Drabble Twenty-Eight: Plot

A/N: I used 'senpai-tachi', because it felt wrong to use 'senpais' or 'all senpais' or any variation.

I apologise for any OOCs - Shuutoku's team members (aside from Midorima and Takao) aren't very well-explained, so I figured that I'll end some of my stuff in to make them seem more...human, and more than 2D, I guess? Do tell me if there's any glaring mistakes in their characterisation, I'm open to discussing how to make them better!


"Who's the man beside Takao-kun, Shintaro?" Natsuki asked curiously, a furrow in-between her eyebrows as she tried to peg why the man seems so...familiar. Like she had seen him before. Have I? She wondered. Aloud, she added on. "Did he appear around school before?"

"He's the basketball team's coach, and also an English teacher at our school," Midorima provided helpfully. "So yes, I imagine you would have encountered him at some point, 'nodayo."

Natsuki stared at the man as they made their way to him. A part of her kept in mind that she was staring hard - probably a little harder than socially polite, and she should probably stop, but... "I don't forget faces," the brown-haired girl concluded with a smile - a smile that incidentally made her look like she had just solved a case before Sherlock did in the book, "I do think I've seen him around though. His back, perhaps?" She tilted her head, her eyes drifting upwards, making her expression look a little dreamy.

Midorima decided he didn't like that expression.

Impulsively, he placed a hand on her back - level with her shoulder blades (she felt so...fragile; much like his lucky items when he held them in his hand), and gently applied pressure to push her forward. Gruffly, he added, "pay attention when you walk; let's hurry."

(He didn't see Natsuki's reaction, but Takao sure did.)

((In Midorima's point of view - why is Takao grinning like that? He felt flabbergasted that anything in the world can make his...partner grin like that.))

When they were a few meters scarce of Takao and coach Nakatani, Midorima hastily let his arms fall to his side, ignoring the flush that rose up his neck at the thought that he had such close contact with...well, a girl, for the past minute. He felt appropriately mortified by this. (But Midorima couldn't say that he didn't dislike the brief contact. It made him feel so much like a pervert for a moment that his face light up like a bulb.)

"Coach Nakatani, I have the pleasure of introducing Inoue Natsuki! Naaatsuki-chan! This is Masaaki Nakatani, Shuutoku's Basketball Team's coach. You may also know him as an English teacher in our school, of course." Takao introduced exuberantly with a flourish, gesturing wildly with his hands. Midorima felt inclined to be embarrassed for his partner. He wondered if that will be enough reason to kick Takao into doing the pedalling for today.

Natsuki laughed. "Hello, Coach Nakatani! I am a student of Shuutoku, a first-year. Would you like a cookie?" She asked politely, holding out the tupperware in her hands. Midorima stared. That reaction was too natural to be faked - he felt a little thrown off at realising that he didn't know the girl that well (or dare he say it; as well as he thought he did); it's almost like she's used to being introduced to people suddenly, and has honed a perfectly reasonable (no) reaction which was to offer them cookies. That bounced off his danger sense Very Much (it deserves the capitals)- what if she got abducted?! Or if some stranger or stalker knocks on her door - Midorima's thoughts screeched to a halt when he realised that the blue-eyed girl will probably invite them inside for tea. Or offer them cake. Those didn't bode well for his senses. Not at all.

He wondered if he should start investing in lucky items for the girl. Surely it must be detrimental to health to be this absent-minded...or naive...or trusting... Midorima felt the urge to mess up his hair in frustration - like what those animated characters do all the time in shows. That was a bad comparison - Midorima Shintaro was nothing like those coloured pixels! He felt insulted... and firmly tried not to think about how he was the one who made the comparison in the first place.

Great, now his thoughts are running in circles.

"Oh, sure!" Natsuki beamed.

Takao nodded amiably, looking far too pleased. Wait, what? Midorima thought. He had spaced out and missed the bulk of the conversation - that in itself made him feel the urge to blanch, Midorima Shintaro did not space out!

"What?" The green-haired male snapped after Coach Nakatani left for the registration table (probably to finalise some paperwork), looking thoughtful and slightly pleased. Takao grinned like a Cheshire cat.

"Come on! Let's introduce her to the team!" Takao snatched the girl up faster than Midorima could say anything, whizzing her to the locker room. Gritting his teeth (why did he space out, so much so that he didn't realise the team had gone back to the locker room - and missed the conversation beside him, oh Kami of Oha-Asa), the high-schooler allowed himself a moment to gather his calm and adjust his glasses, before following at a much more sedate pace. First, he had to find out what he missed.

"- Inoue Natsuki-chan! She's our new errand girl, y'know, to distribute towels and refill water bottles..." Takao's voice lowered, and Midorima placed his hand on the doorknob, about to enter. "but unofficially, she's the basketball club's mascot!"

