Summary [chapter 2]: Now part of Seirin's basketball team as their manager, Masuko begins to get used to her new life. As the day of her surgery approaches, she meets for the first time Seirin's greatest rival until now: Shutoku.
Update: I rewrote some details but the main modification if the point of view. It's still in third person but I decided to truly write the story from the characters' POV.
Following the canon chronology with some additions for the purpose of the story. Main pairing of the story: Midorima x OC.
Written in the third person. The words in italic are characters' thoughts and the words written like this are said in another language (french or english). No harem x OC.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my OCs
[INTRODUCTION ARC]
FRAGMENTS
~.~
Chapter 2: you'll see something amazing
May 4th
It had been since a week since her arrival and Miyuki was slowly starting to get used to live in Tokyo.
She wished to get her surgery as soon as possible but first, she had to find a good orthopedist. That was far from being an easy task since that compared to the city where she used to live... Marseille might be considered as the second biggest French city but the Japanese metropolis made it look so small. And Taiga wasn't helping at all since he too was confused by that city's lifestyle, although it was to a lesser extent (and he had been lived there again for two years).
"Masuko-chan, Kagami-kun told me you were looking for a good orthopedist," Coach said. "I looked at every orthopedist's rate and reviews and Osawa-sensei is the one with the highest rate of success for repairing anterior cruciate ligament tears this year in Tokyo."
Taking the business card Coach was handing her, she bowed, grateful for her senpai's help.
"Thank you so much, Coach!"
"I've already told you! There's no need to be so formal with me, Masuko-chan. You're part of the team now!"
Miyuki was now Seirin's manager, to her best friend's delight.
She wanted to stay close to Taiga to watch over him and to spend time with him again. She hadn't planned to do so at first, wanting to mainly focus on healing her injury and catching up with Japanese language and literature classes but after seeing Taiga's passion for basketball as well as his teammate's, Kuroko-kun, she asked to be the manager.
Surprisingly, the club's Coach, Aida Riko, was a second year. She accepted immediately her candidacy, seemingly eager to get a new member in the staff.
"I apologize, I'm not used to Japanese codes and culture yet."
"It's okay," her senpai assured her, a smile on her lips. "Masako-chan, did you take notes of your observations?"
Finishing to write a sentence, she gave her the sheet of paper.
"Hai! Here."
Riko-san – she insisted to be called as such – read it and raised her eyebrows. She took notes about everyone, especially Taiga, though she already knew how he played. He made a lot of progress since last summer... There were also detailed notes on Tetsuya's playing style, who had amazing passes although she had yet to understand how he was doing that. And finally Hyuuga-senpai...
It might be why Riko-san was surprised.
"Masuko-chan, you wrote a lot about Hyuuga-kun's game... Is there a reason behind it?"
Miyuki went quiet for a few seconds, watching him landing a throw before replying softly, still entrnced by that three point. "Hyuuga-senpai is the captain. So I thought my observations might help organizing the offensive around him along with Taiga and Kuroko-kun, to strengthen the team's run and out. And... just looking at him reminds me of myself when I played football." It might be surprising for Riko-san to hear her talk that much but she continued. "I'm a left winger. In basketball terms, I guess it's the mix of a shooting guard and a small forward because we both have to be strong on offense and defense. I can relate to his position in some aspects," she explained. "And... I think his love for basketball is really inspiring," she finished, the last part mostly for herself.
Miyuki also saw something in him, a great potential although she couldn't determine its extent.
She felt Riko-san's gaze while she was still observing Hyuuga-senpai. She knew it was the first time Riko-san heard her talk so much. It wasn't like she was completely silent, but it was just the first time she talked that much to someone who wasn't Taiga in Japan.
She was more of the silent type, watching, observing and keeping her thoughts to herself... Or rather, she didn't open up easily to people, especially after what happened in middle school. But she admitted to herself Seirin's basketball reminded her of her own passion football and Miyuki found it heartwarming.
All thoughts were cut by a noise coming from the other side of the gym.
Miyuki looked at the one responsible of that and sighed. "Taiga, please don't break the hoop again."
"BAKAGAMI!"
May 14h
It was English class and Taiga and Kuroko-kun were sleeping.
Again.
She perfectly understood since she saw how hellish Coach's training methods were. Her two classmates were lucky she took notes for them every day otherwise, Taiga's already catastrophic marks would have gotten even worse (if that was even possible... Miyuki would have to do something on the matter).
The bell rang, meaning that she had to wake up her two friends. Socializing wasn't really her thing, but she quickly got attached to Kuroko-kun. He reminded her of her own little brother and also his eyes... They were painfully familiar to her.
