This chapter is dedicated to Scen Oliver
POV Midorima
We finish the first half in the lead. The winner of this game will go on to play Serin in the final, and the loser will play Razukan for third. Tōō is a very different team with Aomine as both ace and captain. His cooperative play is less aggressive and they have benefited from their loses as much as their wins. There is a rumor going around that he and Kagami have been recruited for the national team already. I believe that he has changed, but that makes no difference in this game. To honor his metamorphosis and to stay true to myself, I will defeat him.
"I think he's at his limit," Akira says, motioning to Takao where he is spread out on the floor, a wet terry cloth towel pressed to his eyes.
"Hey, don't talk about me like I'm not here," Takao shouts. "Just let me rest my eyes and you worry about yourselves." Takao is already passed his limit, but he will not let that stop him, that is why he is the heart of our team. Takao keeps his eyes closed until the team leaves the locker room. He sits up and sighs.
"How bad is it?" he asks, looking at me. His eyes are veined red, but the puffiness has subsided some.
"You'll make it," I tell him, holding out my hand.
"Right hand," he snaps, and only when I offer the other does he allow me to pull him off the floor.
POV Takao
As the final buzzer sounded, I dropped to my knees and prayed I wouldn't throw up before I left the court. All afternoon my stomach had been in knots. Compounded with the eye strain, I had barely held on to finish the game. Aomine was relentless, showing me not a shred of mercy, but we were victorious. I was so relieved that we wouldn't have to play Rakuzan that I didn't notice the hand reaching out to me to help me to my feet.
"Oi, don't ignore me," he chirped. I looked up into his dark features and grinned.
"Blacked out for a second," I said and took Aomine's hand. I needed stamina and strength training before college; I couldn't keep relying on others to get to my feet if I wanted to continue being a worthy partner to Shin-chan.
Aomine slapped me on the shoulder and I couldn't hold it back any longer; I vomited onto the wood floor, chunks splattering on my shoes. Aomine leapt backward, avoiding the spray.
"I swear I didn't do anything," he shouted. I leaned forward, resting my hands on my knees and continued to empty my stomach. Court attendants and first aid got to me before Shin-chan, but only by a second.
The court attendants put me on a stretcher and carried me off to the first aid tent while Shin-chan held my hand the entire way.
There wasn't much they could do, except change out the wash cloths Shin-chan held to my neck while I emptied my stomach into a bucket.
"Here are his forms," someone said. I heard papers being flipped, but Shin-chan looked calm, so I didn't concern myself with what was going. It was only when I heard a dial tone, followed by the sound of ringing as the attendant made a call over the speaker phone that I began to feel a bit nervous.
"Yes?" came my mother's caustic reply over the air.
"Takao-san?"
"No, don't call her," I whined. Shin-chan tried to comfort me by wiping my face, but it didn't help.
"Yes."
"My name is Yoshikai Kiyoto and I'm calling from –"
"If you're calling to collect money or sell me something, I'm not interested," she interrupted.
"I'm calling about your son, Kazunari-kun. He's come down with an illness at the Inter High finals. We're calling to get your permission to treat him."
"Then why are you calling me? He's the Midorima family's problem now. They paid enough for the right to be troubled. It's not my fault if they didn't update his records, but the Midorima's have permanent guardianship of him. Don't call me again," she said, leaving only the harsh sound of the disconnect signal.
"I'm Midorima Shintaro and I've already called my parents. They are on the way," Shin-chan told them as I voided my stomach into the bucket again. I hurt from the scalp of my head to the tips of my toes and each time my stomach heaved, I felt like the muscles of my back were going to snap. Shin-chan helped me sit up enough to sip water from a straw.
Back in the hotel room, Otousan and Okasan ushered everyone out except Shin-chan. I spent half of eternity with my head in the toilet bowl, while Otousan bathed my back with a cold cloth. Shin-chan stood by the bathroom door. I could hear Okasan as she moved around, preparing the bed.
"How long have you been feeling ill?" Otousan asked.
"Uuuggghhh," I groaned. "I don't know, since this morning."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Otousan asked.
"I haven't missed a single game, not in middle school, not in high school."
"Well, you're going to miss tomorrow, so this was for nothing." Shin-chan's angry voice might have fooled most people, but I knew he was worried.
"Nah, I'll just take some stomach medicine and I'll be fine."
"Coach said you're off the starting line-up."
I vomited again, but this time it was just clear liquid.
POV Midorima
"Where's Takao?" Kuroko asks as we line up before the game begins.
"In the hotel room, throwing up," I answer. I don't want to speak about it, but these are his friends.
"Oh man, we heard about yesterday from Aomine, but we thought he was just exhausted. This game is gonna suck; I wanted it to be an all-out battle," Kagami says, looking truly disappointed.
