Strength
You have never fit in and you never will. By the time you've enter primary school, it is a fact of life. The world is separated with you on one side and the everyone else on the other. You don't particularly care though, there was no point in trying to change something that can't be changed.
School was unbearable. You sat by yourself, walked home alone, and you never talked to the other kids. They avoided you like the plague and even then you had your stubborn pride.
It is one simple morning in primary school when you discovered Oha Asa. You had studied all night for an upcoming exam, but at that moment you felt unusually nervous. Your mother, with the very best of intentions, hoping to relieve you of your anxiety gave you a red pencil with a bunny design.
This, she tells you, is the lucky item for Cancer today according to Oha Asa. Keep this with you today, Shintaro, and nothing will go wrong, your mother says with a smile.
You take the pencil a little uneasily because it was so girly and embarrasing. You ask your mother if she really believes in these silly superstition and she gives you a sheepish smile, but you take the pencil anyway.
That day you pass the test with shining colors, gained the respect of your classmate by scoring the winning point in the basketball game, and found your lost pencil case.
You come home excited for the first time and your mother shows you Oha Asa. You listen to it every morning, making sure to bring along your lucky item everyday no matter how strange it was.
Following Osa Asa becomes a daily ritual. The reason you grew more confident and learned how to play basketball at the urging of the program to find a sport to play. When your classmates ask you why you never miss, not one shot, you simply point to your lucky item of the day.
"Man proposes. God disposes."
In those days, Oha Asa was your guiding light. The only reason you could be strong.
Basketball was a team sport, but the way basketball was played at Teikō was the opposite of that. You don't mind because you have never been good at socializing anyways.
Most of your new teammates were annoying ,with the exception of Akashi, but you find that you spend all your time with them. Maybe they were simply players sharing a court, but they had cared for each other. At least for a year, you felt that you were not alone.
Even when Aomine, Murasakibara, and Kise stopped going to practice, you keep shooting. There is a court reserved for you now, and you practice shooting. You are stretching the limits of what was possible and exploring new frontier.
They call you a miracle, words blasting across the headlines of magazines and newspapers. They call you monster, whispered among the losing team and the people in the crowd after a match. If you can even call it a match anymore.
"Man proposes. God disposes."
Nothing more and nothing less. You dare to stretch the limits of what basketball could be and fate made sure that none of your shots missed. You are strong and that is why God chose you.
You enter Shūtoku High School despite the the various other prestigious schools clamoring for your attention.
Oha Asa chooses your school with cheerful words," Shūtoku High School is perfect for Cancers! It is traditional and will make you feel right at home! It will also be great for sporty Cancers and will teach you something that you didn't know before! Maybe you will even find your perfect someone here!"
You enroll with a guaranteed spot on the basketball team and three wishes that must be fulfilled everyday. Only the best for the best.
The first person that leaves an impact on you is an overly cheerful boy named Takao Kazunari. He stays after practice with you and talks far too much for your comfort. Your usual quiet practice is interrupted by his constant chatter.
Takao calls you by a nickname of Shin-chan and you don't know what to do because no one has ever made an effort be friendly to you before. You expect him to be there for only a few days, trying cash in on your popularity in the basketball circle but he meets you after school every day. He practices hard and is the only other first-year to make it onto the starting team.
Takao caters to your every selfish whim, despite his incessant grumbling, and is forced to cart you everywhere but he still remains your "friend". In the first official basketball games, Takao is the point guard and it is his job to send you the ball.
It was different from the games from Teiko, a battle royale for points with the opposing team all but forgotten. You are the ace, tasked with scoring the most points, but your senpai are not slacking off either.
You have improved and Shūtoku is strong, so why did you lose to Seirin? Kagami was no where near Aomine's level even if Kuroko was overexerting himself to win by a bare few points.
That match haunts your dreams for days after as you go through every play and move. What could've been different?
Your world is crumbling and you wonder if you could ever return to your former strength.
-o-
"I will lure them to me and then pass."
You swallow your pride and look at your teammates' shocked expression. Takao is laughing, "Oh ace-sama! Finally you are passing to us, are you?"
"I will do anything for victory."
You feel slightly smug at Seirin's shock. As if you were weak enough to believe that you were too strong to improve. Takao is always there right behind you and for the first time in a while you depend on your teammate. Takao does not disappoint.
The game ends in a tie, but you hide a smile during the match. Is this truth, depending on your teammate, making you stronger?
-o-
Takao passes to you and you shoot. A perfect arc right into the basket and Akashi's pressure seem to lessen. You are throwing away fate because right now you are putting your faith in Takao. Believing that he will make sure that the ball gets in your hands in the perfect position to shoot.
You lose and you feel the tears streaming down your cheeks. You don't bother to hide it this time and neither does Takao. Loss makes you stronger, giving you a thirst for victory.
Takao cries on your shoulder and you do not push him away. You share the pain, and you will gain victory together.
-o-
"Hey, Shin-chan."
"What do you want, Takao?"
"Why do you follow Oha Asa all the time?"
"By following Oha Asa, none of my shots will ever miss. I do all I can humanly possible and let fate take care of the rest."
"Well Shin-chan, I'm going to be your Oha Asa."
"What do you mean, idiot?"
"Well if you believe that Oha Asa is the reason that your shots make it then I'll make you believe in me then. I'll make sure that your shots make it."
"Don't be so stupid, Takao."
"Oh, Shin-chan you big tsundere. You are blushing so hard. I'm serious you know."
"Just shut up already, Takao."
-o-
You don't remember when you stop following Oha Asa obsessively. It just doesn't seem important anymore to you, its is no longer the reason for your confidence and strength.
Takao smiles at you every morning with a cheerful, "Good morning, Shin-chan," and it is what you want to hear everyday instead of Oha Asa's predictions. Instead of carrying a strange item to every basketball game, you choose to believe in Takao's passes.
You wonder when Takao has become your guiding light towards the future, but you don't look back.
You don't need too when Takao is right here walking with you.
So my first technically romance fic and it has barely any romance. I am a terrible failure. I should just stick to angsty and dramatic stuff. Still love MidoTaka though.
-SWP