Chapter Twenty-One

The Smallest Moments

(Subaru)

3rd POV

In lack of better terms, Subaru felt frustrated, with a twinge of anger residing within his being. He was unfocused at the moment, for some odd reason, and from a source he had yet to find (or at least to believe, somewhere in the back of his mind, it was saying that all of this was because of that white haired girl's sudden appearance). This was an odd and foreign feeling to him, because for as long as the dark blue haired man could remember, his main focus had always been on basketball. He had always preferred shooting hoops rather than flirting with the girls, or creating relationships that would've only gotten in the way of his game. He had sometimes gone as far as to push away friends simply because they were too much of burden to have around; always wanting him to ditch practice for their own things.

Being unfocused, however, was something he never had felt.

And as he kept shooting the ball towards the hoop, his aim seemed to be off every single time, which was starting to infuriate him. Growling under his breath, Subaru positioned himself once again, this time standing still almost like the time when he was nothing more than a boy with a hobby, and shot again, even positioning his hands perfectly onto the ball.

It missed, hitting the rim of the hoop in almost a dramatic action. Biting his lip, the man decided to take a break, even though he had barely just started. He couldn't understand why he kept missing, for only days ago he was considered a pro with his skills, but now… a middle school student could beat him at his own game.

What is wrong, why have I lost my skills? He thought with a deep sigh, running a hand through his already sweaty hair as he went to sit down; his irritation had now long worn off, and was replaced with confusion. I was like this at last practice too… maybe I just need to start from scratch, and then maybe I can regain my skills back. I can't be falling behind when I'm already this close, and knowing Natsume, I won't be able to get him off my back if he finds out.

Huffing to himself as he thought of the brother he once loved and looked up to, the man stood up again, ready to get back at it; determination filling his core. Subaru started to reach for the abandoned ball on the ground, only to stop short when a smooth voice caught him in his tracks, his feet rooted into the ground below.

"Are you okay? You don't look too happy," that sweet voice sounded through, causing Subaru to rip his gaze up to the girl he had been unrightfully rude to only minutes ago. She still wore those boy basketball shorts, and that long sleeved shirt, her hair now tied up into a donut bun with a few snowy pieces slipping out. Despite everything, she still forced a smile at him, her legs moving gingerly towards his direction, almost like she was waiting for him to accept her presence.

Without realizing it immediately, the basketball player found himself staring at the lush, creamy legs peeking out of her black shorts as they moved forth, which caused a dust of pink to appear on his cheeks; forcing himself to look away, he cleared his throat quickly.

"I'm fine," he said shortly and abruptly, suddenly more interested at the ball in his hands. In all honesty, he felt bad at the way he had treated, especially now that she was still acting all sweet and kind towards him, disregarding his blunt and rather impolite behavior before. He just couldn't understand that after it all, she was still caring towards him, like nothing had happened after breakfast. This girl… she sure is unusual, isn't she, he thought to himself, tilting his head slightly as his orbs drilled into her, calculating her. But he abruptly dropped his gaze, noticing how her eyes suddenly got wide with an unknown emotion lightening up in them.

A silence fell over the two, one that was nearly over flowing with discomfort. And as he glanced up, he surprising found her still standing there, a light dust of pink on her cheeks, but he quickly just figured his mind was playing tricks on him. Mostly, he focused on the fact that she didn't seem deterred by his usually quiet and blunt nature; she stayed rooted in her spot, urging him to continue the conversation onwards.

Rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, a heavy blush rising on his cheeks, Subaru cleared his throat. "I'm sorry… for the way I treated you before," he apologized, his features completely genuine as they exposed shamefulness he felt towards himself. His mother after all, did always tell him that he should be kind and considerate towards the female species.

"Oh, it's fine," she answered softly, moving closer to him, her face still holding that forced smile. "I guess I understand… I mean, I too wouldn't be too happy to have a guest this early in the morning. I don't really blame you," she said, her voice soft, and filled with understanding. And she did understand; she didn't blame him for his cold reaction to her. He just didn't know that she had had worst at her old school; his action wasn't foreign to her.

