A/N: Damn after watching Ro-Kyu-Bu! again I couldn't help but make a fic about it. =( I ship Natsuhi and Hinata so much, they're so underrated! x(
Emotions.
The scorching sun remained hindered behind the damp clouds that were now pregnant with heavy precipitation. Despite the inclement weather, the girls had insisted on another round of basketball outside in the court. And of course, completely feeble to their begging, Subaru gave in. It was just one more match anyway.
Aoi observed the teams beside him along with Natsuhi. The six-graders — Tomoka, Maho, Saki, Airi and Hinata — versus the fifth-graders — Mimi, Masami, Tsubaki & Hiiragi, and Kagetsu. The girls stood in a kind of pouncing stance in their formations, primed to snatch the ball at any second of the match if they needed to. Even after losing the match against the Suzuridani girls basketball team, these girls were still as determined as ever to improve and one day beat them again.
They were in their usual positions; Tomoka as the ace, Maho as the power forward, Saki as the shooting guard, Airi as the center and Hinata as the point guard. On the opposition was Mimi as the ace, Tsubaki as the power forward, Masami as the shooting guard, Kagetsu as the center and Hiiragi as the point guard. And, of course, Subaru as the coach and Aoi as the assistant coach.
Blowing the whistle was Subaru, in between the teams' tallest players — Airi and Kagetsu. Both girls tempted and prepared to rip the ball from each other's grasp. All it took was one blow from the whistle...
Airi and Kagetsu propelled into the air using their legs. Speedy as she was, Kagetsu wasn't quick enough to seize the ball from her opponent — Airi had passed the ball to Saki before instantly charging to her spot to guard the hoop.
In a flash, Hinata had now stolen the ball, and was heading straight to the hoop.
"Tsubaki! Hiiragi!" Masami called, using her hands to cup her mouth in order for them to hear her. "Block Number eight!"
In response to their team mate's demand, the twins bolted towards the petite, pink-haired point guard. Both of them blocking her with wry smirks on their face. Reacting to their block, Hinata only dashed beneath their arms, passing the ball to Maho — who rapidly sped past both Masami and Mimi, both of which had only just arrived to support Tsubaki and Hiiragi in the blocking of #8.
"You girls are too slow!" Maho provoked, a massive grin upon her face as she leaped up to shoot through the hoop, past a horrified Kagetsu. The score changed to 1 - 0.
She landed on her hands and feet in a kneeling position, turning back to glance at the fifth-graders' expressions. To her surprise, the fifth-graders were off with the ball again. Mimi, now dribbling the ball, headed towards the other side of the court. With Saki blocking her, she was still too far to score.
Her eyes scanned the court for some source of help. Finally. Her pale eyes landed on the lilac-haired Masami, who held her hands up as a sign of help.
"Mimi! Pass to me!" Masami yelled, before catching the ball. Just as she was about to leap, a rather resolute Hinata pounced too aiming for the ball.
Unfortunately, she had been too close to Masami and in an instant the girls had fallen on the ground. The ball had missed, rolling into the direction of Tomoka — who then grabbed it. But the ball seemed to be the least of her concerns. Tomoka rushed to Masami, who was being helped up by Saki and Aoi, and towards Hinata, who seemed to be injured and under the care of Kagetsu, Subaru and surprisingly Natsuhi.
"I'm sorry, Hinata..." Masami apologised in dejection once she had dusted her legs and was peering over at the injured point guard.
Hinata, as kind as she was, smiled but was clearly in some sort of agony. "Oh~ Hinata is okay. Don't worry about me," she said softly, wincing slightly.
Kagetsu continued to fawn over her. "No, you're not." Hinata's younger sister frowned, inspecting her bruised knee. "You need to rest for a little."
Hinata furrowed her eyebrows. "No, I can play."
"Natsuhi, will you please escort Hinata to the infirmary?" Aoi requested, her words triggering a very strong blush from the boy. Everyone knew he had a crush on Hinata, though they didn't say anything.
Natsuhi nodded reluctantly, helping the point guard up, her arm over his shoulder. Her leg was still quite bruised, so she seemed to be relying on her left leg for a while. They headed towards the direction of the infirmary, leaving the others to watch them in awe.
