Through the Hoop
Chapter 18.5
Extra II: Spring Date! - Part I
Everyone has his or her own preferences. Whether it is the choice of clothing or the taste of food—everyone's preferences vary in different forms. Nanase Miho could say that she preferred the season spring over winter. She had nothing against the snow white, cold season. However, she would much rather prefer to be outside on the streets in a light jacket and leggings than bundled up in a thick jacket. Thus, when the weather finally made a transformation in Tokyo, the girl was delighted and immediately decided to celebrate by shopping for some spring clothing. However, that shopping spree was just getting more and more complicated.
"Why the hell am I walking around with you bunch of fools? Satsuki!?" a certain blue haired male glared furiously at his childhood friend. If looks could kill, then Momoi would definitely have melted into a puddle by now. However, the pink haired girl remained unaffected and merely pouted and told him to 'suck it up'. After all, he was the one who lost he game of whack-a-mole at the arcade they were just in.
The two were having some bets against each other at the arcade just around Touou when they happened to come across Miho and Kise. Apparently, the blond was introducing the girl to the month's fashion trends. Momoi didn't know that her blue haired friend was into shopping, yet she didn't complain either. Miho looked chirpier than usual today so she assumed that everything was going well in her life. After bumping into the two, Momoi came up with the idea to stroll around and help Miho find some clothes, as well as buy some for herself…
And that is how Aomine was caught into the terrible situation he was currently in.
"So, Micchan? What kind of clothes did you want to get?" Momoi inquired, pulling on the sleeve of her friend's navy blue jacket.
Seirin's manager pondered for a while before giving a happy smile, "I'm not too sure myself! That's why I was asking Ryo-chan!" she turned, "What would you recommend, Sacchan?"
"Hmm…" Momoi thought about it for a while. Miho had a fairly slender figure, and her hair had grown long now. Suddenly, the pink haired girl thought of the perfect place and tightly gripped her friend's hand, "I know just the place! Micchan, let's go! Dai-chan, don't you dare ditch us!"
With that, the young managers ran off, leaving the two basketball aces behind. Aomine let out a disgruntled sigh, "How did I dragged into this…" he turned to his companion, "C'mon, Kise. Do ya wanna play a one-on-one with me instead?"
The offer was tempting…yet the blond had promised his childhood friend that he would take her around today. If he simply ditched, then wouldn't be a very good friend and he would probably end up feeling really bad. However, he was also feeling really bad for his role model, who was so evidently not enjoying what he was doing to the least. Truthfully, Kise wondered what happened. In the past, if it was Miho, the tanned basketball player would at least tolerate her shopping sprees. However now, he just looked plain uncomfortable around the girl.
Kise pondered over his decision. However, before he could even make up his mind, Aomine started walking off.
"There's a court around here. Hurry up, Kise," the man muttered while walking.
"Ah, wait! Aominecchi!" Kise exclaimed while running after his former teammate. He silently whispered an apology to Miho before sprinting after the tanned boy. Miho had Momoi with her, so she should be alright…right?
.-.-.-.
"Wow! Micchan, that outfit looks so cute on you!" Momoi clapped her hands together as they both stepped out of the change rooms.
Miho gave a small smile, "Thanks! You look great too, Sacchan!"
"Ah? Thanks… By the way, where did that Ahomine run off to? Ki-chan's not here either!" Momoi just realized as she stood there, pouting.
Miho tilted her head in thought, "Well, I'm pretty sure I saw them heading off in the other direction."
Needless to say, Satsuki was furious at this, "What?! That dumb Dai-chan! And Ki-chan too! Really, boys are just so…"
The blue haired girl giggled before heading back to the change room, "Haha, it's okay. I don't really mind. I'm sure they would have more fun playing basketball."
"Hmph," Momoi grunted, "if it was Tetsu-kun, he would never ditch me during a shopping spree."
Miho paused at that. To be honest, she and Midorima had never gone out shopping before. Heck, they've barely even gone on any dates. Back at Teiko, they would usually just walk home together or take a stroll in the park. He had never really asked her to 'go on a date' with him.
Letting out a small sigh, the blue haired manager changed back to her original clothes and walked out of the change room to meet Momoi. When she saw her, the pink haired girl had a mischievous grin on her face.
"S-Sacchan?" Miho asked hesitantly.
Momoi grabbed both of Miho's hands in hers, "Micchan! Let's go cut your hair! It's getting longer, and wouldn't a change be nice?"
Miho raised an eyebrow and let herself be dragged off after she paid for her items.
.-.-.-.
Aomine let out an annoyed huff as he slumped down on the basketball court after his one-on-one with Kise. They never really got to finish the game because Kise had to leave for a photo shoot halfway through. Bastard.
Balancing the ball on his finger, the boy thought back to when he had ditched his childhood friend and Miho. He wondered why he did that. Yeah, he hated shopping to the core. However, it was never as bad when he was with the blue haired girl.
Letting out a sigh, he once again recalled that night when she had out right refused his feelings towards her. Well, he knew it was coming. Yet, he had wanted to keep hoping for just a bit longer.
It wasn't that he opposed Miho's relationship with Midorima in any way. In fact, he believed that the green haired boy would probably make her happier than he would. After all, nobody would like a lazy ass who skips all his practices.
Annoyed at his depressing thoughts, Aomine growled loudly and chucked the basketball at the hoop. The ball easily forced its way into the hoop and landed somewhere below the backboard.
After a moment of silence, Aomine let out a sigh and sat back up. He pulled out his phone and was surprised to see a missed call. His eyes widened even more when he saw whom it was from. Hurriedly, he called her back and waited for her to pick up.
"Hello? Dai-chan?" Miho's voice sounded from the other end of the phone.
"Yeah. What's up?" Aomine casually mumbled as he stood up and leaned against the wire of the court.
Her voice was pretty panicked as she replied, "I don't know where Sacchan went, and I can't get in touch with her. Is she with you?"
Aomine raised an eyebrow, "No? Are you lost?"
He asked the question knowing about her terrible sense of direction. She probably was lost considering she was on a completely unfamiliar street.
"Hang on, Miho. Where are you?" Aomine asked, grabbing his stuff and preparing to go after her.
The girl quickly told him her surroundings. After Aomine had made sure of her location, he hung up and quickly headed to her spot. It should be nearby…
Midway there, the tanned basketball player let out another sigh. To think he would still get so worked up over Miho. He could hardly believe how irrational his brain would become when it came to her.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Aomine ran towards her location again. He knew that getting over her wasn't going to be easy. He would have to take it a step at a time.
It was pretty easy finding the bluenette. She was standing overly conspicuously in front of a fast food restaurant. A multitude of different colored bags surrounded her feet as she stood. Her eyes were constantly glancing at her surroundings, and then down at her phone.
He noticed that Satsuki had probably taken her to a hairdresser or something along the lines of that. Her bangs were cut shorter and the blue hair that used to go down to her waist was cut to just above her shoulder blades. He had to admit, she looked pretty darn cute with that new hairstyle. The hair emphasized her blue eyes and the glow of her cheeks…
Aomine mentally told himself to snap out of it. He knew that the girl he liked was undeniably taken and that he would have to hurry up and get over her. Taking a deep breath, Aomine took a step towards her.
"Oi," Aomine gently tapped her shoulder as he casually snuck up on her, "you're spacing out, dummy."
Her reaction was instantaneous. She widened her eyes and flinched visibly at the touch, "D-Dai-chan! Geez, don't scare me like that."
"Anyways," Miho paused before staring incredulously at the boy before her, "how in the world did you find me so quickly?!"
Aomine had anticipated a response from her when he arrived to meet her. However, he certainly had not been expecting this. Miho was a bit more of an airhead than she seemed to be.
Facepalming inwardly, Aomine replied, "Any normal person would be able to find such an obvious place." Pausing, Aomine noted her change in hairstyle as well.
Miho touched her short hair and gave a small laugh, "Well summer's coming soon, and Sacchan suggested that I cut it… So I did."
Aomine coughed as he turned around, "Yeah, it looks nice…"
The blue haired girl was silent for a while before letting out a bubbly reply, "Thanks, Dai-chan!"
The blue haired basketball ace let out another sigh. He turned towards her and asked her what she was planning to do now.
"Eh? Shouldn't we focus on finding Sacchan? What if she's lost and can't find her way back…" Miho worriedly noted as she and Aomine started to walk towards a random direction.
Aomine scoffed in reply, "Satsuki's come here more than enough times to know her way around. Don't even bother worrying about her. Where are you going now?"
"Hm…" Miho seemed to be deep in thought, "well I guess the train station would be fine. I should be able to find my way around after that."
The blue haired basketball ace wondered where she was headed but didn't bother questioning her. Instead, he let out a hum of approval and walked forward, "Right. Let's go then."
The girl smiled as she followed, "Well, Dai-chan?"
"Yeah?"
"How was your one-on-one against Ryo-chan?" she chirpily asked, with a tone that suggested that she knew everything.
Aomine coughed and widened his eyes, "You knew about it?!"
