»4 years ago«

She understood his feelings better than any other person on the planet Earth. There weren't a thing that she would disagree with regarding his opinions and stand points. In fact, there weren't many things she wouldn't understand. To the green eyed shooting guard, she was the sanest person he ever met. Her good willed nature and forever smiling face… maybe that was what made him fall in love with her back then.

She was transferred to Shūtoku in their senior year. At first he didn't have much interest in her, but his so-called best friend, Takao kept persuading him to go and talk to her, because she was a really nice girl. Midorima however, kept refusing to do so. He had no interest in girls whatsoever. That was until the day he caught a glimpse of her watching the team practice from the sidelines. Her elbows on her knees and her chin resting in the palm of her hands.

[Last Name] [Name] wasn't much of a talker. She hardly ever talked unless she had to or was asked something. She usually was by herself, unless Takao was 'chilling with her' as he liked to put it. One day after school, Midorima met [Name] outside the school when she was about to leave with her bicycle. He told her he had noticed that she observed the team quite often when they were practicing. At first, she didn't really know what to respond. After all he didn't ask anything, but merely stated a true fact, which she wasn't embarrassed off admitting.

"I like basketball," she replied slowly. "I like watching you shoot from so far, Shintarō-kun" she added with a tender smile on her lips. There was an odd pang in his chest, no… his heart. Something that he never felt before.

"Midorima is fine," he grumbled and looked away. A soft giggle left the [h/c]-nette.

"Then let's hang out together today, Midorima-kun~" cooed the girl. Maybe that was what today horoscope meant, when it said cancers would be very lucky and fortunate. Bringing his cell phone out of his pocket, he looked at the small figure dangling there; an over-painted cat like figure with a wicked grin. A light smirk appeared on his lips. This was just one of the reasons why he always carried his lucky item of the day – it simply brought him luck – just as the horoscopes said!

»Present time«

After high school, Midorima still played basketball, but on a more regular basis, to keep it up with the sport and such. The green eyed man had proposed to her since then. It would be around a year ago where he invited her out. They had dinner at a cosy restaurant, not too fancy though – he didn't like those. [Name] had contact with Takao on daily basis, which seemed to be one of the few things that annoyed the green haired man to the bone. He didn't like how this cheerful pal flirted with his girlfriend.

[X]

"What's bothering you, darling?" [Name] asked carefully when she watched her fiancé shoot the ball flawlessly in the basket from the middle. Over the time, he only showed his affection to her in private. He disliked people commenting on them dating and prodding about how he got over himself and got a girl and all the crap. He loathed this bundle of 'friends'.

"It's nothing," he replied short. [E/C] eyes narrowed a bit with his reply. She knew he didn't like to be labelled 'upset' or 'uptight' in any way, but she could see there was something that nagged his mind although the ball hit the basket countless of times. Exhaling he pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose before he turned to her.

"Let's go home," he told her. The smaller female hadn't gotten taller over the years. No, she hadn't changed appearance at all. Her long [h/c] hair and [e/c] eyes and her height were all still the same. Sometimes some of her girlfriends stated they felt his presence very intimidating. Watching his pack his bag and tug on his jacket, her head tilted slight to the side. It was true that he was much taller than the most guys around, but she never really thought about it. [Name] didn't go for the looks; she went for the purity that was hidden in his tsundere heart. She found his whole tsundere personality charming.

The green-nette basketball player carefully held her in his arms as the kiss they shared grew more passionate and lustful. Though he never imagined her cheating on him, he couldn't help but feel some kind of uneasy whenever she was around Takao. It made him want to be even closer to her. Though he never admitted it, he felt saw the blacknette as a rival to [Name]'s love.

Nor daring to wait any longer, he proposed to her that night. Tear-filled [e/c] orbs gazed into his dark green ones. There was no way that she could not say 'yes' to him. He was her whole life. He captured her lips in an even more passionate kiss. His tongue nudged her lips apart and deepened the kiss. A quiet, muffled moan escaped her throat.

»10 weeks later«

Shaky hands clenched the toilet's edges as she yet again hurled her breakfast into the bowl. It had become a habit for her lately. She wasn't able to keep anything in her stomach for more than 3 hours before it would forcefully make its' way up again. Tired [e/c] eyes slipped closed as she supported herself on the porcelain sink, splashing water in her face. All the vomiting was taking a toll on [Name] now. Midorima must have felt it as well, as he happened to be off from work one day, where he truly experienced how ill she felt.

"[Name], you aren't pregnant, are you?" he asked firmly. Though the female was comfortable with her fiancé around, there was something in his tone of voice that she did not like. She didn't like when he started to sound too determined and firm. It always indicated that something annoyed him greatly and he was about to snap.

"I don't think so, love! Really! I think it must be the flu that must be flourishing a lot lately," she shrugged off the thought. She wouldn't want to be pregnant. She didn't have time for that. THEY didn't have time for that. They just barely got out of college and got a job. What could possibly be more unfortunate than pregnancy right now? Narrowing his eyes on the [h/c] haired female for a moment, the greenette sighed out before he went to get his work-case. Being a doctor had more advantages than it appeared, and he wasn't going to let her be ill if there was something he could do about it.

"'Rima~ I'm fine! Promise!" she whined as he escorted her to the bedroom, telling her to lie down. He visibly rolled his eyes as he fought an annoyed look off his features. Sometimes he hated when she gave him nicknames, but over the years he had somehow learnt to live with it. The greenette didn't buy it though, as he examined her. His silence took a toll on the young woman. She didn't like it when he went quiet like that.

"I'm healthy, right?" [Name] spoke, breaking the silence.

"Yes, and no," he stated dryly. Standing up straight he pushed his glasses back on the bridge of his nose.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked worried. A sigh escaped the ex basketball player.

"I didn't get my doctor degree for nothing, so don't try to hide something from me again. You're pregnant, and I will assume in eighth week…" he trailed off, excusing himself; leaving a rather shocked [Name] on the bed. His words felt like a knife in her heart. Did he just say he didn't want to love her anymore because of a possible pregnancy? She didn't even know she was! Feeling tears swell up in her eyes she shut them tight. She wasn't upset! She wasn't unhappy! She wasn't happy! No, she was upset more than anything!

"What?" Midorima's deep leaf-green irises scanned her face as she buried her face in her hands, and slowly sunk onto the bedroom-floor; sobbing. Pushing his glasses on the bridge of his nose, the former far-distance shooter star knelt on the floor next to his fiancé slight trembling form.

"If you keep it, it will be born approximately around July 15 next year" he told her silently. Though [Name] might seem soft as a lamb on the outside, just as ferociously she could be when something upset her. A side of her he praised himself happy for only have seen one time. Besides, it wouldn't be bad to keep the baby, would it? Plus, having his first born, born into the cancer's zodiac would only make him happy. It was good fortune he believed.

"I can't… we can't keep it," the small [h/c]nette whimpered and cried, wrapping both her arms around her waist, hugging herself.

»6 months later«

[Name] had had a hard time convincing herself that keeping the baby was the right thing to do. Most of all she would have wanted an abortion, and she knew Midorima could have taken care of that for her. But in the end she also knew that abortion was kind of the same as killing another living human being, and there was no way that her green haired husband-to-be would be able to do such thing; especially not to his own blood - his kid that grew inside her belly the very moment.

She had been doing laundry for the most of the day. Once in a while she will catch herself in fiddling with the tiny baby socks a time too many. Every now and then she even felt the small living human inside her tummy kicked.

Suddenly, water pooled down between her legs and down the floor as a scream of agony echoed in the entire house. Green eyes jolted from the daily news paper's horoscope section. For a second he was sure he heard [Name] scream - then there was silence. There was nothing then. Maybe she just saw a spider. Another deafening scream sounded. This time it was for real.

"[Name]! What are you-"

"It hurts! Rima! It hurts so much! The baby, I don't know if it's coming now!" she screamed. Somehow, the labouring woman had managed to get herself pushed up against the washing-machine. Midorima's eyes narrowed. She wasn't supposed to give birth before in a month! This was bad omen, very bad!

"We need to get you to the hospital," he said calmly, taking her arm to help her up.

"I can't get up! You're the doctor here ain't you? DO SOMETHING! IT'S KILLING ME!" [Name] screamed. A cold shiver ran down his spine. Sure he had seen a woman give birth before, but none of them had ever affected him, but seeing the love of his life be in such pain almost made him unable to breathe.

"MIDORIMA!" snapping out of his thoughts he grabbed some of the towels the young female had just folded up, stuffing them under her as he carefully instructed her. He knew he wasn't the one in pain, but at some point it just hurt him so much to experience her in so much pain. For the very first time ever, he was completely unable to do anything for her.

[X]

Tired and exhausted, [e/c] coloured spheres drifted to the cradle next to the bed. How she managed to get to the bedroom was beyond her knowledge. All she remembered was pain, pain and a lot more of it.

"You should be sleeping," Midorima's deep yet calm voice spoke as he entered the bedroom with a tray. Putting it on the nightstand next to the bed, he sat on the edge and kissed the worn-out woman on the forehead.

"I can't sleep," she muttered quietly. She was beyond tired, but she couldn't take the eyes of the little human who slept so soundlessly over there. A smile graced her features. The new father followed her gaze and let out a low chuckle. He was proud as the pope that his firstborn was a boy. All the things he would teach him about basketball.