"Go, man!"

Shinji Mimura jumped and the ball left his hands in a perfect arc, soaring above the opposing team and going through the basket with the perfect swish. The other team made a half-hearted attempt to make a full-court shot just as the buzzer went off, but it fell short and bounced at the half-court line. Shinji grinned and Shuuya made his way through the other players to throw an arm around Shinji's neck.

"We won!" he shouted, probably deafening Shinji but, hell, who cared. Who cared that they were both sweaty as hell and exhausted and dying of thirst – okay, no, he did want something to drink.

He made his way to the bench with Shuuya still hanging off of his neck and grabbed his water bottle from Yutaka. He downed half of it and handed it off to Shuuya, who finished it off. "You're so awesome," Shuuya said. "It kind of pisses me off sometimes, but you are."

Shinji just grinned. He didn't really feel like leaving the gym just yet, partially because he wanted to keep Shuuya's arm around him and during a shower that might get a little weird, partially because it was just so great after a win. The air was different, sort of – it tasted of victory, of his greatness, of that awesome last three-pointer. It wasn't as great as the hook shot he'd made in the first half of the game, but it had won them the game, so it would have to do.

"Let's get changed," Shuuya said.

"Yeah, you need a shower," Shinji said, shoving him a little. Shuuya kept his arm around Shinji's throat and they both stumbled sideways. "Hey-"

"C'mon," Shuuya said, letting go of Shinji and heading for the locker rooms. They passed a few other teammates on the way and Shinji high-fived them all, along with giving each and every one of them a Signature Shinji Mimura Grin. By the time he got into the locker room, it was empty apart from Shuuya.

Shuuya was pulling his jersey up over his head when Shinji decided that he was going to kiss him. It was about time, after all. There was no way it wasn't going to happen sooner or later, and it might as well happen now.

As soon as the jersey was gone and Shuuya's face was free, Shinji crossed the distance between them and kissed him. Shuuya made a noise in the back of his throat, but his hands went to Shinji's waist nonetheless. Shuuya tasted salty with sweat and it there was something almost primal about it, something animal-like and sexy and Shinji was wondering why he hadn't tried out a guy more seriously before this.

They broke away, a high color in Shuuya's face and Shinji breathing hard. Shuuya seemed to notice he was shirtless at that point and reached for his shirt, and Shinji captured his wrist. "What do you think?" he asked. "Mimura as good as they say?"

"As annoying as they say," Shuuya said, falling into their usual easy humor. Shinji scowled a little; this wasn't a time for that, this was a time for sultriness and sexiness and all of those things. Not Shuuya Nanahara cracking jokes. If he wanted to make out with someone who made jokes, he would have picked Yutaka.

"Seriously," Shinji said. "You like it?"

"I like my shirt."

"Shuuya."

Shuuya sighed and wiped his forehead. "It was fine, I guess," he said. "I mean, you're not a bad kisser. I guess you're just not my type."

With that, Shuuya breezed past him, grabbed his towel, and headed for the showers. Shinji stood there, not quite able to comprehend the situation that had just happened. Had he… had he just been rejected?

Him?

Shinji Mimura?

It didn't make sense, it didn't make any sense at all, especially not at a time like this, when emotions should be running high and everything should be good. Where Shuuya was supposed to kiss him back – (he had, he had kissed him back) – and then they were supposed to sneak around for a while, fucking behind everyone's back, and… this wasn't what was supposed to happen.

Shinji stuck his head in the showers. Shuuya didn't take notice of him.

"You kissed me back," he said, voice almost accusing. Shuuya glanced back at him.

"Yeah, I guess. Like I said, you're not a bad kisser."

"Does that mean hook-ups aren't off the table, then? 'Cause, that's what I was really going for," Shinji said. Shuuya cracked a grin and shrugged one shoulder.

"I'd say they're not totally off the table."

"Good," Shinji said. He slipped back to get undressed and grab his towel as well. For some reason, a part of him wasn't satisfied with that. It was stupid. He was Shinji Mimura, and he did not have a crush on one of his closest friends. He didn't want to date Shuuya, for Chrissake, he just wanted to hook up with him.

Right.

He just wanted a hook-up.

He'd keep telling himself that for as long as he had to until it stuck, because he was Shinji Goddam Mimura, The Third Man, and he did not get crushes.

This was written for a user on Tumblr, who wanted a Shinji/Shuuya some sort of basketball thing maybe. This is like. No-program high school Shinji convinced Shuuya to play basketball? That's what we'll call it.

Either way, here we are!