Shock filled the man's eyes, but it was gone as soon as it appeared, replacing it back with his usual indifference. The dark haired man nodded at her, unsure of what else to say. He expected her to scold him, or to claim he hurt her feelings, but she did the complete opposite, and he wasn't sure how to react. In fact, he was perplexed why he was even caring about this girl in the first place. He normally didn't really care, or send any regard to any girl he had met, except his mother of course.

"Anyways," Sicily's voice sounded again, now focusing on the hoop instead, a thoughtful expression crossing her features. Breaking out of his thoughts, the man turned his attention back onto her, trying not to think about how long she stood there, observing him; for a strange reason it didn't freak him out at all. "Are you okay? Earlier you didn't look too happy," she continued, her eyes never leaving the problem he had been facing. The white haired girl listened as he sighed sadly, bouncing the ball onto the ground. She knew that action well enough (she too had felt that way before, and her parents had always been the one to comfort her on it, to try and cheer her up), and she knew he hit the nail right on the head with that one, trying to ignore the stab of sorrow in her heart, thinking faintly of the two people she had loved more than anything in the world.

"I'm a basketball player," he told her rather bluntly, continuing to bounce the object. "Recently though, my skills have been… dwindling, which isn't good at all-" he continued, stopping himself short. He felt like spilling everything wrong that has been happening at this random yet strange girl, going into full detail of why he wasn't too happy earlier, a feeling he had never felt before excluding a certain brother of his. Attempting to push away the foreign feelings, Subaru knew he shouldn't push all his troubles on her for one, and he found that the other reason being that he barely knew this girl, other than the fact that her name is Sicily, and she's very attached to his red haired brother.

He didn't know why, but an unfamiliar anger built up inside of him, quickly causing him to push it back down. The dark haired man decided not to think of that.

"Hmm," she hummed, smiling thoughtfully. "Truthfully, I'm not sure how to help, I'm not very good at sports myself," Sicily stated, grinning bashfully as a flush rose on her fair skinned cheeks. "But from um… watching you, I think that you may be forcing it. Maybe you should try to let it flow naturally, not focus on each time you make a mistake, and on each shot you make. Yes you need to concentrate, but don't think too hard on it; let it come from your heart… I know that sounds quite cheesy, huh? But I think you got the idea." Running a hand through the fallen pieces framing her face, Sicily mustered up some sort of a small, soft smile, hoping to ease the stiffened and frustrated man.

"Anyways, I guess I see you around," Sicily said kindly, letting the man get back to work as she left, however, her presence still lingering in the air. It still swept into his lungs, and filled his heart, almost like her simple presence can take over your entire body.

Subaru decided gave her advice a shot, and once more threw the ball, ignoring the sudden swell of determination he realized that came from hearing the blue eyed girl talk to him, hearing her help him like it was the most important thing in the world.

The ball made it in.

To be continued…

A/N: Thank you for reading/reviewing/following/favs! Sorry for the late update but those will be coming more often than not because of school. Again, I am sorry for any late updates.

To AnaJuarez: Thank you very much! I hope you will enjoy this update!

To Guest: Thank you, and yeah you can barely find any OC stories without Ema, so I left her out. I'm glad I did too xD

To ceciimanassero: Thank you for the first critical response. Yes I am sticking to the anime because I found the game version was just… it just ruined my POV on brothers conflict. Um Sicily is a bit different from the others, she's someone who doesn't want to become a burden, which is why she doesn't really blame her aunt for anything. She also had experience the abuse for only about a week now, which isn't long enough for her type of person to be behaving like the abuse victim. About the bruises well Masaomi would more than likely tell them not to mention them, after all, it's a very sorrowful subject. Thank you very much and I am sorry for any confusion!

To LoverGirl71793: Thank you for reviewing! And yeah I knew she would get overwhelmed, which is why I didn't have them all introduce themselves at once much like the anime. I also sort of want to slow down their development of feelings for her because I just felt like everyone just feel in love with Ema too fast. Which is why they won't realize it for a little while, I don't want to slow burn it, I hate those stories… thank you again!