A/N: At last, Touou's story is here! After popular demand, I decided to post their story first. Next will definitely be KiriDaii's stoy. Anyway, I'm sorry if I offended anyone with the little Canadian thing down there. I meant no harm in it as it was just a stereotypical description thing. If anyone is really offended by it, I'll change it. Well, I hope you like the first chapter in this. Please do tell me what you all think! Love you guys! (Also, do you guys have any idea how hard it is to find a potrait picture of Touou together. Like damn why is so difficult. This would explain why the cover photo is on it's side. I just gave up and found a decent landscape photo and flipped it, lol.)

Sakurai decided to stop being so damn Canadian. It ended with him becoming even more Canadian than moose and maple syrup.


i. Sakurai's apologetic nature


Sakurai was an odd person. He apologized for everything, even for things that he had no control over like Aomine's constant skipping of practice. It never mattered how many times he said sorry because it was never his fault. But he wouldn't have it. In his mind everything was his fault.

Even Imayoshi, who delighted in outsmarting and manipulating others, found it annoying and and slightly unnerving when the first year would start his endless stream of I'm sorry's.

Every time he bumped into someone or every time he made a three pointer against his opponent, his teammates would know to start plugging their ears because the apologies would soon begin. It had become so unbearable that Wakamatsu started to wear earplugs while practicing sometimes. Imayoshi, who didn't tolerate any distractions while on the court, was tempted to ask the second year to get him a pair of his own.

It was like an unspoken rule or something that every time Sakurai did anything at all, he would without a doubt be sorry for it.

Oh? He didn't bring extra food? "I'm sorry!"

He forgot to pickup the basketballs even though it was actually Aomine's day to do so? "I'm sorry!"

He was born? "I'm sorry!"

People, namely Aomine, started to take advantage of Sakurai's overly apologetic nature. Aomine would let Sakurai take the blame for everything. If Sakurai took the responsibility then he wouldn't be punished for it, and he knew that Imayoshi wouldn't be so cruel as to punish Sakurai when they all knew it wasn't his doing. It got so bad that Touou's coach had to step in and tell Aomine to stop using Sakurai for his own benefit.

But no longer would Sakurai Ryou be that pushover. No longer would he be the apologetic mushroom. No longer would he keep saying sorry.

At least, that's what he told himself.

So when Sakurai arrived ten minutes late to the next practice, his teammates had already plugged their ears in anticipation of the onslaught of apologies that were sure to come.

But they never did.

He walked up to Imayoshi and apologized once and only once, something that shocked the others. He did bow to his teammates, but other than that, there wasn't a single word even resembling some sort of apology that had come out of his mouth. Sakurai did look slightly troubled as he did that, but everyone had just brushed it off as him being scared of Imayoshi. They didn't care about why he was looking more nervous than normal. They only cared as to why the hell Sakurai hadn't immediately started to apologize the moment he walked into the gym.

Although everyone did have to admit that it was refreshing not to be bombarded with apologies. Actually, maybe Sakurai not apologizing was a good sign that he was growing out of that annoying phase. No one even cared anymore that their precious mushroom was no longer apologetic. If he didn't want to be an irritating nuisance anymore, then good for him!

Except it wasn't good for him, or anyone for that matter. It had been a few days since the first incident and Sakurai was apologizing less and less. The Touou team started to get worried.

While Sakurai was no longer shouting out sorry for everything, he did seem more nervous and anxious. He jumped every time someone tried to talk to him and would immediately make an excuse to leave.

Not to mention the fact that without Sakurai's constant apologies, the atmosphere within the Touou team became weird. Too often was it eerily quiet during practice. Usually, the team would use Sakurai's apologies as an excuse to say something, to tell him to stop or to yell at Aomine as it was usually his fault. After that the conversations between each member would flow naturally. But without something to jump start their conversations, Touou Gakuen no longer knew what to say to each other.

It was strange how one little thing messed up Touou's flow so much. It had pretty much become a given that Sakurai would always be saying sorry and that his teammates would always be telling him to stop. But now that Sakurai actually did stop, the Touou members hadn't a clue what to do.

"I think we broke Sakurai," Wakamatsu said after Sakurai had not only bumped into him, but he hadn't even apologized. Not even once! "Something's seriously wrong." He looked after the first year shooting guard who had already scurried away.

"For once he says something smart," Aomine commented. He lazily stood up from the bench he was resting on, all the while ignoring Wakamatsu's question of what the hell that was supposed to mean. "I can't even push him around anymore!"

Momoi looked at Aomine with an irritated look. "Dai-chan, you need to stop taking advantage of Sakurai!"

Aomine rolled his eyes and disregarded what his best friend said. Instead he turned to Imayoshi and asked him what he was going to do about the fact that their apologetic shooting guard was no longer apologetic.

Imayoshi looked calculating for a minute and the others wondered what in the world it was he was thinking about now. His glasses glinted dangerously in the light for a few more seconds or so before he just called Sakurai over with a wave of his hand.

Sakurai looked like he was walking to his execution. His head was down and he looked ready to mess his pants. However, he didn't say a word. It was strange to see Sakurai so quiet after Imayoshi called for him. Usually the first year would be screaming apologies the moment Imayoshi even as much so as started to utter his name.

By the time Sakurai made it over to them, Susa had also invited himself into the impromptu meeting. His presence completed the group of first stringers.

"Sakurai," Imayoshi started to say, "is something wrong?"

Sakurai fervently shook his head. If the Touou players had been paying attention to him instead of looking at each other for answers, they would've noticed that he looked ready to explode.

"Are you sure? You can tell us if something was the matter, right?" Imayoshi tried to smile reassuringly, but it was more like he just bared his teeth. The others physically recoiled at the sight. They were sure their captain meant well, but that image was something that was going to haunt them forever, never mind Sakurai.

Sakurai shook his head again. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? They had always told him that he needed to stop apologizing for such pointless things, and here he was not apologizing for pointless things. So why weren't they happy yet? Did he do something wrong? Was he going to get punished? Oh god, please don't let Imayoshi make him wash the uniforms like he made Wakamatsu do last time. Whatever he did, he was so, so-

"I'm sorry!" Sakurai shouted, interrupting Momoi mid sentence as she was asking him if the team had done something to make him upset. She stopped and looked at him in shock, as did the others. Tears welled up in his eyes as he continued to bow to his stunned teammates. The interrogation was straw that broke the camel's back. As the waterworks inside of Sakurai were turned on, his apologies came tumbling out one by one. "I'm sorry for coming late to practice! I'm sorry for bumping into Wakamatsu-senpai! I'm sorry for being such a pest to the team! I'm sorry for not saying sorry!"

Sakurai continued like this, apologizing for everything he hadn't apologized for in the past few days. The rest of the team tried to calm him down and reassure him that it really was okay; they weren't mad, they were just worried. But Sakurai was inconsolable. He was just blubbering incoherently as he sobbed onto the floor. He was a mess and they knew it was their faults.

But hey, it looked like the Touou basketball players hadn't broken Sakurai after all.

After Sakurai composed himself, he tried to apologize one final time for that display of weakness, but Imayoshi was quick to stop him lest they have a repeat of Sakurai's meltdown. With a wary smile (one that didn't look terrifying), he told the younger player, "It's okay. You can apologize all you want,or not, it's okay."

Sakurai returned to normal after that, or as normal as someone who always seemed to be sorry for being born could be.