiled.