[Name] apologized as she jostled her way passed people that were leaving the audience, cursing herself for not breaking free from the crowd once the ending buzzer had sounded off. She had been too shocked, frozen to her seat when the game had ended. The feeling of dread had washed over her entire being as she read the scores over and over again. Kaijou had lost—granted, it was a very close game, the scores going back and forth between all four quarters, but the team had just run out of steam by the time the end of the fourth quarter came around. Their opponents, a team from a school [Name] had never heard of, just had more stamina than those in Kaijou, ultimately earning them the victory.
Finally making her way out of the crowd, [Name] ran for the area she knew the locker rooms would be in. More specifically, she ran towards where she knew Kaijou's locker room would be. As she ran, she passed by a plethora of athletes sporting different jerseys from all over the surrounding geographical area. Many schools she couldn't even recognize save for the few she remembered considering when she entered high school. Most guys she passed were sporting large grins as they talked about previous games they played or those yet to come, excitement evident in their voices. It reminded [Name] of how they all had been only a few days ago when the competition began.
Bouncing in her seat slightly, [Name] couldn't keep the excited grin off her face as she watched the rest of the Kaijou basketball team load onto the rented bus. Beside her, Kasamatsu was staring at her behavior with a confused, yet slightly annoyed expression. His eye twitched a bit as she obliviously continued to bounce in place, unknowingly bothering Kaijou's captain. A complete minute passed and, once she showed no signs of stopping on her own, Kasamatsu found he would have to take the initiative. Grasping onto her smaller hand, he tugged on it slightly to get her attention, effectively getting her to cease her movement.
"Oi, what are you so giddy about all of a sudden?"
"Isn't it obvious?" She asked, only to be answered with a blank look that told her to continue. "This is the first time I'm going to see you play in an actual game and not some practice one or friendly one brought on by my friends at Seirin." Lifting her free hand towards her face so it could rest on her reddening cheeks, [Name] looked her boyfriend in the eyes. Kasamatsu could practically see them sparkling. "I'll finally be able to see you in your official basketball jersey!"
Kasamatsu sputtered a bit at her confession and immediately retreated his hand from hers, lifting both of his in an attempt to cover up the blush creeping onto his face. Behind him, he could hear the rest of his teammates let out a string of laughter at their captain's embarrassment.
"Hey, what about me, [Name]cchi?" Kise asked, leaning his arm on the back of her seat. "You're excited to see me play too, right?"
[Name] could only nod at the blonde boy before Kasamatsu roughly shoved Kise's face away from his girlfriend's, not liking the proximity he was in. Whining to himself about the rough behavior, Kise retreated into his own seat, faux tears prickling at the corner of his eyes due to his senior's roughhousing.
"Enough laughter already," Kasamatsu announced to the bus once the last of the team had settled in. Standing from his seat, he turned to face his teammates. [Name] could only watch in awe as his leadership skills shined. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to win this thing!"
The occupants in the bus cheered as Kasamatsu went through his speech, everyone grinning with determination in their eyes. When the bus had started moving and Kasamatsu's speech had ended, [Name] could practically feel the team's excitement rolling around in the air. As he sat next to her, she couldn't help but find her initial admiration for him had grown stronger over the course of their relationship.
"I promise to cheer extra loud for you if you promise to play extra hard."
Kasamatsu merely nodded, grin settled on his features.
Finally making it to the hallway she knew Kaijou's locker room was located in, [Name] slowed her running pace to a speed walk. Five doors down and she would be just outside the place the team would retire to after every game. She held her breath in suspense when she noticed familiar blue jackets that had already exited the locker room. All their faces dejected, they looked towards the ground as they shuffled their way towards the stairwell that would lead them to the audience seating. Now that they couldn't play anymore, they would have to spend their time watching the rest of the games before going home.
"Oh, [Name]cchi."
Kise was the first to notice the young Seirin female, looking at her with eyes that seemed to be fighting back a good amount of tears. His voice had lost of all his usual pep and his leg muscles seemed to twitch at every little movement he made. It came as a surprise to her that he was still standing, seeing as he had probably played the hardest out of all the Kaijou members.
Jogging the distance between herself and the team, [Name] noticed her boyfriend's lack of presence from amongst the group. Noticing her worried glance, Moriyama pointed back towards the locker room.
"He said he wanted to hang out in there for a while."
Nodding in thanks, [Name] made her way passed the rest of the team, a few of them giving her reassuring pats on the back as they marched off towards the audience bleachers. [Name] could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears as she approached the door to the locker room, a hesitant hand reaching up to knock on the wooden door.
"Damn it!" The outburst, followed by a loud metallic sound, caused her to flinch, retreating her hand from the door as if its mere presence had burned her. Trying again a moment later, she immediately reached for the doorknob instead, turning it and entering the room before anyone else's prying eyes could see.
"Y-Yukio?"
He was standing at the far end of the lockers, head cast towards the ground and a fist up against a locker's door. His arm was shaking due to punching the cold metal in frustration and his jaw was clenched tightly, eyes screwed shut in an attempt to not show any more emotion than necessary. He had failed once again. He had failed his team, he had failed his coach, and he had failed himself. Kasamatsu felt like a fool for believing he could carry Kaijou to victory. Growling in frustration, he lifted his fist to punch at the locker door once again, the sting from the impact reverberating up his entire arm.
Worry and panic washed over [Name] when she saw a few tear drops fall from his face to the tiled floor below and she quickly made her way to his side, removing his now bruised hand from its place against the lockers. Her heart ached seeing him like this, but it hurt her more knowing that he was trying to bottle up all his emotion. Not knowing what to do or say, she merely stood to the side of him, finally wrapping her arms around his waist once a moment of dead silence had passed. Kasamatsu stiffened at the gesture, not wanting to seem weak in her embrace.
"I think it's stupid, you know?" She murmured after feeling him tense up. Her voice was barely above a whisper, but in the quiet of the empty locker room it spoke volumes. "It's stupid how guys feel like they need to be stronger by not showing any emotion. It's okay, you know? To feel."
"Y-yeah…"
[Name] tightened her grip on him as the first tears of many started cascading down his face.
{EXTRA}
Once the tears had stopped coming from his eyes and his body stopped shaking, Kasamatsu finally got a sense of his surroundings. His knuckles hurt, his heart ached, there was a pressure on his abdomen from where his girlfriend was holding him tightly, and his clothes felt a little damper than they had previously. Pulling away from her embrace, Kasamatsu held [Name] at an arm's length to get a good look at her.
"Idiot, why are you crying too?" He said, the usual bite in his insult gone. He reached his hands up to her face, his thumbs rubbing at the tears that had gathered in the corners of her eyes.
"I-I-I get s-sympathy t-tears, okay?!" [Name] hiccupped, lightly slapping his hands away before furiously rubbing at her eyes to rid herself of the embarrassing waterworks. "S-so it's y-your f-fault I'm c-crying, st-stupid."
