You yawn, lean against the bus window and let it rattle you a bit more awake. It's been a week since the last full game, and that's not nearly long enough.

Two full games in one day.

Hopefully, you won't be playing. Right before the team left, Coach calls you over with a grim look on her face.

"I don't want to do this, but I think we should let you sit this next one out." She glances over her shoulder. "It's not that I don't trust your skills, but Kagami isn't quite up to par yet. I want to give him more experience with being the anchor of the team. Plus," She looks you in the eyes. "We're going to need you for the match after that. Shūtoku isn't a pushover and I need you to be at your best game for that."

You tilt your head. You don't get tired, except for mentally. This body just keeps going, no breaks required.

In the end, you shrug. "Alright."

Anything that gets you out of playing is alright by you.

Kagami elbows you in the side. "Don't yawn, you'll make me tired." And he splits into a yawn himself. His eyes are bloodshot again.

"Stayed up all night. Bakagami."

What an idiot.

"Shut up!"

"Kagami-kun's habits are... interesting." Kuroko sits on Kagami's other side. There's a book in his hands, but the twitching of his fingers gives away his mental state.

Kagami scowls. "I don't want to hear that from you! Like I can't tell when you stayed up all night."

"Whatever makes Kagami-kun feel better."

You close your eyes and let the chatter of the team wash over you, a sort of half doze. The bus ride lasts half an hour and you sleep for most of it. Pretend the life around you happens to someone else. The team struggles off the bus, with you, Kagami and Kuroko bringing up the tail. Coach waits for the three of you to catch up before she heads after the team. What, does she think that you're going to start a scene, just because you're the three newbies?

You pause. Look at Kagami, a red haired giant. Kuroko, a terrible influence and chronic instigator. And you.

...she might have a point.

The teams go to the same locker rooms, and it's like something broke in the teams brains the last match. They wait for Riko to leave, then start changing. You stand in the middle of the room, hands in your pockets eyes glancing over the bare skin, bored. You've already got your uniform on. It's not like you're going to be playing.

Midorima is here, right?

"I'm going." You say to Kagami.

Kagami, who's in the middle of pulling on his jersey, pauses still halfway through. "You're not starting?"

"Nope. It's all on you. And Kuroko, I guess."

Kuroko looks at you. "Mashiro-san."

The wealth of warrieness in his voice inspires a flicker of surprise. Why is he…?

He thinks you're breaking your promise.

Running away.

Heat, a splash of molten rage breaks through the apathy for one heartbeat. The glance you give him is acid. "Argue with the coach if you want. It wasn't my choice."

Have you ever broken a promise?

Kuroko flinches back.

Than the apathy sets back in and you exhale. It's logical. You haven't exactly hidden your distaste for the game.

Still.

Is a little faith too much to ask?

The thing is: You are little more than a lie. This skin, this body, this skill - none of it belongs to you.

You may be a lie. You don't have to be a liar.

"If you two are going to have a conversation, do it out loud." Kagami steps between you, breaks the stare off. "Did… coach really decide that me and Kuroko are supposed to work together?"

You look away from Kuroko. "Yeah."

He looks at you, and his eyes are strangely clear. "Do you think we can do it?"

Your mouth pulls down. Why is he asking you? "Yes? Just lean on Kuroko. He's a veteran at the game by now."

Kagami runs a hand through his hair. "Okay. Okay, I can do this."

Whatever. You wave over your shoulder.

"Wait! You got your phone on you?"

You give Kagami a blank look. Worse than your actual mother."I'll be back."

"Yeah yeah. If you're late the coach will skin you!"

You wave over your shoulder and leave the room.

You don't look at Kuroko when you leave.

You wander for a while, let your feet do the thinking. The building big place but not Teikou big. Everywhere you go is filled with basketball players. A lot of sweaty, loud, stupid boys.

Of course, it's not like Midorima is hard to spot. You find him twenty minutes in. Tall, green haired, pissy expression, holding a glass sculpture of… an anime character? Wearing that god awful orange uniform. Yeah. That's him.

What a nerd.

