Through the Hoop
Chapter 10： 他心里的宝 － The Pearl In His Heart
My father started talking to me again a couple days after the Kirisaki Daiichi match. It was pretty strange, for the first thing he asked me about after thirty days was a question about my boyfriend. It looks like mother told him about Midorima, huh.
"Are you going out to see him right now?" he scowled at me.
Shin-chan had sent me a text a while back and told me to head over to Shutoku to meet him and then he would take me to the doctors after.
Knowing him, he was probably still there practicing basketball, even on a weekend. However, then again, Seirin had to practice tomorrow as well. Riko was also talking about planning a training camp.
"Yes, I am," I replied calmly at my father.
He gave me a cold stare before letting out a sigh, "Do what you want. No guy would want to date a girl like you for long."
Ignoring his comment, I bowed before leaving the house, "Thank you, father."
I crept around the hallways of Shutoku and grimaced softly. I always came here with either Midorima or Kise. I didn't realize this place was this confusing!
Letting out a small sigh, I wandered around the first floor of the building until I heard a ball sound. Smiling, I followed the sound and arrived at the gym.
"Hm, Miho-chan?" it was Takao that was inside the gym.
He was putting away the balls and sweeping the gym floor.
"Takkun...! You're on cleaning duty today?" I asked as I entered and picked up a basketball with my right hand.
He laughed, "Yeah. Practice just ended. Anyways, what are you doing here, Miho-chan?"
I chucked the ball into the ball basket and picked up another one, "Shin-chan told me to come...but he's not here...?"
Takao watched as I dribbled the ball lightly and shot it into the bin, "Shin-chan's still practicing in the other gym—a workaholic as ever. Anyways, Miho-chan, you're prettier than ever today! Are you going on a date with Shin-chan?"
It's true that I did dress up a bit for today's occasion, however it shouldn't seem that obvious! I curled my hair a bit in the morning and tied it up in a side ponytail. It was only my hairstyle that was different! I didn't even put on any makeup!
"Hm?" I grabbed a broom and looked up, "Well, I'd like to think that. However, he's just taking me to the hospital to check on my finger. The doctor says I can probably remove my cast today."
Takao laughed and muttered under his breath, "He's really sly, that Shin-chan."
"Anyways, Takkun, I'm going to help you clean," I declared with a smile.
He looked back at me, "Huh? I can't let Miho-chan do that! Your hand's hurt! If Shin-chan found out, I'll be dead!"
I smiled, "It's fine! We'll get it done faster this way!"
With that, we both began sweeping the floor and putting the balls back.
"You know, I never actually expected Shin-chan to have a girlfriend," Takao started as we were cleaning.
I raised an eyebrow, "Ah, really? Well, I guess he's not the kind of guy that girls are attracted too."
Takao snickered, "For his girlfriend to say that, hahaha! To be honest, I was pretty shocked to see him embrace and kiss a girl!"
I blushed at the memory. It was probably a little bit beyond bold to do that, now that I thought about it.
"T-That...W-Well. Um...I saw him again after a long time! It was something that I did on a spur of a moment!" I tried to cover up my embarrassment.
Takao continued giggling, "And to think he skipped practice because of Miho-chan! That was really surprising! He's always so serious about practice! To think he would actually skip it!"
I let out a long sigh. This Takao...he's probably going to continue teasing me until we are done cleaning...Maybe I shouldn't have offered to clean with him...
"But, Miho-chan. I think it's great that he met you...He's a weirdo and an annoying bastard sometimes. However, we can never get ourselves to hate him. He changes a lot whenever you're here, Miho-chan. There's always a gentleness in his eyes whenever it comes to you. Miho-chan, he probably doesn't realize this, but you're probably more important to him than basketball."
I smiled calmly at the last bit, "That's...probably pushing it a bit... No matter what, I can't beat basketball. Ever since we started dating, I've never been jealous of other girls and such. However, I have always been jealous about basketball and his lucky items. Ha, this probably sounds pretty dumb, being jealous over a sport and inanimate objects."
"Miho-chan, have you and Shin-chan ever fought?" Takao asked.
"Fought? No...Never," I replied.
"Oh? Miho-chan's pretty patient then!" with that, Takao only stared at me as we finished the cleaning in silence.
Once we finished cleaning, I met up with Midorima at the other gym. He had finished changing into some casual clothing and came out to meet me.
"Miho," he nodded towards me and I put on a small smile.
I thought so before, but he looked very good in his casual clothing.
Takao snickered, "Well, I'll leave you lovebirds alone now! Goodbye!"
"We are not lovebirds!" Midorima shouted at Takao as the man fled the school.
I smiled before turning to Midorima, "Well, thank you for taking your time to bring me to the doctors today."
He pushed up his glasses, "You'll get lost on your own."
I laughed sheepishly at that. That was probably...true...
"Ah, it's great to finally get that heavy cast off of it!" I happily cheered as I smiled at my middle finger. The doctor took the cast off and applied a splint for the fracture.
Midorima and I were walking down the streets with both of our hands in his coat pocket. It was pretty cold today. Winter was slowly arriving.
"It is fortunate that the injury wasn't too serious," Midorima nodded as I smiled.
Well, to be honest, I was actually pretty happy that I got this injury. Sure it hurt and all, however it was great to be spending more time with Midorima.
"Do you want to get lunch now, Shin-chan?" I asked.
"I know a place nearby. Let's go."
Midorima brought me to a pretty normal fast food restaurant. We ordered some burgers and fries and started eating.
Since I came back from America, we haven't been on many dates. Thus, this opportunity I was currently getting was quite pleasant.
After he finished eating, he passed me a small box while grumbling with displeasure, "It's Capricorn's lucky item today. Your horoscope ranking was last."
I looked up from my food and gently grabbed the box, "Hm? Shin-chan...you didn't need to..."
To this, Midorima only pushed up his glasses, "It is irresponsible for a man to leave a girl running without her lucky item."
Delighted, I opened the small box and found a small heart pendant necklace, "S-Shin-chan...did you buy this?"
To this, he simply turned his face away from my gaze, "I found it at home."
"Oh, well thank you so much!" I smiled and took the necklace out.
Gently clasping it around my neck, I smiled and finished the lunch.
"Where should we go now?" I inquired as I walked beside Midorima with my hands behind my back.
He pushed up his glasses, "You can choose the location."
As I was thinking, the phone in his pocket rang and he picked it up, "Hello?"
I stared at him as he talked on the phone.
"I see. I'll be there now," he shut his phone after that.
Be there now...what happened?
"Shin-chan?" I asked.
"Coach called us in for an extra practice right now. I need to go," he told me and started walking away, "I am a man who proposes. I cannot skip a practice."
This was pretty ridiculous, wasn't it...I can't believe he asked me out only to ditch me halfway through our date. Then again, maybe it was only me who thought it was a date.
Reflexively, my right hand shot out and grabbed the coat tail of his jacket, "Shin-chan. What's more important to you...me or basketball..." I whispered lightly.
He paused before hesitantly answering, "You know the answer to that, Miho."
I gripped the tail of his jacket, "No, I don't!"
Without turning around, he whispered, "Did you forget the promise we made before we started dating?"
I felt the tears threatening to spill from my eyes. Of course...what was there to ask? Of course basketball was more important to him than just a girl...yet...!
"If you leave now...it's over between us..." I whispered with my head hung low.
We stood there for a while before he shook my hand off and left for practice.
With that, I stood there staring in the distance as he walked away from me forever.
I didn't understand, why was I so selfish? Why couldn't I just be happy that he even asked to go out with me in the first place? There was no way I could compare to a sport that he has dedicated his life to up until now, right?
"Do what you want. No guy would want to date a girl like you for long."
Father was right, there was no guy who would want to date someone as selfish as me for long.
"Miho-chan, he probably doesn't realize this, but you're probably more important to him than basketball."
What was I even thinking? There was no way that I would be more important to him than basketball. I was a mere girl. In Midorima Shintaro's eyes, dating was simply a concept that he needed to do to fulfill his duties as a man. What did I even expect? Did I expect him to love me?
"Oh? Miho-chan's pretty patient then!"
Patient? What part of me was patient? I just completely pushed all my feelings on him without even considering his thoughts.
I was a failure. Not only as a girlfriend, but as a person. Why was I so selfish? The only person I only ever thought about was myself. He texted me everyday, provided me with lucky items, kissed me, brought me to the doctors, gave me clips from previous matches, and paid for me whenever we ate out together. What else could I possibly want from him?
People asked me what I liked about him before. However, the real question was what he liked about me.
It looks like my luck finally ran out. Perhaps Capricorn's horoscope today really was last.
That night, I took the pendant off gently and inspected it. Seeing the words inscribed on the side of the pendant, I felt the floodgates open and the tears that I held back seeping out.
Ti amo.*
Selfish...just how selfish could I be? Why did I ever leave that guy? Goddamn it, Shin-chan, I love you so much...!
"Miho-chan~!" Hanako patted my shoulders as I was reviewing my notes.
"Hana-chan...what is it?" I asked with a smile.
It has been four days since I broke up with Midorima. These days, I have been focusing on my studies and training the guys for the Winter Cup.
"We have a mixer this weekend! I know you have a boyfriend and all but..."
"Ah," I smiled sadly, "he broke up with me."
Hana was silent for a while before slamming both of her hands down on the desk, "H-He broke up with Miho-chan?! Why...! Erm...I mean..."
I laughed and patted her back, "It's fine, Hana-chan. I had it coming! Anyways, what's this about the mixer?"
Still a bit shocked, Hana continued, "E-Erm well...My brother's friend saw your picture once and he said he was very interested in you so... I know it's a bit sudden but..."
Putting on a fake smile, I replied, "No, not a all! I'll go meet him! I don't have to do anything else, right? If I decline, it would be bad for Hana-chan too!"
She smiled at me, "Thank you so much, Miho-chan!"
I smiled. A mixer huh...why not? I didn't have much to lose when it came to a relationship.
"Oh, the guys are coming!" Hana exclaimed as we sat down at a restaurant.
I laughed as I reached my head out to peek at the boys who were entering the restaurant.
I had braided my hair today and put on some nice clothes and make up. It probably never mattered for Midorima, however being pretty and cute was important for other guys.
"Yo!" a man with black hair and multiple piercings grinned as he sat down in front of me, "Nanase Miho, right?"
I widened my eyes. No...it couldn't be...Haizaki Shougo?!
"H-Haizaki-kun?!" I exclaimed.
I haven't seen him since he was expelled from the basketball team in Teiko...!
He put on a smirk, "I always thought that you were dating that Midorima. Are you cheating, Nanase-chan?"
I bit my lip. I was never too close with this man. He hated me a lot since I was always around Kise in middle school.
Fortunately, Hana saved me from answering the question, "Ah! Haizaki-san! Could it be...you actually know Miho-chan?"
Haizaki grinned, "Of course. I had a huge crush on her in middle school! Right, Nanase-chan?"
I grimaced and didn't answer his question.
"As you can see, she's still pretty shy. She loves me and she knows it...!" Haizaki snickered.
I glared at him, "There's no way I would...!"
Hana saw our exchange and sighed, "Well, let's all introduce ourselves, shall we? I am Yoshioka Hanako! I go to Seirin High! It's nice to meet you all!"
"Nanase Miho. I also go to Seirin High School. It's nice to meet you all," I smiled.
After that, we all introduced ourselves. Other than Hana and I, there were still two other girls from different schools. One was from Shutoku and the other was from Josei. The other four guys were all Haizaki's best buddies, it seems.
After a while of introductions, I soon found myself alone with Haizaki. I had gone to the washroom and it seems like he followed me.
"Well, Nanase-chan. You never did answer my question. Are you cheating on your boyfriend? Or did you dump him?"
I found myself trapped between the wall and Haizaki. His face was a few inches away from mine.
I turned away from him, "Haizaki-kun...! Leave me alone!"
"Eh? But I finally found you again after all this time! You know, Nanase. You really did cause me a lot of trouble. You were the one who told Akashi to expel me from the club, right?" his gaze was threatening and his hand lifted my chin up to face him.
"You were a disturbance to the club. You gave us a bad reputation," I glared at him.
His face was furious, "I'll crush that little team of yours this year. I'll also crush that dumb faced blondie."
"Ryo-chan will defeat you, Haizaki-kun. There's no doubt about that...!"
"Heh, you'll see me crush him with your own eyes someday. But for now...I want to wipe that glare off of your face!"
I widened my eyes as he leaned forward and his lips almost touched mine. However, at that moment, he stopped and made a coughing sound.
"Leave her alone," the familiar voice ordered.
My blue eyes widened. I would recognize that deep and strict sounding voice anywhere. But...what was he doing here?
"S-Shin-chan..." the name escaped my mouth as Haizaki turned around and saw the green haired boy.
"Ha! To think you two were actually still dating. I guess your relationship wasn't as fragile as I thought. Sorry for hitting on your girlfriend, Midorima," with that, Haizaki left the bathroom hallway while smirking at me.
After a moment of silence, I put on a brave smile, "A-ah! Shin-chan! Um...thank you for helping me there. Um...what are you doing here?"
His expression was not amused. Instead, he gripped my wrist tightly and started pulling me out of the restaurant, "We need to talk."
"W-Wait! Shin-chan! I need to tell everyone that I'm leaving first!" I gasped and struggled in his grasp.
To this, he let go of my hand and I walked back to the table.
"Miho? You took a while, are you okay?" Hana asked.
I looked at Haizaki—he had a dubious expression on his face as he flirted with the other girls.
"Something came up. I need to go now. I'm really sorry, Hana-chan," I bowed towards her and grabbed my bag.
"Ah...alright. I guess I'll see you then..." she muttered as I thanked her and walked out.
"Shin-chan!" I exclaimed as I exited the restaurant.
It didn't really matter if we weren't dating anymore. No matter what, I wanted to apologize for what happened before.
Without a word, he led me to a park where there was not a lot of people. We both sat down and I was the first to speak.
"S-Shin-chan...I'm not saying this to repair our relationship or anything. But I'd like to apologize for what I said before," I smiled before staring up at the sky.
He was silent as I continued, "Um...well...What I said was wrong...I shouldn't have compared myself with something you treasure so much. It was very selfish of me. Also...I don't expect you to forgive me or anything..."
"Will you stop spouting such nonsense...?" he gripped my right hand with force, "You and basketball are completely different things...!"
I let out a small gasp, "Shin-chan..."
He paused as his green orbs met my blue ones, "Miho, you're important to me. Remember that. Your sign is Capricorn. We are compatible."
Honestly, I didn't deserve this man at all. He was so kind. It really didn't even matter if he put basketball before me. As long as his hand clutched mine, there was nothing that mattered anymore. His passion for the sport was what made me fall for him in the first place. I really shouldn't complain about his obsession for horoscopes or basketball at all. He's perfect.
"You did this last time...but I'll say it this time...I love you, Shintaro. Please go out with me!" I stood up and bowed towards Midorima.
He stood up as well and held me in a hard embrace, "What are you talking about? You've always been mine, right from the start."
"Shin-chan...!" I buried my face into his chest as I cried my tears of happiness.
I knew I was selfish...yet I wanted to keep him as my boyfriend. I loved this guy for real. No matter what, I didn't want to separate from him.
With our embrace, we resealed the vow of our relationship.
*Ti amo means 'I love you' in italian. By the way, Midorima did not know that there was such a thing engraved on the necklace. ^_^
A/N: Disclaimer - I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or any of the characters.
Oh geez, I'm really sorry for not updating yesterday...I had a bit of a fever. Luckily, it's gone down today...! This chapter was completely filled with OOC ness. Augh...I'm really sorry for that too... I felt that I needed to clarify the importance of Miho in Shin-chan's eyes. He won't ever say this, but Miho is something like his air while basketball is his life. Well, something like that anyhow. ^_^
Thank you all for the kind reviews! I'd like to really thank my continuous reviewers for their everlasting support as well as my new reviewers! All the reviews are really appreciated and I hope I can keep receiving them!
Please keep reading and reviewing! I love you all!
~Yuvi