Miho giggled back at the expression that was on his face, "Yup! I saw you guys leaving the moment Sacchan dragged me off."
The tanned boy grumbled under his breath. God, he was glad that Momoi didn't have the gut instinct that Nanase did sometimes. He would be due for even more rounds of being dragged around the shopping mall if she did.
.-.-.-.
Miho bid her farewells to Aomine at the train station and boarded. She sighed as she stared at the bags at her feet. She had splurged a bit on the shopping part today. Silently, she prayed that her parents wouldn't notice the significant decrease in her bank account. She had considered getting a job before. However, she wasn't quite sure where she would work. Nor did she have the time to work.
The train halted to a stop and the bluenette grabbed her bags and stepped off the cart. Her eyes scanned the familiar surroundings of the station as a warm breeze caressed her blue bangs and her cheeks. Smiling, she made her way towards the familiar destination.
She took a deep breath, and then rang the doorbell of Midorima's house. The truth was, she had asked him for some chemistry help over the weekend. The stuff that she was learning right now made no sense to her whatsoever so she was in quite a difficult situation. The exams were coming up soon as well.
The sound of footsteps could be heard. The sound got closer and closer until they stopped at the door and the flat piece of wood creaked open. A pair of large green eyes peeked out from the door. Miho stared at them and blinked.
"Um…? Hi?" Miho laughed sheepishly as she stared at the girl that was now standing at the doorway. She had long green hair and was about a foot shorter than Miho. A cute flowery dress adorned her small body. She looked like she was around the age of eleven or twelve.
The young girl opened her mouth to speak, "Who are you?"
Miho was pretty sure that she got the right house. Come to think of it, Midorima never did really introduce her to his family. She knew that he had a little sister from the time when she went over for his birthday, however they had never been properly introduced.
Just when she was about to introduce herself, Midorima's shout could be heard, "*Ayako!"
Seconds later, the boy appeared at the doorway to greet Miho. He wore a plain white shirt and a pair of shorts, "What are you standing there for? Come in."
"Ah," Miho hurried followed her boyfriend's instructions and entered the house, "pardon the intrusion."
She bowed before taking off her boots and setting them aside.
"Brother, who is she?" young Midorima Ayako asked.
The green haired shooter sighed, "Nanase Miho. She's…my girlfriend."
A blush immediately crept onto the bluenette's cheeks as she heard his introduction. She could hardly believe that he actually introduced her as his girlfriend. To his sister no less!
Ayako seemed confused as she looked back and forth between her brother and the new girl that showed up. Shaking her head in confusion, she ran off further into the house, "I'm telling mom, brother!"
Miho smiled at the young girl. Midorima's family seemed so peaceful and nice. Sometimes, she wished that her family could be like that as well. However, not only was she the only child, but her parents rarely talked with her either.
"You cut your hair," Midorima noted, reaching out and gently touching the tips of Miho's hair, "and what's with all these bags?"
The bluenette smiled, "I went out to do a bit of shopping with Sacchan and Ryo-chan before coming here. I hope that's okay."
Pulling back his hand, he nodded and helped her moved the bags to a corner before leading her inside the house.
"I should probably introduce you. You're fine with that, right?" Midorima turned and asked.
Miho pouted softly, "You could've told me that today was the grand day you chose to introduce me to your parents. I would've worn something nicer."
The green haired boy merely turned around and spoke softly to that, "I think you always look beautiful."
The bluenette paused in her tracks and could feel her face heating up again. She could barely believe her ears. To think he would actually say something that flirtatious to her.
"Geez, when did you get so smooth with words, Shin-chan?" Miho exasperated thought before hurrying beside her boyfriend.
Midorima brought Miho to the living room, where his family gathered. His parents smiled at the girl nicely as she stepped in.
"So you're the Miho-chan we've been hearing so much about," the father spoke first, his eyes smiling at her as she bowed and introduced herself.
"Nanase Miho, it's nice to meet you all," the bluenette bowed and gave a small, shy smile.
Midorima's mother motioned for her to sit beside her and told her son to go get some tea for everyone. Both teens obeyed wordlessly.
"So," Midorima's father smiled, "I guess this goes without saying, but how long have you two been dating. We didn't even know about any of this until a couple of months ago!"
"Um…" Miho started, "we actually started in middle school. But I moved away to the States for a year and a bit so I guess we haven't actually been dating for all that long."
"I heard you were Seirin's basketball club manager," Midorima's mother interrupted, "how are your grades, dear?"
"I'm currently number one in my class…" the bluenette replied tenderly.
Just then, Midorima came back from the kitchen and set the tea down.
