She panted heavily, trying to ignore the two men who were there with her. Her hands clutched the basketball tightly, as if it was going to fall from her grasp. She started dribbling, her small hand unable to keep the ball in move. She looked at Aomine, who was blocking her. Her eyes were all blurry. She jumped, aiming for a three-pointer… and missing.
The ball bounced on the floor. Kuroko picked it up and threw it towards Gale. "Try one more." He told her. Gale failed to catch the ball as she was too tired and her eyesight was too blurry. She fell down to her knees. Both Aomine and Kuroko shook their heads. "… Satsuki must be waiting for me. I should get going…" The Touou ace bade goodbye. "I don't really want to butt into a cousin-to-cousin conversation." He added.
Kuroko immediately kneeled down. "You already know how to dribble and drive… Kasamatsu must have taught you well…" He commented. Gale looked up at him. Sweat was dripping from her forehead. Kuroko took out a towel and wiped the sweat of her face, worried that she might catch a cold. The winter air was especially cold tonight. "We'll continue tomorrow, then. Aomine-kun will surely try to teach you again." He said.
Gale exhaled. Kuroko heard her let out a small chuckle. She stood up and walked towards the basketball. "I'm not stupid." She picked up the ball and held it firmly. "I know my limits. I'm 154 centimeters tall. I can't dunk. I have poor leg strength and blurry eyesight. I can't do three-pointers. My lungs are weak. My heart has yet to fully get used to this body. I'm anemic. Time will come; I'll lose control of this body." She said. Kuroko stood up, unable to understand. It was like she was back to her old self – the Gale who lived every day, thinking about her future death.
He was about to say something, but Gale started laughing. "But even if I'm cursed with this kind of body, I'm still happy. I don't regret meeting the Kaijo team. The Seirin team, too. Also the Touou team. I'm happy because even if it was her wish, I was the one who experienced it. I lived through it. It's selfish to think that way, but… it was fun. Kasamatsu was a great man. I'm not surprised that she loved him so much. Kise is amazing. Even though he's the playboy type he seems so full of himself, it's not hard falling for him, either." She said, her voice filled with bliss. Tetsuya Number 2 started barking in agreement.
Gale was once again, looking up at the sky. Kuroko smiled, the uneasiness was finally lifted up from his heart. "I'm glad you realized that." He replied. Gale's hair shone brightly. The sky had many stars tonight and it pleased her. "The first time I met Kise… the bleachers… he just looked so peaceful. I admit, it was so annoying, meeting him time after time, and he was saving me in our every encounter for the heck of it. His smile killed me. His naivety annoyed me. But…" She mumbled.
Kuroko waited patiently for her to continue. He noticed her hands gripping the ball with such force. "When I saw him play… I saw light. No, it wasn't light. Fireworks. Yes, I saw fireworks. It was as if he didn't play just to show me what he can do. He played because he wanted to show me how he lived. It was amazing. It was a breath-taking sight. And every day of my life, each moment I had with Kasamatsu, all I could think about was his smile and freedom." She bit her lip, trying to prevent it from trembling. "I was with Kasamatsu because of her, but this heart desperately wanted to learn how to love someone on my own. I was with Kasamatsu, but my thoughts were on a different person. Stupid, isn't it?"
She stopped talking for a while. A cold breeze enveloped the court, engulfing them both. Kuroko bowed down his head. "… You wanted to love Kise. I knew that from the start. That's because you think that your life is not yours, that's why you forced yourself to love Kasamatsu, although you only admire him for his basketball. You are not her, Gale." Kuroko reminded her. Gale quickly turned her head to look at him. "… I don't know about that, Ya-chan." She said.
Kuroko looked into her eyes once again. "Then what do you know about yourself?" He asked, trying to make her realize on her own. She tilted her head and turned her back towards Kuroko again. She was now playing with the basketball absentmindedly. "I'm dense. I can't feel a thing. Or maybe I just don't know what to feel." She admitted. "My wishes are for real. I want to train my body's endurance, that's why I wanted to learn basketball. I want to live my life, enjoying every bit of it. I want to know happiness." She added, her fingers now trembling against the orange leather of the ball. "Honestly, though, the only times when I see you naturally smiling are when you're with Kise. You may have little interaction since it's only all about Kasamatsu, but… stop being dense." Kuroko finally snapped.
Gale accidentally dropped the ball. The ball rolled down to Kuroko's feet. The Phantom Man picked up the ball and proceeded to walk away. "Let's go home."
They walked home in silence. Even Tetsuya Number 2 wasn't barking or anything. As soon as Kuroko reached the door, he dug out the keys from his bag and inserted it in the keyhole. It took him a while to open the door. Gale's eyes wandered up to the sky. There were so many stars.
A petal crossed her line of sight. She blinked, unable to process in her mind what she saw. Another petal came by. And another. The petals were pure white, like snow. The petals contrasted with the dark blue sky and it complemented the silver stars all over. She was wonderstruck. "That's your favorite flower, right? Well, you are named after that flower, after all. The snowdrop. Galanthus." Kuroko snapped her from her trance. She looked at him and was surprised to see a smile on his face. "Go ahead." He told her.
Gale nodded. She looked up at the sky once again and gasped at the beautiful sight. The snowdrops looked like real snow falling from the sky. She ran to the direction opposite of the breeze that brought the snowdrops there. Her heartbeat raced and her skin was crawling with excitement, fear, and pure happiness.
Their garden. It was carpeted by pure white flowers. Her lips trembled and she didn't know what to feel anymore. "… Where did all these—" She walked along the snowy path of flowers, admiring the sight. It felt so peaceful. Her heart was at ease and her mind became relaxed. Her eyes were even more astounded at the next thing she saw.
Blonde hair.
Perfect blonde hair.
There he was, asleep amidst the white flowers. She slowly walked towards him and kneeled. Her right hand caressed his cheek as he lay on the fields of snowdrops. "… I will never understand you." She whispered. Kise's eyes started opening. His vision was blurred at first, but the first thing he saw was the clear blue sky – no, those were Gale's eyes.
It was the same scenario back in the bleachers.
"Don't fall asleep here. You'll catch a cold." She told him. She was trying to prevent her laughter. Kise watched her. His expression was like that of an innocent child. He sat upright and rubbed the back of his head before turning to Gale and letting out his annoying smile. "This feels like when we first met." He told her. Gale nodded. Kise held out his fist and Gale bumped it with hers – the brofist.
"I'll go tell Ya-chan that you're here." Gale said. She stood up and started running back to the front door. "Wait, Snowy!" Kise called out. Gale immediately stopped. She turned around to face him once again. He stood up slowly and dusted off the petals on his clothes. He ran his hands through his hair which fit his perfect princely image and put his hands in his pockets right after. "I'll be head over heels over you one day."
Gale felt her heart skip a beat. She was unable to move from her spot. She felt dizzy and she didn't know what just happened. "It may not be today, but… I will completely fall in love with you. I'm already falling for you now, who's to say I could stop myself? I'll bring you to the edges of the Earth if it means granting your wishes." Kise continued. He started walking towards her, which only made Gale more nervous than she already was. "Wishes? The only wish I remembered telling you about was making Kasamatsu happy." She was able to say.
"Which is why I agreed to help, right? Even if your happiness is for someone else, even if your smile is not meant for me, I'll still grant your wishes. Your smile is the most beautiful. Even if you were clearly annoyed by my presence before and disliked my popularity, you continued to see me as myself. Not some random model. Not some ace of the basketball team. You didn't even know who I was. I admit, it frustrated me. But, I must say, if you were to love me back, it would be the most beautiful blessing God has ever given me."
Gale was smiling. The pained look on her face didn't go away, but she was smiling. "This isn't the real me. I used to be a girl who gave up her li—" "I heard it all. I followed Kasamatsu-senpai to the hospital back then. Aominecchi was surprised to see me there when he went out the room, but I asked him not to tell you." Kise interrupted her before she could finish.
The wind howled and the petals were dancing wildly in the air. "… Who's to say you're not the real Gale? Weren't you the one who told me that no matter how many times I copy someone else, I'm still Kise Ryouta? How about applying that to yourself? No matter who you were or what you become, you're Gale. Aren't you?" Kise stopped walking as soon as he reached her. Her eyes were already moist. Tears will come out sooner or later.
"Idiot! Even if I fall in love with you, I'll forget! I'm too dense to know what to feel." She admitted. She bowed down her head and closed her eyes, letting the tears fall down on the white carpet of blossoms. "A girl has never turned me down before. You'll fall in love with me, too. Even if you forget your feelings, I'll make you fall in love with me every day. And every day, you'll see snowdrops flying by your window and then you'll remember what happened. You'll remember how I saved you on the bleachers. You'll remember when I brought you to the hospital when you got an asthma attack in the fast food chain. You'll remember how you asked me to show you who I really am. Then each time you remember, you'll end up falling in love with me again."
Gale still wasn't able to understand, as she was too ignorant and dense. But she still feels the wonderful fluttery feeling in her chest that she couldn't explain. "If I die? Will you live for me?" She asked. Kise sighed, wondering what he would say to make her believe. "I won't live for you. I'll live with you. You won't die."
Suddenly, he pulled her into an embrace. Gale shivered, realizing how cold it was during this time of the year. Kise felt really warm and she couldn't help but snuggle herself into his warm hug. She hugged back and burst into loud sobbing. "Even against the population of the whole world, we still found each other. The sky is amazing. It connects us." He assured her, his voice gentle and soft, sounding like music to her ears. "You annoying idiot… we have little encounters compared to my and Kasamatsu's. You don't know me so well." She cried. Kise smiled, breathing in the scent of her hair. She smelled like watermelons.
"I have the rest of my life to know you."