The door flew open in a bang, revealing a green-haired male who's eye was twitching noticeably. His left hand clasped around the lucky item ominously, and for a moment, all the team members in the room felt stuck - they never did encounter an angry Midorima before, after all. Shocked, embarrassed, confident bordering on arrogant, they did, but never...anger.

"Ah, Shintaro! I was wondering where you went!" Midorima felt the strange surge of emotion (it's called anger, a voice sounding suspiciously like Takao said in the back of his mind) subside, and he relaxed his muscles (which he felt confusing - he didn't even realised he tensed). The team breathed out a sigh of relief that went unnoticed, before keying in with interest at the conversation between their new 'errand girl' and Shooting Guard.

"Natsuki," his tone was slightly reproachful, "why did you agree to become the -" he felt the words stuck in his throat - 'errand girl' just seemed so...unsuitable, in a sense. "- helper around?"

She blinked, then her smile fell slightly. Takao started gesturing wildly behind Natsuki to his partner. "You...don't like it?" A hint of disappointment made its way into the undertone of her voice. Midorima's eyes widened, and caught the gestures Takao was desperately sending behind the girl. NO - NO SHIN-CHAN DON'T-

"A-Ah - no! I mean, I don't dislike it-nanoda-" Midorima floundered for a second, which everyone in the team did not fail to catch. Miyaji Kiyoshi, in particular, felt a little vindictive, for all the troubles the green-haired male had brought on them with the Three Whims Per Day rule. So he burst out in laughter, effectively catching the attention of everyone in the room.

"Of course he didn't, Natsuki-chan!" The blond smirked. "He likes you waaay too much for that." There, payback, Midorima. He thought smugly.

Takao quickly caught on, and slung a friendly arm around the short girl's shoulders.

"Yep, Natsuki-chan!" Midorima's face burned not unlike a fire hose. And his glare could potentially kill.

(Why is everyone addressing her so informally? The grouch in Midorima complained...well, grouchily.)

The brown-haired girl looked up earnestly at the green-haired male, and Miyaji wondered what on earth that guy did to deserve it. At this time, though, Otsubo stepped up and clapped his hand twice, regaining order in the room.

"Let's finish introductions - we still have a game, guys!" The captain smiled encouragingly. Midorima sighed irritably and tipped his glasses up, closing the door behind him.

Natsuki smiled brightly. "Ah, yes! Nice to meet you, senpai-tachi! I am a first-year, in class 1-C. Here, I made lemon slices. I heard that's what-"

"LEMON SLICES?!" Yuuya Miyaji barrelled out from the gaggle of boys and leaned close to inspect the tupperware she held out. "Shit, it's real guys! We finally have someone to make us lemon slices!" He breathed. Even Shinsuke looked curious. But that was true - they never did had anyone to make them nourishment during their matches. Perhaps this could be for good, Midorima thought, at least he could keep an eye on the girl over part of the summer holidays, and perhaps she'll survive this unscathed. Natsuki just smiled quizzically, probably signifying that she didn't understand what was going around in the room any more. Midorima pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. The day was turning out to be complicated.

At that moment, Coach Nakatani opened the door.

"Hey boys, we're heading out. Inoue-kun, you can sit at the bench with the reserves and me." Everyone sobered up at that, and filed out of the room. Midorima waited until the last one (Takao) went out, before turning to the girl who was stuffing the boxed delicacies back in her bag.

"Kinka High, if I'm not wrong?" She smiled brightly. "Good luck, Shintaro!"

All the words he previously wanted to say were promptly dumped out the proverbial window, and he slapped his mouth shut when he realised that his jaw muscles were slacked.

"Yes..." He dredged up in his suddenly empty mind when he realised they were alone in the locker room. Then he took in what she said, and adjusted his glasses in a superior manner.

"Man proposes, God disposes. With Oha-Asa's lucky item on hand, Shuutoku is well on its road to victory, nanodayo." He replied confidently.

The tint of pink on Natsuki's face must be his imagination, since the girl quickly pushed him out of the locker room to join the rest of his team mates. When they reached the end of the corridor that led to the court, a small hand grabbed his and gave it a tight squeeze, before retreating as quickly.

Midorima could only watch in surprise (and with a flush climbing up his neck slowly) as Natsuki jogged off to where the coach was, not looking back once.

Takao slapped his back then, letting out sniggers. Midorima's eye twitched.

"We'll talk after this," he said lowly to the other player. Well, that wasn't so bad, Takao thought, relieved. At least there weren't any signs of animosity. Or anger.

Midorima paused. "And you're pedalling today." Dammnit.


A/N: Soo...how did you like this? It's about 1600 words. Dang, I really wasn't kidding when the summary said 'drabble length varies greatly'. Hope you liked this! And poor Midorima, he doesn't even seem to realise that he's caring a lot for her. Oh well, that'll come around soon. Do tell me your thoughts!

I keep jumping povs though. Hopefully it doesn't disrupt the flow of the story much...usually I stick to one, but when there's a lot of characters and only one scene I find it hard to compromise D: