All the thanks in the world to thenochillchronicles for helping me figure this thing out :3
At first glance
Shizuku had never been to a basketball game. Or any sports match in general. It wasn't really her thing. She was much more into traditional aesthetic: quiet rooms, delicate flower arrangements, fluid calligraphy strokes, the soft rustling of the tea ceremony, small, subtle movements (her friends at school often said she had the taste of an old lady). Her brother shared that taste for simplicity. Which was why she never understood what had attracted him to basketball. Sports were the complete opposite of what she liked: always loud, quick, unpredictable and messy.
Today was supposed to be an important game, although she didn't quite recall why. But Onii-chan had implicitly invited her to attend, and she was slightly curious about it. Everyone said Onii-chan was a prodigy, and she wanted to know why.
When she arrived at the stadium, the game had already started. She was usually very timely, but she admitted she had been dragging her feet, not really looking forward to a full hour of guys yelling and throwing balls at each other. She tried to find a good viewing spot on the bleachers and eyed an area where everyone was holding orange and white banners, the color of Onii-chan's team. Not that she cared a lot about it, but he wore it a lot and she was observant. The area was very crowded, definitely much more than the side that held banners of the other team's colors, which made her briefly consider going over there. In the end, she figured it would be reasonable to join the side of the audience that supported Onii-chan and made her way towards an empty seat next to a girl with long black hair that looked just a little older than herself. Shizuku felt self-conscious, maybe that girl was already in junior high and would make fun of her just on the basis of being younger.
The girl was very loud and enthusiastic, waving an orange banner energertically while chanting a cheer. "Show'em, Big Bro!" she yelled, pumping her fist.
Shizuku oh'd quietly. So this girl had a big brother in Onii-chan's team. She looked down at the players and wondered which of them was the cheery girl's brother. But her search was interrupted when the people around her started cheering Onii-chan's name. She hurried to locate Onii-chan and saw him shoot the ball from one side of the court to the other and making a perfect basket while the audience exploded in cheers. Her eyes widened and she tightened her fingers on the fabric of her jeans.
"One more, one more!" the crowd cheered, and in seconds, Onii-chan had the ball again and was shooting another perfect score. Shizuku's heart started beating faster, her blood pumping adrenaline all over her body.
"Onii-chan, so cool!" she heard herself squeal as she stood from her seat, her hands holding on to the railing, the tense excitement pushing her to stand on her tiptoes.
"Oh? You're Shin-chan-san's little sister? I guess I should've known from the hair."
Shizuku's excitement was immediately depleted when she turned to look at the black-haired girl sitting to her right. She felt color rising to her face, awfully embarrassed about her outburst. Mother would not find it very commendable for sure. Had she inadvertently made a fool out of Onii-chan in front of this huge audience?
"A-a-ah, uhm…" she stuttered, not knowing what to reply and feeling overwhelmed with worry.
"Ah, I mean Midorima-san! Big bro's always like 'Shin-chan this, Shin-chan that, Shin-chan everything' so I kinda caught it." The other girl giggled. "My name's Kazuha. I'm in sixth grade, nice to meet you!"
Shizuku swallowed, having trouble to keep up with the speed of the girl's speech. Still at a loss about what to do, she tapped into Mother's basic manners lessons. When someone gave you their name, it was only polite to give yours in return. "I-I'm Midorima Shizuku, fourth grade. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Kazuha giggled again. "No need to be so polite, Shizuku-chan, we're technically teammates!"
The crowd booed, which gave Shizuku an excuse to glance back at the game to see that one of the players from Onii-chan's team was on the ground and clutching his ankle.
"What the-?! That was a foul! Foul! Are these referees blind?!" Kazuha yelled angrily.
Shizuku didn't know the rules for basketball beyond the fact that the ball had to be shoved down the net, so she wouldn't dare claim whether it had or not been a foul. The crowd seemed to agree with Kazuha's assessment (although how Kazuha could have seen whether it was a foul or not when she had not been looking at the court when it happened was beyond Shizuku's knowledge), but the referee didn't, and thus the game continued after the injured player was switched out of the court.
"Which one is your brother, Kazuha-san?" she asked, following Onii-chan with her eyes as he struggled to get an opposing player off his mark.
She grinned proudly. "Number 10 over there." She pointed at the shortest member of the team, who was dribbling the ball. "He doesn't look very impressive, but he's the point guard of the team and so he comes up with all the strategies!"
Shizuku followed the shorter guy with her eyes. He moved with confidence, like he knew exactly where he was going. They were a little far from the court so it was hard to make out the players' features, but Kazuha's brother gave her a sense of familiarity.
"What did you say was your last name?" she asked, letting curiosity get the best out of her.
"It's Takao, but call me Kazuha; I'll feel weird if you don't."
Ah. Realization hit her at that, and she remembered the brief glances she'd gotten of Onii-chan's apparently only friend at school. She'd never spoken to him, but she'd seen him in passing heading towards Onii-chan's room, or saying goodbye at the entrance. Onii-chan also complained about him a lot, but Shizuku didn't feel he was as frustrated or annoyed as he wanted to seem.
There was a growing sense of anticipation among the crowd, and some guys started yelling Onii-chan's name, so Shizuku turned to look at him and saw him bending his knees, preparing to take a shot. Except the ball wasn't in his hands, it was Kazuha's brother who had it. She cocked her head. She really didn't know the slightest thing about basketball, but what Onii-chan was doing looked ridiculous no matter how you thought about it. Was he trying to fool his opponents? But who would fall for a feint when the player didn't even have the ball in hand? Before she could ask Kazuha about it, the crowd roared and Onii-chan was shooting the ball –when had it reached his hands?- and sinking it down the net.
Kazuha squealed excited. "Yesss! Did you see that, Shizuku-chan? Big Bro had told me he had this super amazing secret technique with Shin-chan-san, but this is my first time seeing it! It was super cool!"
With that information, Shizuku was able to fill in the blanks of what had happened, and she gasped, amazed. Onii-chan had never been a teamwork oriented person, so it was actually incredible to see him perform a combination play. As she considered how skillful Takao-san must be to be able to play like that with Onii-chan, she saw the two of them meet on the bench whilst the other team took a time-out. Takao-san grinned brightly at Onii-chan, and Onii-chan smiled back, his cheeks glowing a soft pink, which Shizuku had never seen before.
"Ne, Shizuku-chan, do you think they're in love?
She looked up at Kazuha and blinked rapidly, taken aback.
"E-eh? In…" she paused, confused and glanced back at Onii-chan's small smile. "Do you mean Onii-chan and-?"
"Uhm, I mean… it just kind of gives that vibe, right? When they smile at each other, it was almost like you could see flowers and bubbles and sparkles, am I wrong?"
Shizuku felt her cheeks burn. "Uhm…I wouldn't know, I mean, Onii-chan is—"
Right as she was saying this their brothers bumped fists and Takao-san flung an arm around Onii-chan's shoulders, vibrating with excitement. Shizuku's eyes widened when, instead of pushing Takao-san away, her 'no-hugs-allowed' Onii-chan rolled his eyes, still smiling nonetheless, and making no attempt to get away from the spontaneous embrace.
"Yes they are." She concluded, more to herself than to add to the conversation.
Kazuha grinned at her. She looked a lot like her brother when she did it. "Yeah, I thought so! There's just no missing that twinkle in Big Bro's eyes."
Shizuku looked back at Onii-chan and saw him still looking at Takao-san, an affectionate sparkle in his eyes. She found herself smiling too.
"It was lucky that Miyaji-senpai's injury wasn't serious, though I can't believe the referee didn't call that foul." Kazunari intoned merrily as they headed to exit the stadium. They had stayed behind a little longer than their teammates to do their usual ritual of bandaging Shin-chan's fingers. Everyone else was already so used to it they didn't even question it.
"It was certainly unusual, but in the end it was pointless, since we came out victorious, as expected." Shin-chan replied, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"True that." He agreed, taking a step slightly to the side to brush their shoulders together. Shin-chan didn't shy away.
"Big Bro, that was really cool!" his sister's voice reached him from the end of the hallway, and he took his eyes away from Shin-chan to find her beaming at him, next to a green-haired girl that was almost as tall as her. It didn't take much deduction to guess who that was.
"Oh, Kazuha! You actually came to watch! So? Were you impressed by Big Bro's amazing skills?" he greeted her, ruffling her long raven hair affectionately.
"I was actually way more impressed by Shin-chan-san, those shots were amazing!" she responded with sparkly eyes. Shin-chan flinched hearing the nickname, and Kazunari giggled, even as he feigned being hurt by Kazuha's words.
"How cruel, not even appreciating your big brother's outstanding efforts for the team." He placed his hand over his heart melodramatically, which made his sister giggle. "Although I must admit Shin-chan is always the coolest on the court. And I'm sure… Shizuku-chan, was it? Agrees with me." He turned to the little girl who was obviously Shin-chan's little sister and smiled at her too. "I don't think we've been formally introduced, my name's Takao Kazunari, I'm always in your brother's care." He said politely bowing slightly so their eyes were on the same level. She looked way too much like her brother, just shorter and with softer features.
She blushed and bowed, "I am Midorima Shizuku. Thank you for always taking care of Onii-chan and congratulations on your victory today."
Takao wanted to laugh, truly two beans in a pod. "Thank you! This is the first time you see a game isn't it? Didn't you think your Onii-chan was really amazing?"
She nodded, a smile growing on her lips, which made her look adorable. "Yes!" she agreed, looking at her big brother with sparkling eyes. "Onii-chan was incredible!" She looked genuinely excited, and Kazunari could almost hear Shin-chan blushing next to him. "But Takao-san was very cool too." She said finally, turning back to him with a more serious expression.
Kazunari almost lost his footing from the surprise, and before he could pick himself back up from that blow, Shin-chan interceded. "Absolutely. Takao, you should not make light of your importance to the team. The reason I am able to perform flashy shots is because I can count on you getting the ball to me no matter what."
Kazunari's heart skipped a beat, and he felt his face burning. He was about to open his mouth to protest, when he heard the two girls giggling, and he looked at them confused. He then glanced up to meet Shin-chan's eyes, but he found him as confused as he was.
They both turned back to look at their sisters. The girls glanced back at them, then grinned at each other as if they knew something their brothers didn't. Kazunari scratched the back of his head for a moment, but ultimately shrugged, defeated. As the four of them made towards the exit –the girls still whispering and giggling at each other-, he leaned ever the slightest to his side, barely enough to feel the back of Shin-chan's hand against his knuckles. And when he felt Shin-chan's knuckles brushing a little closer to his, his skin tingled and he smiled.
The end
Canon facts about Midorima and his sister
-She calls him "Onii-chan"
-She made a door sign for his bedroom that says "Onii-chan's bedroom" which included a cute drawing of herself and her brother = She loves him to bits
-He keeps that sign on his door = He loves her to bits
-I am obsessed with both of them and their relationship of which all we have in the entirety of the Kurobas canon is that one panel that shows the sign on his door.
I've been thinking about this for a while, about how Midorima and Takao's sisters would totally hit it off and become really good friends if they ever met, and with their brothers being so close, it's inevitable that they would (although for some reason I don't ship the girls together, I know a lot of people do). And that they would know right away that their brothers are head over heels in love. I really wanted to play with that idea a bit. I kinda feel this would work better as a comic strip, but since I have no talent for that (I'm all about stiff poses in uncreative angles!) this is what we get :D
I hope everyone enjoys this short little thing, would love to hear your thoughts. And I'll have a new Emperor chapter next week :D