"Don't fear, Bakagami. I will show you no pity," I promise. Mitobe holds his closed fist out to me. I've never seen this done before a game, but I respond and finish the fist bump.
It is the worst game of my high school career. Akira is being groomed to replace Takao next year, and as such, he takes Takao's place on the court. He is woefully unprepared to go against a team as high quality as Seirin and has less experience leading the team than I do. Coach says that Akira will function as a utility player. He says that it is my responsibility to play both shooting guard and point guard, as I know the game plan as well as Takao. The compliment and comparison should make me happy, but I feel hollow.
I palm the ball in my left hand, a trick I've developed after watching the Iron Heart play at our Sunday games, and lift my right hand, index finger extended, to call the play. Kagami sees this movement and the conflicting signals in his brain allow me to avoid getting trapped. I pass to Sasuke, and then move in to block Kagami from catching up to the play.
POV Takao
"What did she mean?" I asked Otousan and Okasan after I finished a can of ginger ale and two plain rice crackers.
"What did 'who' mean?" Otousan asked as he checked my temperature with the back of his hand against my forehead. With all the pillows propped up behind me, I was able to look him in the eye as I asked my question. He didn't look away or try to avoid my gaze; he just seemed sad.
"My mother. She told the first aid guy that you paid that you paid for the right to be troubled by me. What did she mean by that? And… she said you were my permanent guardians. Since when?" I asked.
They exchanged a silent looked between them.
"She would only tell me the truth when it would hurt more than a no more lies, ok?"
"You're right, Kazu-kun; it's time you knew the whole story," Okasan said. She made her way over to the bed and sat down on the opposite side as Otousan.
"Even though you asked us not to, I called your mother after she disconnected your phone. I wanted to hear her reasoning – mother to mother – and see if we could help," Okasan said. She took my hand in hers and lightly drew her fingers along my damp skin.
"What did she say?"
"She did exactly what you said she would. She threatened to take you out of Toyko and to make you work to support the family. Then she said outright that if she had a certain figure in her account, she wouldn't need to do it."
"So," Otousan said, picking up the story, "I went down to Osaka with the money. I met her at a coffee shop and when she saw me and the briefcase I carried, she gave me a look. I don't want to speak ill of your mother, but I knew right then that if I gave her money, I would have to continue to do so until you went away to college and were finally your own man. I offered her a deal. I told her she could have the money if she accompanied me to a lawyer's office and turned over her parental rights to you. She haggled a bit, but we came up with compromise that worked for both of us and we made the exchange."
"How much was I worth?"
"The amount doesn't matter because you are priceless," he said. He took a hold of my face and forced me to look at him. "Everyday you've paid us back in full with your love and your respect." When he was sure I understood him, he smiled and let go of me.
"No wonder she hasn't called me once since I visited Yukina for her birthday," I said. "Does Shin-chan know about this?"
"We didn't tell him. We'll let you decide if you want him to know," he said.
"Ok. I think I'm done with these lies by omission; they hurt just as much."
"We could say we did it for your protection, but that doesn't excuse our behavior. We should not have withheld this from you. Will you forgive us?" Otousan asked.
I screwed my eyes shut and dragged my free hand over my face. When I opened my eyes, Okasan leaned forward and kissed my temple.
"I'm all sweaty and filthy," I protested.
"Teenage boys are always sweaty and filthy, Kazu," she said with a smile. It was the first time she'd dropped the honorific.
"Mom, Dad, I'm really sorry," I said, biting my lip and trying, but failing, to keep from crying.
"For what?" Otousan asked and pulled me forward into a hug.
"For not believing you the first thousand times you told me I was family."
POV Midorima
The game ends and we lose by six points because I am unable to shoot three pointers and lead the team at the same time. It is my fault and I acknowledge that, for today, we are only second best.
"If he's better by next Sunday, we'll expect both you for game," Kagami says after we line up and shout at each other.
"I've been assured that he has a simple stomach virus. Either way, Shūtoku and Serin will meet again at The Winter Cup."
Mitobe hands me a piece of paper and looks at me hopefully as I read it.
Please tell Bat that everyone from the Point Guard Poker Players hopes he feels better soon.
"Am I to assume Bat is Takao?"
He nods and shrugs.
"He won't discuss the nicknames, but why do you call him Bat?"
He takes the paper back from me and scribbles in the corner: Stands for Blind as a Bat. Ironic, ne?
"Tch," I laugh. "You must be the one he calls Chatterbox then. I had my suspicions that you were Saint, but I doubted myself when Takao told me that Saint had pissed off Akashi."
Mitobe shrugs again. I understand this gesture to mean that I can think what I want.
Thanks to my Beta Reader, Andarkness23. You honor me, not only with your hard work on this story, but with your words. Thank you so much.