"The game isn't over..." came the voice of Mimi, who stood beside Tomoka. "Who will be Hinata's sub?"
A look of perplexity came across everyone's faces.
Subaru wore a thoughtful look, his hand under his chin. "It wouldn't be fair if one of us played." he said, making eye-contact with Aoi, who looked back at him. "But...who else will play?"
"Will I be good enough?"
Everyone's eyes locked on the newcomer that had joined them. She wore a light red bow atop of her high, but long, pony tail. They all recognised her as one of the players of the Suzuridani girls basketball club — that had beat them all in the previous tournament.
"Miyu!" Tomoka shouted excitedly, rushing up to her with all the others. "What are you doing here?"
"Since we have no training today, and I was willing to see you guys again after the tournament, I decided to come here," Miyu said with a gentle simper. "I saw that your point guard had taken a fall and wondered if I could play as a sub for her."
"You couldn't be any more on time!" yelled Maho ecstatically. "We'd be happy to have you in the game...right, Subaru?" She had almost forgotten the decision was up to the coach.
Subaru breathed in, gazing at the girls — who wore pleading expressions — one last time before deciding. He breathed out. "Why not?"
The girls cheered happily, embracing Miyu as she struggled in all of their grasps.
"Oh~ Natsuhi?"
"Hm?" Despite his cool posture, Natsuhi was totally unnerved on the inside. He had been asked to take his crush — somehow the most tiniest, cutest, prettiest and kawaiiest girl in the world, to the infirmary. Not to mention, he was completely worried about her leg. Natsuhi glanced down at it. "What is it? Does your leg hurt?"
Hinata noted his gentle blush. "It aches," she admitted, spilling more anxiety over him. "But Hinata is fine. I wanted to know..."
They stopped for a while, Natsuhi struggling to look at her in the eye.
"Even after all this practice and this tournament...Hinata feels like she's still bad at basketball. Do you think it's true?"
Natsuhi reeled back in shock, stung by several emotions. Totally dejected by the fact that his crush felt this way, but totally stunned and opposed to her opinion. Mindlessly, he grabbed her shoulders, gazing into her purple eyes and still very much blushing. "No way, Hinata! I think you're really amazing at basketball, and that's not all!"
He immediately muzzled himself with his arms after realising his outburst. "I mean...GAAH!"
Hinata was staring at him the whole time with a slightly tired expression. But then she smiled. "Oh!~ Hinata is happy!" she beamed. "But...What do you mean by that?"
Natsuhi fidgeted with his feet, pulling them backwards with force and drawing mud from the grass. He didn't say anything.
"You think...Hinata is amazing?"
He sat down on the grass, facing away from her. Every time he was with Hinata, was the time he had felt completely weak in his life. Just seeing her made his heart beat at unhealthy, speedy tempos — they caused him to foul in games, something that he rarely did. Just like at the match they had when they had to fight for the life of their club. Hinata had caused him to freeze in time and be kidnapped by several emotions.
Only now she had figured it out — oblivious, she was oblivious. But perhaps now was the time to confess. There was nobody around, it was just them too. The scenery was beautiful too...even if it was about to rain. Maybe she'd end up being his girlfriend. He didn't care if their relationship was a secret, as long as they were together.
Hinata stared at him again, pondering on what was taking him so long to reply.
"Yes."
Her eyes widened. He faced her.
"I think you're amazing Hinata, you've really improved! And you're an awesome girl too."
Now it was her turn to blush. She placed a hand over her mouth, to hide her smile. "Oh~ N-Na...Natsuhi is awesome too."
Natsuhi had the urge to jump and cry out in joy. But he couldn't whilst she was here. He offered his hand to help her up, remembering that they had to head to the infirmary. As she took his hand, she noticed he had something else to add to his sentence. "S-So...It'd be awesome if you c-could...uhh...be mine- my girlfriend..."
He closed his eyes. He knew that rejection was bound to head his way.
"Oh!~ Hina would like that!" She tackled him to the ground, falling into him. He looked paralysed for a minute, but quickly recovered, laughing. They hugged each other on the grass.