You tuck your hands into your pockets. "Hey Shin-chan."

Midorima pushes his glasses up. "How many times have I told you not to call me that Takao -" His eyes land on you and go wide.

You raise an eyebrow. Takao, huh? "Miss the nickname, Shin-chan? I'm flattered."

His ears flush a dull red and his mouth shuts with a click.

"Akashi would be so proud." You muse.

"Shut up! Go die!" And there's the tsundere you know and almost like.

"Midorima this is not the time to be chatting up girls." One of his teammates broke into the conversation. He's tall and blonde, with a unpleasant frown on his face. He stares down at you and you meet his eyes without flinching.

Midorima bristles. "Captain Miyaji, she belongs to another school -"

The captain rolls his eyes. "Relax, freshman. I'm not going to discipline the member of another team."

You snort.

He glares at you again. "Unless she's really fucking annoying."

You give him a once over and shrug. You've fought worse. "I can take you."

Midorima whirls on you. "And you! Do not antagonize my team!"

You stare at him, blank face, then look over to his teammates. Ugly orange and all. Guess Midorima really has settled in. "Whatever, Shin-chan."

"Why are you even here? This is a basketball tournament, not a photo - " He looks over you and frowns. "...Where is your camera?"

For one second your neck becomes too light.

It's been three months since you picked up a camera. Your hands flex. Something like longing coats the inside of your throat.

Midorima's aim is good as ever.

You shrug, tap the words sewn into your shoulder. Seirin High. "I'm playing."

A ripple of noise comes from Midorima's team. You both ignore them. This is Miracle business.

Midorima stares. "...Kise said as much, but I thought it was merely his idiocy taking control of his mouth again."

It's your turn to blink. "You talked to Kise talked about me?"

"Of course." Midorima's mouth goes pinches and his words come out like they physically hurt him. "You and Akashi -"

"Eh? Who's the girl, Shin-chan?" A boy comes down the hallway, a bag slung over his shoulder. He's got black hair and a headband. He leans on Midorima and looks you over with sharp eyes.

"Takao, do not -"

Too late. You can feel the smile spread over your face. "Guess you really did miss the name, Shin-chan."

Takao blinks. His eyes dart from you, to Midorima, back to you again and you can't read him. The smile on his face takes on a slightly wicked quality. "Oh. Oh. Is this your girlfriend, Shin-chan? The one that model guy talked about?"

The whole team gasps behind him.

Midorima buries his face in his hands.

You blink.

"Midorima, you have a girlfriend, you bastard?" One of the older boys cries out.

"I do not!" Midorima snaps.

Huh. The senpai mercilessly rib Midorima - who actually responds, beyond a cold stare and dismissive snort.

You cross your arms. Maybe he has grown up a little.

Takao watches the chaos with his hands behind his head and a sly grin on his face. It doesn't reach his eyes. You watch Takao watch Midorima.

Hmm.

"Seriously? How the fuck would Midorima get a girlfriend?" Someone asks.

You tilt your head. "Shin-chan is very good with his hands."

Beautiful silence. Takao chokes. The looks on their faces almost gives you the energy to lift the corners of your mouth.

A taped hand covers your mouth before you get a word out, and you look up. Consider biting.

Midorima is bright red and getting close to purple. "I - You - "He gives up with a strangled noise. "Hana. Do. Not."

What a prude.

Instead of biting, you lean all of your weight on him, because walking is just too much trouble sometimes.

Midorima holds you up without any apparent effort. Boys got biceps for days. He uses his other hand to push up his glasses again. "Captain, I must speak to my... acquaintance."

The captain pinched the bridge of his nose. "We have a game in ten minutes and you want to go feel up your girlfriend?"

Without looking, you know Midorima bristles. "I'm not - never mind. It's useless talking to you imbeciles. Consider it one of my requests."

The captain waves the two of you off. "Fine. You have five minutes, and if you're not back by then, I'm coming to find you." And you won't like it, the undertone of his voice says.

You blink slowly, once. They really think you're going out with Midorima.

Weird.

You give the team a half salute. Midorima snorts and pulls you away, mouth still covered. Takao takes half a step forward after you. His eyes don't leave the hand on your mouth.

He's got it, bad. Go Shin-chan. You kinda wish Akashi was here, just for the havoc potential. Then the door shuts behind you, cutting Shūtoku off from your sight.

Not a second later, a wave of pure noise bursts, chasing your heels like a dog.

Midorima cringes and speeds up.

A bubble of something almost amused rises in you and the corners of your lips lift.

Yeah. Midorima is always fun.

You let Midorima drag you to unused side room, let you go, and shut the door. He'd never do anything as undignified as lean against the door in exhaustion, but it's obvious he wants to.

You pull his hands off your mouth. "A private area too have your way with me? How dastardly, Shin-chan."

"Die." Midromia says.

The room is clean, if a little dark. One of the two strip lights on the ceiling is out, and the other flickers gently every so often. Midorima's sneakers squeak on the clean tile floor. He turns to face you.

The quiet in the room stretches. You watch him straighten his already impeccable uniform and touch the glass anime character. He looks at you and opens his mouth - and then shuts it with a snap.

You wait.

Finally his mouth pinches like a housewife who found a rat in her pantry. "Normally, I am not one to pry into the affairs of my acquaintances," He says, like he and Kise and Aomine didn't have their little gossip parties. "But. It has come to my attention that you have - that is, you and Akashi may have -"

"Small words Shin-chan." You say.

He glares. "Shut up. What exactly happened between you and Akashi?"

Akashi?

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just answer the question."

You shrug. "I dumped him."

Midorima staggers to the wall like your words have physical weight. "...dumped him.." His voice is weak. "...those poor students. Is the school even standing by now… is it too late for them?"

You tilt your head and watch him mutter to himself, mildly entertained.

"Okay. This can still be salvaged." He crosses the room and grabs you by the shoulders and stares you in the eyes. "Tell me exactly what happened, and I'll try to do damage control. Maybe some of the Rakuzan students can still be saved."

"You make it sound like he's going kill them."

"Perhaps the old Akashi would not. With the way he is now…" Midorima sighs and his exhaustion is visible. "He's not the same."

You look out the window into the blue sky. Think of red and gold and walking away. The loss of an easy smile on a boy you almost liked.

Kuroko's eyes, unforgiving. The accusation in them.

You could have stopped this.

"Yeah." You say, to Midorima and to the past. "You're right."

Regret is the reflection of the moon in water. You reach for it, but you can't pick it up. Can't feel it.

Still selfish, still detached. It's all you have, in the end.

Out of the corner of your eye

The ringing goes on for a few more moments.

You look at Midorima. He gives you annoyed glance. "Well?"

Seeing your blank face, he sighs like you're giving him a migraine. "Hana. Answer your phone."

It still takes a moment to sink in. Tilt your head and listen.

Yup. That is sure coming from your pocket. It probably says something that you forgot your own ringtone. You don't get calls. Slowly, you reach into your pocket and pull out the phone. The screen is lit up.

It's not Kise.

Something bitter rises up in your throat and you can't help the mocking smile that crosses your face.

Disappointment.

How hypocritical.

The bitterness eats through the dam holding your apathy back, because its like something inside you breaks and you go under. Pull back from the world. A thick curtain falls between you and it, and your emotions leave your mouth like a last breath.

"Ah." You say, quiet. You never notice you have emotions until they leave. How familiar.

"Are you going to let it ring forever?" Midorima's snappish voice breaks your thoughts.

Face blank, you click answer.

"HANA WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU - "

You pull it away from your ear just as fast, but you can still hear Coach yelling from the length of your arm. You wait until the noise stops. Then you bring it back to your ear.

"Are you done?" You ask.

Aida growls. "Get your ass back here! Teams aren't supposed to be wandering around! Plus," her voice goes quiet. "I think we might need you."

That was quick. "Understood."

"Good. Hurry up."

Click.

You turn off the phone, stare at the far wall for a moment.

How did she know your phone number?

You sigh. A question for later. For now, you had a game to attend.

Joy.

Midorima raises an eyebrow. "Your team."

"Yeah. Duty calls."

He checks his own phone. "I too have been summoned back. Next time you will tell me what happened, Hana. I can't perform damage control on Rakuzan without knowing the full story."

You roll your eyes. "Akashi's a big kid. You don't have to clean up after him, you tsundere."

"I am not a tsundere - I don't know why I bother. You never listen." Abruptly he points at you with his phone. "Give me your number."

You tilt your head and look at him through your eyelashes. "How forward, Shin-chan."

He gives you a look. Midorima never does anything by halves. His normal tsundereness falls away like it never existed. Shame? What a joke. "Don't be obtuse, Hana. Stupidity doesn't work as well on you as it does on Kise."

Kise talks about you.

A hiccup in your apathy. The feeling sits heavy in your stomach.

You pull out your phone and hand it to him; he registers your number with efficiency.

"There. You will be telling me what happened exactly." He says when he hands the phone back.

With that he turns and opens the door.

"Hey." You say, on a whim. "Give me Takao's number."

And Midorima trips over his own feet.

Huh.

He whirls on you, eyes narrow. "You want. What."

You shrug. "He's cute and I'm single. Why the hell not, you know?"

"My teammate is not - not some sort of distraction, and I will not paint a target on his back for your amusement!" You can almost see Midorima's green hair bristling. "Any boyfriend of yours will be subject to both Kise and Akashi's scrutiny. Absolutely not. I need him for the game - No. I refuse." He points at you. "Do not flirt with Takao. Or anyone on my team, for that matter!"

With that he storms to the door, throws it open, and stalks off without looking back.

"You 'need him', huh?" You ask the closed door.

Godspeed, Takao.

Back at the bench, you look at Kagami's head, hanging low. Looks like Kuroko is taking care of things out on the court. You came back for nothing.

"Dumbass." You slouch down next to Kagami. "Who gets tricked into fouling four times in a row?"

He shoves you and you rock with the motion. "Like you could do any better."

You shrug. If you were going to get fouled anyway, might as well do as much damage as possible. You look at the other team.

A few broken bones never killed anyone.

You keep your mouth shut.

Coach would probably disagree.

Kuroko absolutely would, but he already hates you - no loss there.

"I don't like the look on your face," Kagami says, scooting a little bit away from you. "You're thinking something evil, aren't you?"

"Who, me."

"...That tone is not convincing, just so you know. Hana, do not maim the other team."

You sigh. "Not even a little bit?"

"No! Shit, where's Kuroko - oh right. The game. Why is he always busy when you're being homicidal?"

"He's got survival instincts."

"What, and I don't?"

You look at the space that magically cleared around you the moment you sat down - though it's smaller than you're used to - then back at Kagami and raise your eyebrow.

Kagami scowls back. "Shut up and watch the game."

You shrug and do so.

He seriously reminds you of Aomine most days, but slightly - more vicious. More feral. Maybe that's why he gets along with Kuroko so well. Maybe that's why he's not scared of you.

Kuroko is harder to see on the court, from the sidelines. He puts his whole focus into disappearing, to the point where even you have to concentrate to see his actions. After three weeks of playing, it's odd to watch him from further away.

You lean forward. See him slip around another of the opponents defenders. His skill is no joke, and hard won. Kuroko's hate isn't abnormal, but you understand it more than others.

If he had your talent, what would he have done with it?

Anything.

Instead of your nothing at all.

You look away from the teams. The world is unfair and you're not going to feel sorry for anyone. Instead you look at the coach. "How did you have my number?"

She doesn't look away from the game, biting her thumb. "I didn't. I was using Kuroko's phone."

That answers nothing. You... never gave Kuroko your number. Why would you want to talk to him more than you have to?

The game drags on.

The coach sits on the edge of her seat the entire time, leaping to her feet with a cheer at the end of the game in Serin's victory. The teams bow to each other and seperate to head to their locker rooms.

You tilt your head. "Was it really that close?" You ask the captain.

Hyuuga blinks. "Did you not see us almost lose?"

You frown. They were sort of ... slow, weren't they?

Kuroko stepps to Hyuuga's side, a towel around his neck. "Mashiro-san is used to the miracles. They are quite good for this age."

You glance at the court behind you. If this is considered good, you dodged a bullet. They're dull. Slow. The martial arts angle is a little interesting but...

Boring.

You shrug, dismiss them from your mind. At least the next game is against Midorima. That might be at least a little interesting.

A heavy gaze on the back of your head. You turn and meet Kuroko's eyes.

Cold.

"Sometimes," Kuroko says, quiet. "I think Mashiro-san is far too much like Aomine-kun."

The only one who can beat me is me.

It's not a compliment.

You shrug, but your shoulders feel stiff. "You're not wrong."

Kuroko exhales and the anger visibly drains his face. His hands uncurl from fists. "But then I know that you're not. You work hard. When you want to."

The declaration settles over the room and you pause. Stare at him.

"...I don't know how to react to that." You finally say, for lack of anything better.

His fliker of amusement is strange.

You... did that. You made Kuroko smile.

"No." Kuroko says. "I don't suppose you do."

You look down at the uniform that Kuroko shares. With and red, matching yours. If feels like you're standing on something dark and unstable. Who knows when it'll collapse under your feet?

Your eyes land on the back band around your wrist. Kuroko's sweatband.

A truce.

And the world settles down into lines that make sense again. Kuroko isn't one to break his word. Maybe this is his way of trying.

You look to Kuroko and raise an eyebrow. "By the way, how did you even get my cell number?"

He's blank faced as always, mouth a straight line. "Momoi-san gave it to me."

...Momoi?

The obvious question withers on your tongue before you can get it out.

It's Momoi. Finding out someone's phone number is child's play. Even Akashi acknowledged her information gathering skills.

The question isn't how she got the number.

The question is why.

As in, why bother?

You were rude. Prickly. Incapable of sympathy. You didn't go out of your way to talk to her, nothing like her giggling group of friends.

You look at Kuroko. "Why would she..."

He looks as confused as you feel. "Momoi-san takes very good care of her friends."

Friends?

"But we're not?" The words escape before you can catch them.

He pauses. "Not what?"

You can't stop the uncomfortable, almost plaintive tone to your voice. It feels like something electrical is crawling just under your skin. "Friends. We're not really friends."

You and Kuroko. You and the Miracles. You and Momoi.

He actually turns to look you in the eyes. "Please do not say that to Momoi-san. She may cry and I will not help you with the fall out. Besides, it was Mashiro-san herself who said she may call you by name."

You rub the back of your neck. "Everyone calls me by name."

"I do not."

You give him the look that deserves. "That's because you despise me, Kuroko."

He opened his mouth - and closed it. A small frown crossed his face. "I... would not call it something as strong as that."

You snort. "Whatever. Back to my point. Why would Momoi want to keep an eye on me?

You're not Aomine, or Kuroko -

And reality breaks through.

Kuroko.

Obviously Momoi keeps track of her crush, not to mention the people around him. Momoi would scope out potential rivals, not matter how slim a chance it is. That's just how she is.

Despite all that, a flicker of something - something like a candle flame, warm and bright, lights inside your chest. It's nice that... even after you stop interacting with the Miracles, Momoi cares enough to - keep an eye on you.

Even if it's just because of Kuroko.

"Mashiro-san." Kuroko's voice breaks through your thoughts, and you look at him.

He's standing by the door, arms stiff by his sides. "I wished … I wished to apologize for my behavior earlier. I understand that you take your promises very seriously. I didn't mean to belittle that."

You stare at him.

He looks down at the band around his wrist. His mouth goes firm. He looks up at you. "I will try to do better in the future."

"...Okay." You say, for lack of anything better. That seems to be happening lately.

He nods once, and steps out of the door. "I will be waiting on the court."

You're left in an empty locker room, alone.

The fuck was that?

midorima is such a nerd omg

also kuroko dont fuck around with his promises

momoi status: soon