Messenger
Disclaimer: I still don't own Kuroko no Basuke.
A/N: I've had this oneshot idea for so long already but I just finished writing it recently as school got in the way of pretty much everything. ugh. but im on vacation now so hopefully I can write more! *crosses fingers* Anyway, I always think about the scene with Satsuki and Sakurai where Sakurai points out that Satsuki smiles more often now that Daiki goes to practice more often and i just SIIIIIIGHHH. I just love them so much! so here's a chapter that's *kinda* in Sakurai's POV. I headcanon that he's the one usually indirectly involved with Daiki and Satsuki since he's classmates with Daiki and they somewhat share this bond and all that.
Sakurai Ryo was known for a few things
His apparent lack of a backbone, for example, was one of them. Whenever he'd be asked to do anything, no matter how small the task is, he'd freeze up and apologize countless of times before doing said task, and then apologize profusely again afterwards.
This behavior, therefore, has led countless of people into believing that he was a hopeless case, a cowardly one, at that.
It didn't matter to him, though, that people thought he was a coward. Nor did it matter that even Seirin's captain regarded him as an "apologetic mushroom"
Because that was exactly what he was feeling right now.
Practice was still on-going. He had (luckily) finished his drills early and decided that, like any other sane club member would, he would have a chance to have the showers all to himself — as the others were still busy completing their training regimens for the day — if he went straight to the lockers to retrieve his things and shower immediately afterwards.
And that was exactly what he planned to do
If he hadn't heard the loud crash of a locker being slammed closed, that is
Anxiety kicking in, his feet stayed deep-rooted onto the wooden floor, causing him to unintentionally eavesdrop on whatever the hell was going on inside the locker room.
"Goddamn it, Satsuki!"
It was their ace, Aomine-san, and their manager, Momoi-san. Of course, who else would have the strength (and temper) to slam the locker close that loud, anyway?
It was a wonder the others outside hadn't heard anything
He shivered from where he stood, completely frozen
"We talked about this! Stop meddling in my busine–!"
"It's just two days, Dai-chan!" Came the equally irritated voice of their manager– the only person with enough balls (Ha!) to even argue with and scream at their ace. "Would it kill you to not play basketball for just 48 hours?!"
"I'm not going to die from a fucking wrist injury, Satsuki."
"I know that, but still– "
His teeth started clattering from all the shaking that he didn't realize he had been doing.
He's scared for his life now, damn it!
Aomine-san and Momoi-san rarely have an argument this serious, but when they do, things get ugly.
REAL ugly.
He had to get out of there, and fast!
He turned on his heel to bolt out of there and just take a shower later, with everyone. Anything was better than having to witness two of the scariest people in his life fight.
If only his stupid, stupid shoe didn't give a high, noticeable screech against the flooring.
He cursed his luck because now he can't leave quietly. How could he, when the duo's eyes are now trained on him?
He gulped
"Look, it's Sakurai-kun!" Momoi-san said in a voice that he didn't know whether to consider as relieved or surprised.
A sweat tricked down from his forehead
"A-ano..."
"Sakurai-kun, tell this idiot that athletes need to rest when they're injured!" Their manager said, looking right at him with pleading eyes
He was about to open his mouth and agree– even with his shaky voice and trembling hands– that 'yes, Aomine-san, Momoi-san is right'. Because of course she is, she's Momoi-san, after all. She's the team's manager and she's always wanted what's best for her boys.
One look at their ace, however, had him quickly regretting even the thought of siding with her, even though she was right
"You say one word, Ryo, and I swear to god—"
He paled visibly. He didn't even say anything! Why was he looking at him like that?!
"Oh my god, Dai-chan! Don't threaten him"
He SERIOUSLY needed to get out of there, or else he's going to piss in his freaking pants.
"A-ano, s-sumimasen..." he started, causing the two to look at him again. He bit his lower lip "CAPTAINISLOOKINGFORMEIHAVETOGO, SORRY!"
And he bolted the FUCK out, with a speed he didn't even know he was capable of
He was dreading practice the next day.
As he was walking towards Touou Academy's gym, he thought that maybe those two already made up. They're Momoi-san and Aomine-san, after all.
He had always been a witness in the duo's many quarrels, along with the team.
It would be the same old routine—
Aomine-san would yell at Momoi-san,
Momoi-san would yell back (causing the whole team to shut up because she NEVER yelled at anyone except him. It was during these rare fights they all deduced that no matter how sweet and delicate their manager looks, she's one scary woman)
Aomine-san would tell her– in a not so gentle way– to get out of his face and that he doesn't need her
Momoi-san tears up, screams something along the lines of 'fine! Whatever! I don't care!' and runs out of the gym
After a short while, Aomine-san gives a deep sigh, (the deepest he's ever seen someone do) pinches the bridge of his nose and mutters a swear before running full speed after her
The next day, they would come to practice together, with Momoi-san all smiles again, as if nothing happened.
Shaking away all negative thoughts, he took a deep breath as he neared the gym's entrance.
'Yeah, surely everything's fine now. Nothing to worry about' he told himself
With a nod and a shaky smile, he opened the gym's doors
What greeted him inside was surprising, to say the least. He had to do a double take of the time on his watch to check if he didn't notice that he was actually running late for practice.
He wasn't
It was 3:30 pm, exactly one hour before training starts. The time he usually arrives.
So why, pray tell, was their ace, Aomine Daiki, usually the latest of the late to arrive, already there, before him, running full-speed to the basket and dunking full-force that he thought the ring was going to break?
He looked around. He saw that the former captain, Imayoshi-senpai, and the present captain, Wakamatsu-senpai, were already dressed and discussing something amongst themselves.
He wasn't surprised. Imayoshi-senpai and most of the other third-years promised to help them out with practice for the first half of this summer, before they make the most out of the second half to prepare for their college entrance exams.
What did surprise him, however, was the fact that both Imayoshi-senpai and Wakamatsu-senpai both looked like they also had just arrived, themselves, while Aomine-san was already drenched in sweat
This should be good, right?
Ever since the Winter Cup ended, Aomine-san attended practice more often than he used to. He'd sometimes try to skip atleast once or twice every two weeks, but Momoi-san is always there to drag him to the gym.
Today, there was no Momoi-san to be found
Panic washed over him
'No,no, maybe he just has too much free time on his hands, right? It's summer after all.'
Ignoring the unsettling feeling in his gut, He nodded to himself before walking to the locker room to change.
"Oi, Ryo," their navy blue-haired ace called, he stiffened "pass the towel, will ya?" He called in a surprisingly calm voice
He eased up a bit, grabbing said towel that was on the bench he almost passed.
His mouth seemed to have a mind of it's own, though, and he found himself asking, purely out of habit,
"Ano.. Sumimasen.. where's Momoi-san, Aomine-san?"
'oh no oh no oH NO'
He didn't miss the way the ace's gaze hardened and how his grip on the towel he was offering tightened
'CRAP, you're so stupid, Ryo–'
The taller man sighed and gave him a small thanks in gratitude before answering a simple "No idea" and running off to retrieve the ball
Bullet dodged.
He all but ran to the lockers.
Practice is almost over as Sakurai wipes the sweat from his brow. Feeling his muscles ache slightly, he gave off a tired smile.
'Nothing really does beat a good workout'
He was about to head over to the bench where he left his water bottle when he saw their pink-haired manager, Momoi-san, approaching him quietly– eyes on her clipboard, as usual.
She greeted him, smiling as she did so, "Otsukaresama*, Sakurai-kun!" to which he smiled shakily before giving a small bow
"I'd say you've been doing a great job recently," she clutched the clipboard close to her chest as she counted off on her fingers "Your speed has improved, you're a lot faster than before. Your stamina also increased, hasn't it?" He nodded, beaming.
He didn't get tired as easily as he did before, after all!
"Your dribbling better, too! Keep it up, Sakurai-kun"
"I-I will! Arigato, Momoi-san!" He bowed again in gratitude
She giggled and waved a hand before digging into her small bag and fishing out two sports drinks and shoving them into his arms "Here, you can have them"
"E-eh? S-sumimasen! I don't think I-"
"No, please, take it! It's a small token for your hard work. A-also..." she trailed off, staring intently at her shoes with a small red tint dusting her cheeks
"G-give the other one to Dai-chan," she manages to choke out and the boy immediately gets it.
His expression softens
"He's been working so hard" she continues, lifting her head up to watch their ace score off a, yet another, seemingly impossible shot "he deserves it" she finishes with a sad smile
"S-sumimasen, demo*... I think Momoi-san should gi—"
"Arigato, Sakurai-kun!" She cuts him off, winking as she leaves him alone, with no room to protest, to report to the coach
He stares at the sports drink in his hands
'so they havent made up, huh?'
Suddenly, he felt ten times more tired than he initially felt
crap
oh no, oh no, oh no, oh nO, OH NO
he felt himself trembling, once again, as he neared their team's ace who was catching his breath by the side.
Momoi-san was right, he really was working hard. He looked like he was about to fall over any minute
He took a deep breath and, with determined eyes, marched up to his navy blue-haired teammate
"A-Aomi—"
"What is it, Sats— Oh. ...Ryo." he responded, the shooting guard immediately caught the slightly disappointed tone in his voice
he bit his lip, swallowing the nervous lump that was forming in his throat "S-sumimasen, Aomine-san! O-otsukare!" He bowed, the ace just shrugged, urging him to continue with whatever it is he was trying to say
"A-ano.. here.. sumimasen..." he offered the sports drink, still bowing
"Eh?" Daiki eyed him weirdly as he grabbed the drink, but still taking a swig at it, nonetheless.
"S-Sumimasen, it was from M-Momoi-Sa—"
He jumped at how abruptly the taller player stopped drinking, nearly spitting the drink in his face, too
"Che.." the ace scoffed "That Satsuki..." he shut his eyes tightly, pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed before mumbling something he didn't catch
"E-Eh? S-sumimasen, I didn—"
"Tell her to give them to me directly next time." He repeated before turning around, locking the drink tightly, setting it down on the floor, and heading to the direction of the lockers
Those two REALLY need to make up
The next day, he was surprised to see their manager, Momoi-san, outside the gym
She was biting her lip and clutching her phone, typing a short message before deleting everything and repeating the process over and over
He made his presence known as he greeted her a good morning, albeit shakily. Her eyes widened as she was snapped out of the intense concentration she directed towards her phone but smiled at him, nonetheless.
"O-ohayou*, Sakurai-kun"
"S-sorry for asking but what are you doing here, Momoi-san? Practice is about to start" the boy remarked as he glanced at his watch
"Oh, nothing in particular, hehe" giving a nervous laugh, Satsuki rubbed her shoulder as she looked to the side "ano... about Dai-chan..." she trailed off, causing Sakurai to look at her expectantly
The ace was running slightly late, he noted. maybe him being early the previous day was a fluke, after all.
"...nevermind" the manager said abruptly, exhaling "Work hard today, Sakurai-kun!" she added before finally heading inside the gym
He sighed again as he stared at her retreating form
'This is tiring', he thought to himself, 'this needs to stop'
With a sudden burst of courage to talk to their ace man to man, once and for all, he nodded to himself and entered the gym, too
'he's going to kill me' he thought, biting the insides of his cheek
It was during their break that he found the guts to approach the miracle, shaking as he did so
"A-ano, Aomine-san..." he started, grabbing the attention of the taller male who was wiping off his sweat with a towel "S-umimasen, but I think you and Momoi-san should make up..."
"Haaah?!" The ace replied with irritation, Sakurai jumped at his loud voice and bit his lower lip.
Seeing as his outburst caused multiple pairs of eyes to look at them, he pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to calm himself down and sighed deeply
that's the most number of times he'd heard aomine-san sigh in a week, and its only been two days.
three, if they don't make up today
"tell her to stop her nitpicking, then! What the hell does she think she's doing going to the coach before me like some fuckin–"
"IIEE, AOMINE-SAN!" the shorter player cut the ace off rather loudly, startling him and causing him to raise a blue eyebrow
With a clear objective in his mind, he continued "Momoi-san is just worried about you, you know that! You know she just wants the best for the team, especially for you, Aomine-san! It's sad to see the two of you fighting when you guys are the pillar of this team! Don't you see how much Momoi-san hates fighting with you? I–"
Daiki laughed loudly, the melodious sound resonating throughout the gym, placing a hand on Sakurai's shoulder with what looked like a proud smirk "Oh hoooo?" He cooed in pure amazement, though almost teasingly. "What's this? Never knew you had it in you, Ryo"
Said brown-haired player blinked once, twice, as if absorbing what just happened
Had he really just run his mouth off to Aomine-san?
Him? Sakurai Ryo?
'Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh NO'
'HE'S GOING TO KILL ME NOW FOR SURE'
"S-S-S-SUMIMASEN, AOMINE-SAN" He bowed, deeper than usual. He hoped that the Ace would have mercy on him and the dreams he'd still like to accomplish in the future like winning the winter cup and not kill him "I-I I didn't mean to— Sumimasen! I just t-thought that she— y-you— Sumimasen, Aomine-san! Im sorry for everything, Im sorry for acting like I knew better, Im s—"
Daiki laughed loudly, this was unusual, really, and Sakurai really was about to cry.He really shouldnt have done that and now he was gonna face the wrath of the number one scorer of the generation of miracles and he hadn't even said goodbye to his family yet and he really wants to continue playi—
The Ace patted his head, causing him to raise his head and widen his teary eyes
"Sorry for worrying you, Ryo. You're right" dear god, was he seeing things or was that a smile? "I'll go talk to her right now"
after ruffling his brown hair, the miracle turned around and headed towards their pink-haired manager
did that really just happen?
he looked at his trembling hands
oh, dear kami-sama, it really did
"Satsuki," he started, his tone cautious as he approached his petite best friend who was taking down notes
Hearing his voice calling her, something that she hadn't heard in two days, was enough to make her eyes widen with surprise.
She rose up to her feet and looked up to the navy blue-haired idiot with eyes full of hope and longing "...Dai-chan?"
Seeing her lost expression that resembled that of a sad puppy, Daiki smirked and wrapped an arm around her frame, pressing her against his strong chest and enveloping her into a tight half-hug
"..'m sorry for being a pain in the ass" he murmured against her hair, clearly embarrassed
Taken aback by his sudden action, she teared up and wrapped both arms around his waist tightly, hugging the life out of him.
She sniffled and he chuckled as he felt her wetting his shirt with her tears.
She really tends to be over dramatic sometimes.
The fight wasn't THAT bad, right?
'Dumbass, you didnt talk for two days'
Okay, maybe it was, and maybe it was mostly his fault. Could she blame him? She knew him, better than anyone, at that, she couldn't possibly expect him to just stand still afterthat
"Baka, Dai-chan. You always are" the analyst replied and looked up to him with a smile that was too gorgeous for his poor heart to handle
"Shut up, Satsuki" he smirked before leaning down to kiss her forehead
In a distance, the current captain could be seen facepalming as he muttered a small "finally" to the previous captain who was smiling fondly at the two
Imayoshi had always known that those two would end up together eventually. He had always believed in their ace, after all, and believing that he had it in him to, finally, snag their babe of a manager was no different.
"OI IF YOU'RE DONE BEING A GOOD GUY FOR ONCE, YOU ASSHOLE, GET BACK TO WORK!" Wakamatsu bellowed and the rest of the team scurried to put their phones, that were used to take photos of the cutest moment in their ace's life, away
Daiki rolled his eyes at the captain while Satsuki, having finally realized what just happened, blushed a shade that rivaled her hair and covered her face in shame
Sakurai smiled to himself, him being a messenger had paid off, after all.
He couldn't wait to NEVER do it again.
Note: [*] Otsukaresama - an informal term for Otsukaresama deshita, which means "Thank you for your hard work!"
A/N: AHHH, AGAIN, IM SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT. Still, Thank you so much for your continued support, if you're still out there! KSJFKJSG. Your reviews bring such a big smile to my face and I hope you guys know that they mean the world to me. Your reviews are the only motivation I have in updating this tbh! No matter how long & how slow it takes me to update I JUST KNOW that I have to update someday because y'all are looking forward to it *cries* Thank you all so much and I'm sorry you guys have to deal with my slow updates KSKJFSDJG I love you all so much! *Fist bumps yall like Daiki and Tetsu*
I hope you liked this (long overdue) chapter! Reviews are highly appreciated :)
Uchiha Zoro