"Number on in your grade," he corrected, as he took a stand beside his girlfriend. He gave her a reassuring nod as she glanced up at him.
His parents seemed surprised, but then they smiled, "Oh wow, that's really good. Miho-chan, Shintarou—it's not that we don't approve of your relationship or anything, and it's obvious that Miho-chan's such a nice girl, we just hoped that you would introduce her to us sooner."
"Sorry," both of the teens replied.
Midorima spoke up, "We were both busy with school and basketball. There wasn't much time to do so."
The mother sighed and then smiled, "It's fine. You two better get doing what Miho-chan came over to do anyhow. Ayako, we're going shopping now."
The father stood up as well and gave Miho another warm smile, "Come over again, Miho-chan."
The bluenette bowed again and grinned, "I will! Thank you both so much."
With that, Midorima and Miho saw the two adults and child out and then shut the door to the house. The moment the door was shut, Miho let out a big sigh of relief.
"It's over…" she took a deep breath before flashing a grin at Midorima, "how did I do?"
Surprisingly, the boy pulled her over gently into his embrace, "Amazing. I think they loved you."
Miho smiled softly as she returned the hug. She was so glad that his parents liked her.
After a moment, Midorima broke the embrace and grabbed Miho's bag by the entrance of the house, "Okay. We better get to your chemistry questions now."
The girl's face dropped and she let out a huff of a sigh, "Alright. Chemistry, let's go."
.-.-.-.
"Hm…" Midorima scanned the practice questions that he gave the girl to do, "not bad. I think you understood the concept."
The girl grinned, "Yup! It's pretty easy after Shin-chan explains it!"
Midorima sighed, "Yeah, well now that you're done your homework. Do you think you have time tomorrow?"
Miho raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, probably. Why?"
"It's spring, right?" the green haired boy pushed up his glasses and turned around to hide his blush, "I'll take you out somewhere."
The bluenette widened her eyes before nodding happily with a large grin on her face, "Sure! I'd love that!"
Midorima let out a sigh of relief and then smiled, "Alright. I'll meet you at your house at ten tomorrow."
"Where are we going?"
The green haired shooter flicked her forehead and leaned forward on the table they both were sitting at, "You'll see tomorrow."
Miho pouted at the secrecy until she felt Midorima's hand on her cheek and tilting her chin up ever so slightly, "Stop complaining, idiot."
With that, his lips met hers in a soft, chaste kiss. When he pulled away, Miho entangled her fingers in his hair and pulled him back into a deeper kiss. He hungrily kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her waist and sneaking his fingers just a tiny bit under her shirt. She shivered as his cold fingers caressed her skin and tightened her hold onto him.
Eventually, Midorima broke the kiss—allowing them both to catch some air. He rested his forehead gently on hers and closed his eyes.
Miho gave a small smile, "Shin-chan…I can't wait 'till tomorrow."
After a moment of silence, the boy whispered a reply, "Me too."
A/N: I do not own Kuroko no Basket or any of the characters.
Fluff, fluff, so much fluff. OMG (It's okay guys, there's going to be more fluff next chatper!)
I can't help but feel like Shin-chan's kinda OOC though. I seriously haven't written anything for such a long time that I think I'm losing my grasp on his character. OH NO.
Anyways, dairishreviewed and told me to update. Well, this really isn't that much of an update, considering it isn't even the main story. However, that review made me realize how long it was since I last updated. And I felt so bad. You guys are seriously such amazing readers. I honestly couldn't hope for more, and here I am, lazing around and not wanting to write cause I'm just too tired. So as a formal apology to all my wonderful, super fantastic, amazing readers, I present you this extra two-shot that takes place after the Winter Cup: Spring Date! Tell me ideas for the date and I'll definitely try and include them all! I promise lots of fluff and MidoMiho moments. (Arghh I'll be careful with the OOCness though! I'll have to rewatch/read a couple of chapters/episodes to be able to fully grasp his character again!) So guys, request away! Spring break's coming up so I'll definitely get the chapter to you guys by next weekend.
Another thing that inspired this chapter was, well spring. My lovely city of Calgary finally decided that it had enough fun torturing us with -30 to -40 degree temperatures and two meter snowfalls and bring us some good weather. YAY for spring! Thus, I really needed to write this, hahaha.
Once again, thanks so much to all my amazing reviewers and readers and I hope that you guys all keep doing what you are doing and enjoy my story. Tell me any ideas, suggestions about this chapter. That'll be great! And once again, I'm so, so sorry for not updating for so long! (Now time to hurry and get to my other story that I have been procrastinating on. Does that even work? Procrastinating on procrastination?!)
I love you all!
~Yuvi