Seto's eyes open wide in surprise, before he narrows them at you in annoyance. "The hell?! Why are you asking me that?" he replies in irritation, glaring at you.

"Well I can't ask Hanamiya." You sigh, and Seto gives a reluctant snort of agreement. If Seto was irritated by the question, imagine how Hanamiya would react. If you were lucky he would just blow the question off and not answer at all.

"…I had to go help Yamazaki and Hara today…and they both mentioned how Hanamiya insists we're not dating." You explain earnestly. You pull a small bandage out of the first aid kit as Seto exhales loudly and closes his eyes again.

"That's what this is about? Just don't listen to those idiots." He pauses for a moment, as you stick the bandage on a particularly bad cut on one of his high cheekbones. He barely flinches, and continues on. "Besides, they have their own agendas. Don't let your guard down around 'em."

You stay quiet, and Seto opens an eye slightly and lets out an annoyed grunt when he sees you're still looking worried. He closes his eye and continues.

"Look, don't worry about it." He mutters belligerently, stretching his arms to his side. "Hanamiya…he's a dishonest guy, through and through. Even to himself."

You look down at Seto, puzzled, and as you open up your mouth to ask him to explain Seto continues, already sensing your confusion.

"He'll never admit how he feels about you out loud, alright? But you'd have to be a complete idiot not to see that you're important to him." Seto pauses abruptly, and for a few moments he stays quiet as you try to process what he's saying. "…You do a lot for him. And for everyone else on the team. It's…hard not to care about you." He gives another annoyed grunt.

"…Trust me, I've tried." He continues in a dark murmur. You're surprised, sure you've misheard again, and after a moment of silence he gets up.

"Ah! Seto-san, wait! I wasn't done with your injuries-"

"That's enough. I can go home without drawing too much attention, that's all I need." He grabs a hold of the nearby tree to stabilize him as he rocks his large, muscular body to his feet.

"…I understand. I hope your injuries heal quickly, Seto-san. And…" you pause for a moment, looking away in embarrassment. "And thank you. For what you said. I'm really glad we got a chance to talk like this." You say, turning back shyly and smiling pleasantly.

"…No big deal." Seto shrugs nonchalantly, grabbing his jacket and throwing it on lazily. "Besides…I should be the one thanking you. You really came through for me, (f/n)." He continues, begrudgingly giving you a small smile. He leans down to ruffle your hair affectionately. "I'll talk to you later. Get some rest."

Before you can say a word in response, Seto grabs your first aid kit and saunters out of the park. You blink in surprise, and then laugh softly. Grabbing all the supplies you used to clean up Seto's wounds, you head to a nearby washroom to throw them away and clean up.

Seto's Thoughts

"Seriously, that girl…asking me something stupid like that."

Seto exhales angrily as he meanders down the street, one hand stuffed into his pocket while the other tosses the first aid kit up and down in the air apathetically. People on the street notice the irate glare in his eyes and give him a wide berth, which suits him just fine.

"…Then again, she's always been that way." He muses to himself, the corner of his lip twitching into a small smirk. It was true…for as long as he'd known her, she'd been honest, naïve, and completely oblivious to how the main members of the Kirisaki Daīchi basketball team felt about her. It was no wonder that he himself didn't care for her at all when they were first introduced, and the rest of the team liked her even less. After all, she has the personality they hate the most.

"But I can't hate her. Doesn't matter how much I wish I did." Seto grumbles to himself. After all, it was exceedingly challenging to hate someone who cared, genuinely cared, about them like she did.

Kirisaki Daīchi was a school with an undeniably cutthroat environment. The school's purpose was to teach students from the higher circles of society to become the future heads of powerful companies and organizations. And Kirisaki Daīchi believed that to prepare these children for these positions, they had to teach them to be utterly ruthless and always guarded. If it taught students one thing, it was to always look out for yourself, and only yourself.

But that lesson didn't take with (f/n). She was always there when one of them needed help…needed her. Her kindness wasn't an act. She was a good-hearted person, through and through, and, as annoying as that was, not one member of the Kirisaki Daīchi basketball team could bring themselves to hate her.

Someone who cared about them. Trusted them implicitly. Wanted nothing in return. Stupid and naïve, but Seto couldn't deny that it worked. He cared about her. Too much, in fact.

The problem was, he wasn't the only one. She was insecure, not knowing if Hanamiya cared about her. And Seto couldn't blame her, although he couldn't tell her outright how wrong she was. No, Hanamiya was eighteen years old, an adult. If he was too chickenshit to admit the truth of his feelings, then Seto wasn't going to interfere. But he knew the truth, that was for sure. Against his will, Seto finds himself recalling something.

It was a few weeks ago. All of them dicking around, waiting for a bus to take them to a basketball game they wanted to see, while (f/n) walks back from the nearby convenience store with some snacks for her team. But before she can get close enough, some guys come up from behind and grab at her. She jumps, spins around, and they laugh, like it's the funniest fucking thing they've ever seen. They start hitting on her, and every time she takes a step back to try and sneak away they take one forward. All the guys have seen it, but before anyone else on the team can react, Hanamiya's already over there. He stands right behind her, and the idiots look up, still grinning stupidly, and look him right in the eye. All you can see is their faces fall, and turn completely white. And it makes sense because, even from behind, you can see this dark air of complete and utter malice radiating off of Hanamiya. His face is probably telling them all they need to know: if you're next move isn't getting the fuck out of here, I will gut you and not think twice.

And the guys run off with their tails between their legs, while (f/n) turns around in surprise. By then, Hanamiya's deadly aura is entirely gone, and he turns around with a bored, annoyed expression, as he tells her to hurry up. They walk back, Hara immediately grabs the bag she's carrying to look for his gum, and Yamazaki starts a fight with him because he wants to grab the snacks first. Seto watches these two idiots start punching each other while she tries to calm them down, and Hanamiya watches her.

Hanamiya's always like that. Always protecting her, but from the shadows. Always fond of her, but never admitting it. And at the end of the day, she doesn't have a clue if he cares about her, but she still cares about him enough to be afraid he doesn't.

"Shit. Hanamiya really is the smartest out of all of us." Seto tosses the kit in the air, watching it lazily as it makes a large arc. "After all, he got to her first."

Seto stops unexpectedly, thinking for a few moments. After a little while he pulls out his cellphone with his free hand, and starts to text someone.

xxx

"Mmm…Seto-san really did find a nice place to take a nap." You state quietly to yourself, as you head back to the large tree. The large shadow from it is now centered on a soft patch of grass, and it looks extremely inviting, especially considering how exhausted you are from running around all day.

"Ah, I guess it wouldn't hurt to lie down for a little while…" You yawn, as you sit down on the cool fluffy grass. Hugging your bag tightly to your chest, you lie down and slowly feel your eyes start to close. Before you know it, you're snoring lightly, deep in sleep.

Time passes, and after a little while the shadow from the tree moves to your side, allowing bright sunlight to fall on your face, and you make small, irritated noises as the sudden brightness startles you even in sleep. Yet after a few moments you settle down.

Another shadow has fallen over you. Greyish brown eyes look down at you, burning with a cold fire.

"Well well, what do we have here?"