Midorima was utterly confused. His head had automatically turned to see Takao leave the dressing room. He expected Takao to be right back, and waited for the sound of indoor shoes turning around and getting nearer, but no one came. He stared at his feet for a while, thinking. He couldn't quite grasp what Takao meant. Or rather, why Takao had seemed so upset.
Should he not have accepted the water? Maybe that was the point. He nodded to himself. It would have been something like that, probably. Still it was pretty over the top for Takao to act like that. Usually he didn't care much, he never complained even when Midorima called him an idiot ten times a day.
Absentmindedly, Midorima put his things away, paying extra care to fold them neatly. He took so much time because he couldn't place what had just happened, and he wasn't sure if it were better if he did or didn't see Takao before going home. He couldn't even be certain that the other boy was still at school.
Something told him that he should say something, at least, but another part of him told him to let it be. He had done nothing wrong, but he felt guilt nagging, tugging on his nerves. It made him uneasy and tense. Taking his stuff, he walked out, passing by some team mates who greeted him, but he didn't hear it.
Of course Takao was nowhere to be seen. As Midorima exited the school grounds through the front gate, he took out his phone. No text messages either. Should he send something? But what? He was aware that something was wrong but he wasn't sure...
'I offered cause I see you as my friend...' That's what Takao had said. But he knew that already, right? Even Takao himself had denied it once before, but later contradicted that same statement. Midorima stared at his phone, until the screen went black again.
"Friends." He mouthed the word. It sounded weird in his head, but even more alien if he tried to say it. Why was that? He accessed the internet and typed 'friend' in the search bar. The results yielded quite obvious answers. 'A person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard,' he read quietly.
Well, sure. But in that case, if Takao thought of him as a friend, it was all fine, wasn't it? He scrolled down further, and came across the words 'friendship' and 'mutual affection'. He had started walking slowly, but stopped now. Mutual affection?
He stared at the screen, as it dawned upon him what had bothered Takao so much. Takao had declared himself a friend of Midorima, but he had completely pushed him away by not even accepting this as true. But was it true? When could you say a person is your friend?
The green-haired shooter put his phone away and looked up at the sky before he started walking home again. All the way home, he tried to figure out how to know if someone was a friend. He found it hard to put his finger on it, so he thought of how their classmates acted towards each other, or how it had been in middle school. Still, when did someone really qualify as a friend, more than a classmate to hang out with? And slowly he realised... it wasn't about what they did, or didn't do. It was about how you saw the other, nothing more, nothing less.
By the time Takao was home he felt bad leaving so suddenly, yet he didn't want to take back what he had said. But he couldn't help worrying about it. Would Midorima have thought nothing of it? Or would he have been shocked? What if he was angry? What if, in case Midorima really did not see Takao as a friend, he wouldn't want him to hang around anymore?
His shoulders slumped. That would be terrible. If that happened, Takao might as well quit basketball. If Midorima ignored him, he wouldn't be able to stand it. He let his bag fall on the bed, and sat down next to it. He pulled the zipper and took out the bottle they'd shared before.
"Shin-chan..." He squinted and looked at the bottle up close. An ordinary bottle. Now that it was empty, it was nothing more than trash. Still, this stupid thing was so closely linked to the one person who'd made Takao feel awfully joyful at first, and then angered him a lot.
"Why are you so distant," Takao whispered. Guys in high school were supposed to have friends, and do friend-stuff together! Like in a manga, where they go to an arcade after school, eat fast food, hang out near a convenience store or in a park, where they have youthful adventures during the summer holidays...
Of course real life was never that ideal, Takao knew that well enough. But still he might want to get closer... and he had someone who he'd want to be there during those moments, someone he liked to be a part of his high school life. Someone who mattered a lot to him.
He sighed. He got called down for dinner, but his food tasted rather bland. Soon after he returned to his room, turned on some music and tried to make homework, but he was more often singing along or thinking about Midorima than actually solving problems.
As he checked the time on his phone, he noticed he had gotten a text. Seeing the sender, he gasped and opened the message. His heart rate had gone up instantly from excitement, and he almost stopped breathing.
Takao. I've made a mistake this afternoon.
Forgive me. All things considered,
I have concluded that you are, in fact,
my friend. See you tomorrow at school.
It was so terribly stiff! He would've laughed if he could, but his throat was dry and he was just wordlessly staring at his phone. Even when the words disappeared from the screen, they rang on in his head. In his own stoic, clumsy way, Midorima had admitted that they were friends.
That was enough for now. Everything was okay. He didn't need to worry anymore. Takao blinked, then grinned. Then he laughed out loud, and read the text again.
"You blockhead," he said soflty, as he typed a reply.
The next morning, Midorima met Takao on the way to school. The black haired boy had shouted out to him from meters away, so he reluctantly waited until he caught up.
"Goodmorning, Shin-chan!" he greeted happily. Midorima returned the greeting, as casually as he could. He'd liked to avoid more misunderstandings like the day before.
Either way, everything seemed okay now, something that had also become clear in Takao's text message reply. At least Midorima could be at ease for now, so he felt quite relieved. He didn't even care that Takao was chatting away about the most random things.
"Hey, did you bring your lucky item?" Takao asked.
"Of course." Midorima lifted the plastic bag he was carrying. Inside it was a small basil plant in a pot.
"Oha Asa's been choosing weird times again, I see."
"I brought yours too," Midorima added. He'd noticed that scorpio's rank was very low, so while he was at it he'd just bought a lucky item for Takao as well.
"Ehh?" Takao objected, but he looked rather happy at the same time. Midorima took it out of his bag and handed it to his friend.
"Eh... a bag of peanuts?" The black-haired boy accepted it and stared at it for a moment.
"Ah... thanks. Can I eat them?" What kind of silly question was that even, Midorima thought.
"Of course not, Takao. Oha Asa said 'a bag of peanuts', so you'd better not touch them until tomorrow."
"Sheesh, so strict!" He pouted a little, but even so stuffed the peanuts inside his schoolbag. Midorima sighed. This was why he wouldn't even comment on Takao's text messages anymore. Whatever he said, he didn't think the other would agree.
The rest of the day went by without any special events. Class was class, Takao was Takao and it was, in a way, good like that. Neither of them mentioned the event anymore. Still, Midorima felt a little bit different towards Takao. It could be said that he was more aware of him, and he'd noticed that he should be a bit more cautious.
After all, if they're friends, he should treat the other as one. Even if he wasn't really sure what difference it made exaclty. But he figured he'd find out along the way.
Being more aware also resulted in Midorima paying a bit more attention to what Takao was talking about, and sometimes he made an effort to throw in a word or two. It didn't slow the other down, though, it only made him more enthusiast.
For the first time, or so it seemed, he also noticed that Takao's hair was getting a bit long. That was at the end of the day, before going home.
"Takao, isn't your hair gonna get in the way for pactice?" Midorima commented. The other replied with an "Oh?" and tentatively measured the length of his bangs with his hands.
"Hmm, well if you think so I'll consider cutting it," he finally answered, and smiled. It took him a second to actually grasp the difference, but this was a smile instead of a grin.
"That might be good," Midorima said, not knowing what else to add.
At the crossroads where they parted ways they said goodbye. Somehow though, Midorima couldn't forget about that last smile. It had been just a meaningless smile, but maybe the fact that it was meaningless made it honest. No plans, not a single hint of malice, just a smile.
Midorima changed when he got home, ate dinner and headed out for piano lessons. Ever since he'd started playing basketball in junior high, he'd spend a lot less time on music, but he still tried to take one or two lessons a week.
Mainly because his mother wanted him to, she'd always been more in favour of the more 'intellectual' hobbies over sports and the like. Not that he disliked playing the piano, otherwise he'd have stopped in junior high, but sometimes it felt as if he was just acting according to people's expectations of him. He shrugged. It was probably partly his own fault either way.
Takao had forgotten to give the nuts back when they had parted after school. The bag was now sitting on his desk, inside his room. The black-haired boy was trying to do homework, but soon got sick of it. He pushed himself away from his desk threw his pencil on his books and looked at the bag.
Lucky item? He wondered what difference it made. It had been a regular day... if that was the effect of lucky items, he wasn't very interested in dragging something along every day.
"Might as well eat them," he whispered to no one in particular.
He read some manga while munching on nuts.
Shin-chan is at his piano classes right now. I've never actually heard him play.
This manga is pretty good.
Shin-chan never reads manga, or at least not that I know.
There's even a glasses guy character in it. Shin-chan had some of those typical traits too.
All the while, his thoughts were sweeping back and forth between what he was reading and Midorima. Finally he had stuffed himself with nuts by eating almost half of the bag, and he had gotten thirsty.
In the fridge he found a can of red bean soup. He took it out, wondering if he should take it to school tomorrow. As compensation for the bag of nuts. Wait a minute, he thought. What was he thinking? That would be so unlike him that it'd creep Midorima out. So he put it back. Not yet. His heart was beating a little bit faster already at the thought, of giving something and hoping for a smile... but that wouldn't happen. Midorima would indeed just see it as paying off a debt and that would be it.
Drinking water, he still wondered. Should he? Should he not? Even when he went to bed he hadn't really decided. But when he woke up, he'd forgotten about it. Until he was on his way, and realised he had left the red bean soup at home.
He guessed he might as well need a lucky item today.
The next day, Midorima got up early since he wanted to sneak in some morning practice. After checking Oha Asa, he left the house, carrying a fairly large potted plant. Since his rank for the day had been low, he had purposefully chosen a rather big one, even if it meant people would stare after him all the way to school.
Then again, every time he dragged around anything strange - especially big items - he got lots of stares. He was aware that people in his neighbourhood called him a weirdo or nut job, but didn't care. They might not believe it, but man proposes, god disposes. And so far it had been a fair help in his life.
Besides, it was important that the man's part in this idiom was brought to the extreme. After all, it was only by doing everything that lies in ones power that one is worthy enough to receive adequate judgement and fate. So Midorima did as much as he could to play into the hands of destiny.
He left the potted plant outside the entrance door of the gymnasium, because it would be bad manners to bring it inside, and both the captain and coach would scold him if he spilled sand all over the floor while it was customary to leave your shoes outside.
Quickly he changed into a plain white shirt and dark green pair of shorts before he went inside. So early in the morning, it was still chilly inside and the smell of the freshly cleaned floor filled his nose. Midorima had always found it to be a nice scent, it was nostalgic and inspiring and it meant everything was still clean and unblemished.
He took a rack of basketballs along on the field before he did some warming-up exercises. Slowly stretching his muscles woke him up and made him alert and ready. Even if his horoscope had predicted moderate bad luck for today, he felt pretty good.
After throwing a set of three pointers from various positions on the court without any problems, he added some from a closer distance. For those, he focused on the curve the ball made before falling straight through the hoop. His throws were accurate and precise as ever.
Just for the hell of it, he even added a few dunks and some regular shots. After all, in a good team play, the need might always arise for him to take on different roles than just the shooting guard position. Once he had admitted the need to play with the team instead of for the team, he had grown in everyone's opinion.
Not that they didn't respect him before, but they were also intimidated and distant towards him. Now they openly respected him, and maybe partly thanks to Takao's presence, they started to really appreciate him. In turn, he was getting along better with the team members as well.
He hadn't really worked up much of a sweat when he was done, so he just quickly washed himself at the sink before changing back into his school uniform. Right when he was done changing, Takao barged in without even a knock on the door.
"Shin-chan! Good morning!" His loud voice rang through the entire dressing room and seemed to vibrate off the metal lockers.
"Don't be so loud, idiot," Midorima replied. As usual, Takao ignored the insult and walked over to him.
"I saw the potted plant outside, so I knew you'd be here," he said, and laughed.
"Oha Asa seems to be favouring plants this week, I see." Midorima put his training clothes and towel away. "Possibly. I don't care as long as it has purpose," he answered in such a serious, convinced voice that Takao laughed even more.
"Sure, sure. Well, I ate yesterday's luck. But I brought the rest if you want some too." For a moment, Midorima had no idea what his friend... it felt a little strange to think of him that way... was talking about. But then he remembered the nuts he'd brought.
"Maybe later," he said, shrugging.
"You're actually in a good mood, aren't you?" Takao asked, leaning casually against the lockers, watching Midorima intently. He got no reply this time, and he wondered if his stubborn friend was struggling to come up with a satisfying answer.
But even so, he really seemed to be rather chipper, if Midorima was ever like that at all. It was as if his aura was softer and he seemed more approachable, although no one but Takao would be able to see the difference.
According to Takao, there were three things that proved it. He hadn't snapped at him, his frown wasn't as deep, and he had once again given a positive response to an offer. That was a lot for Midorima on a daily basis. Takao smirked. Thank you, potted plant.
"It's almost time for class," Midorima said, pretty much without any reason, as he hung his school bag over his shoulders. Takao nodded. Outside, he watched how Midorima easily lifted the potted plant and walked towards the school building.
The sight of it was positively hilarious, and he instinctively reached out for his mobile phone to snap a quick picture. But exactly when he managed to stay a few steps behind and readied his camera app, Midorima looked over his shoulder, as if he could sense what was going on.
"Don't," the taller teen warned. Takao's grin froze on his face. How did Midorima know? He was supposed to have the hawk eye skill, not Midorima! He laughed apologetically and put away his phone. Dang it, he thought, another missed chance.
Everyone stared when Midorima put his plant in the back of the classroom, but no one made comments about it. No matter how used they were to this strange habit, they couldn't help it that when he brought something large or strange along it was worth to keep watching. And it was just as funny to see how little Midorima cared.
During lunch, they both nibbled on nuts after finishing their packed lunches. Takao remembered the manga he had been reading the evening before, and decided that if he really wanted to know things about Midorima, he'd better ask about topics that he wanted to hear about straight up.
"Hey, Shin-chan?"
"Hm?" Midorima looked up at him, listening with a surprisingly open expression on his handsome face.
"Do you ever read manga?"
"Not often, but yes."
"Which ones do you like, then?"
Midorima blinked, but it wasn't clear to Takao whether it was because he had to think, or didn't want to answer.
"Why do you ask?" he replied. Once again, it sounded less harsh than usual. Maybe he drank more milk this morning, Takao thought.
"No reason, I was just curious,' Takao answered, popping another nut in his mouth.
"Well, I read Dragon Ball of course, and..." Midorima stopped there and looked away a little. Takao shuffled in his seat, getting a little excited, because he felt that he'd somehow found a topic that - no matter how simple - brought Midorima out of his precious comfort zone.
"And things like Slam Dunk and I'll." The tall teenager was looking at his hands that were lying on the table. Takao noticed that he was rubbing his left hand with his right a bit.
"Ohh, the classics," he chimed in happily. He didn't get why Midorima would be embarrassed about reading basketball manga, though, but it seemed that he was.
But Slam Dunk was a special case either way, since it had really made basketball more popular as a sport at the time it was popular.
"Actually, I've read those too. But I can't imagine you buying the Shonen Jump magazine every week though," he added. Midorima shook his head.
"I didn't. I borrowed it from a classmate, like most of the kids did."
"Haha, right, of course. Wait, so tell me, who were your favourite characters? The shooting guards?"
Midorima pushed up his glasses and for once instead of condescending, it looked like a nervous move. As long as Takao could remember, that was the first time this ever happened. He felt that the corners of his mouth were starting to tug up into a wide grin, but he controlled himself.
"W-well, they were all very inspiring," Midorima answered vaguely.
"Hmmm... really?" Then Takao suddenly remembered something.
"Moustache threepointer! That guy from I'll, he had this ridiculous moustache!" He couldn't hold himself anymore now that he pictured that guy's face and hairdo.
Takao burst out in loud laughter, and made multiple heads turn while Midorima frowned.
"Takao," he called out, pleading to be quieter, but Takao just laughed more.
"Ahaha, oh man, seriously?"
"Takao!"
"Ahh... sorry, haha. At least the one in Slam Dunk looked normal, right?" He had to wipe away the tears of laughter that had started to well up in the corners of his eyes. Midorima said nothing but silently glared at him.
"But you know, those were really cool. Did you read any other series?"
Midorima's gaze shifted to his hands again. "Not really, no. Just sometimes, I read manga when I felt like it."
"Hmm. But I'm surprised you used to read it. You seem like the kind of guy who thinks manga is worthless."
It was barely visible, but Midorima squinted at those words, as if something smelled bad. "Anyone who honestly thinks that is wrong," he answered, sounding a little irritated. Takao couldn't really grasp why, though. Maybe Midorima secretly still read a lot of manga? Well, that would be quite something.
"Yeah, of course. I think manga is great. Uhm, I have some series at home, if you'd like to borrow them some time?" Takao smiled at his friend, not entirely able to hide his happiness. He really liked having conversations like this, they gave him some sort of warm feeling inside.
"That depends," Midorima answered while adjusting his glasses, "what do you read?"
Even though he'd asked the question, Takao wasn't really prepared to get this kind of answer. He grinned and scratched his head.
"Uh, all kinds of things. Boys' manga, sports manga, some older series. I'll show you next time when you come over, okay?" Midorima nodded, quietly agreeing to this proposal. Takao remembered that he also had some series with lots of fanservice and a few 'adult' manga, carefully stacked away behind the regular ones. He was pretty sure Midorima did not read those.
Although, he admitted, it would be interesting if he did. At least, he wouldn't hide them from the other, just to provoke some more reactions from him while he was at it.