"Kuroko-kun, here are your notes." She was looking for something else in her bag. "I almost forgot, here's your book. Thank you for lending it to me!"
Two days ago, she had discovered Kuroko-kun also loved reading, after one of his detective books fell off his bag. She was delighted to finally find someone that loved reading too and became all excited about it, at Taiga's expense who always had to suffer for hours because of her. Kuroko-kun then told her about the school's Library Committee and asked if she wanted to join it. Miyuki immediately accepted.
She even learned that Furihata-kun was part of the committee as well when he told her the date of the next reunion.
Her knee still swollen, Osawa-sensei said she would have her surgery in less than a week. She couldn't help but start to get anxious over it. After all, it was her entire future career as a football player that would be decided based on the success of the operation. Still, she tried not to think about it and worked for Seirin since their first game would be in two days.
"Kuroko-kun, do you want to come with us at Maji Burger after training? Taiga is treating us," she proposed.
"WHAT! But I didn't–" he blurted.
"Kagami-kun can be nice sometimes. I will come with you," Kuroko-kun agreed.
"Great!"
Taiga yelled in despair but still followed them.
Serves him right for rolling my wheelchair too fast.
May 16th
The first Preliminries game was going well for everyone so far. Miyuki watched in awe her best friend jump higher and higher against Papa who was now powerless. He was quickly getting better and better at an impressive speed. However, the way he was acting bothered her.
"– But don't you think he's trying too hard?" Tchuchida-senpai asked.
So she wasn't the one who noticed something was wrong. She looked at Kuroko-kun who was on the bench with them. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts.
"Kuroko-kun?"
She gained his attention, her voice certainly sounding more worried than usual.
"Masuko-san."
"Are you thinking about Taiga and his way of playing?"
Kuroko-kun took a few seconds to answer, "Hai."
"I think I know what you're thinking right now." Kuroko-kun seemed startled by her remark although he still wore his usual blank stare. "Don't worry, I won't let Taiga become a selfish player. I'm his best friend after all, so I have to keep checking on him."
Silence again. She was then surprised to see a knowing smile on his face.
"I know."
Perhaps her words meant something more to him than she thought.
Kuroko-kun went back on the court for the last five minutes of the game, leaving her alone to think about her best friend. From the mails she had gotten from him in the past years, she knew that one day, something like that could potentially happen. He was getting stronger and stronger and she already saw how being too strong could destroy team play.
The sound of a whistle ended the game.
79-67 for Seirin.
They successfully made it through their first game of the preliminaries. As the players were greeting and thanking the other team for the game, Miyuki saw a flash of green from the balcony.
Like every morning, Taiga picked her up to make the road to Seirin together. It was the fourth round of the Inter High preliminaries against Meijo Academy and as a manager, Miyuki went to every game.
Manager...
It still felt odd to be called 'Manager' since she had been a player herself not even a month ago.
She greeted the team and got back a mix of 'Hello Manager' and 'Hi Masuko-chan'. Some of them asked her if they should call her 'Masuko-san' but she refused, feeling uncomfortable with having players of Seirin calling her with that distant suffix. She made an exception for Kuroko-kun somehow.
They finally arrive to the gymnasium where they would be playing after taking the bus.
"Huge... Is this really a school's gymnasium?"
"It's one of the foremost mammoth schools of Tokyo. Thanks to that, today, we'll see something incredible," Riko-san explained.
"Huh?"
As the team's Captain, Hyuuga-senpai continued to explain to the first years and her.
"The three schools tha are chosen as Tokyo's representatives in the Final League have always been the same three for the past ten years. The King of the East, Shutoku. The King of the West, Shen-Shinkan. The King of the North, Seiho. The first place changes every year, but they're so strong that they never got the fourth place or lower. They're the three unshakable Kings of Tokyo. There are matches on the two courts here today. On the other court, a seeded team that usually play somewhere... In other words...," Hyuuga-senpai paused, giving a glance at Kuroko-kun. "The team that has Midorima Shintaro of the Generation of Miracles the King of the East that plans to conquer the West and the North this year, Shutoku will play here...!"
After hearing the words 'Generation of Miracles' again, Miyuki noticed the team's reaction, especially Taiga's and Kuroko-kun's. She only knew said 'Generation of Miracles' were strong players that both of her friends wanted to beat.
She could feel that there was a story behind it, there always was. She didn't want to ask Kuroko-kun yet since it was obvious it was a sensitive topic to him. And asking Taiga or someone else was out of the equation. She respected Kuroko-kun and decided to wait for him to open up. She knew Kuroko-kun wasn't someone who trusted nor confided easily to people, just like her.
Kawahara-kun, as the rest of the first years, was feeling uneasy at the mention of Shutoku.
"But... You and the other senpai made it to the Final League last year, right?"
Sadness was painted all over her senpai and Riko-san's faces.
"Well... We didn't stand a chance at all, though."
It's not like our senpai are weak but...
"The three Kings..."
Seeing the gloomy mood, Hyuuga-senpai's tone changed. "We've spent the whole year practicing for the sake of getting our revenge! On top of that we even have new fire power! We'll definitely take them down this year! But most importantly, we have to focus on the opponent in front of our eyes..."
The sound of new voices cut him.
Speak of the devils.
"Hey, today's opponent is Seirin, right?! It's gonna be easy. They were crushed in the Final League last year, right?"
Another player of Meijo loudly answered, "Even with the Kings as opponents, that was still crazy!"
"They just won their way through because of the beginner's luck!"
Miyuki saw Taiga sweatdrop at the sight of the other team as he muttered something like 'Hmmm... them?!'
"So that it doesn't become the same thing this year, we will..."
The player who was talking smashed his face into Taiga's torso and his smug look was now gone, replaced with a scared one.
"Yo. So we meet again."
"Hello," Kuroko-kun added.
Now the whole team looked like they were on the verge of dying. Kuroko-kun could be more frightening than he looked.
Curious by such extreme reactions, Miyuki asked, "Kuroko-kun, Taiga, do you know them?"
It was Hyuuga-senpai's turn to sweatdrop. "Wait, why does it seem like we've won already?!"
That round went pretty well, perhaps too well since it looked like the opponent wanted to run away, making them win 108 to 41.
"Look. They're here."
Everyone turned their heads, a serious look plastered on their Coach and Captain's faces.
"It's better to see something for yourself than hear about it."
The King of the East Shutoku High finally made their entrance. Chants could already be heard from the supporters' area.
Riko-san stood up. "First years, prepare yourselves. You'll see something amazing today. They're supposed to be even more amazing this year."
Taiga strted to walk towards them, a smug smile on his face. She nicknamed that smile the 'Taiga is going to cause trouble again' smile.
"I'm going to say hi."
Oh?
"Sure." Hyuuga-senpai was clearly not really paying attention. Realizing his mistake too late, he tried to protest. "Oi!"
Too late.
Taiga was more than impatient to clash against another member of the Generation of Miracles. Miyuki just sighed, not even trying to stop him. If he considered them as rivals, that would mean he was going to do something reckless to make a strong impression on them, whether good or bad one. Of course, it tended to be the latter.
"Coach, Captain... Could you let me handle Taiga, please?"
They probably knew she was the only one with Kuroko-kun who could handle him without too much anger or violence, so they let her go.
"Fine, just do something."
Moving closer, she could hear Taiga ask, "Yo. You're Midorima Shintaro, right?"
She saw said 'Midorima Shintaro' looking at Taiga, unfazed by his cockiness. He was really tall, even taller than Taiga, with green hair, green eyes and – she could not help but notice – very long eyelashes. Objectively, he was good-looking. She also noticed his bandaged hand was holding a plushie.
"Yes, but who are you?"
As she stopped, she saw another player behind him laughing as Taiga stretched out his arm towards Midorima Shintaro.
"You want to shake hands?"
Miyuki started roll her wheelchair again, after finally being noticed by Midorima Shintaro's teammate who watched her curiously. Well, she supposed a girl in a wheelchair in the middle of a basketball court full of sweaty players stood out. Meanwhile, as expected, Taiga did something stupid: writing his team name, number team and name on Midorima Shintaro's palm.
"What..!?"
"Because you look like a guy who'd say 'I won't remember it anyway' to someone who tells his name. I have to make you remember the name of the guy who will take the revenge for our senpai."
Finally deciding to speak out loud, she started to lecture him.
"Taiga... What did I tell your behavior when meeting new people?"
He jumped in surprise, startled by her presence. "UGH! But he's–"
She interrupted him, still calm as ever. "No 'but'! You should listen to me because otherwise, Coach and Captain are going to come to scold you."
"No 'but', Taiga! You should listen to me because you have to know it was supposed to be Coach and Captain to come to scold you."
He looked frustrated – but probably slightly relieved as well since it was her instead of Coach and Captain there, – and she could hear him grumble 'this girl...' '...why' '...always nagging me like she's my mom' although she didn't show it. Looking at the two Shutoku's players, she bowed on her wheelchair, ignoring the pain on her knee.
"My name is Masuko Miyuki, I'm Seirin's basketball team's manager. Nice to meet you," she presented herself.
The two Shutoku High players looked now puzzled – they had the 'Seirin has a manager?' look opponents had every time they asked her who she was – but the raven haired one started to talk.
"Hey! I'm Takao Kazunari and this tsundere here is my teammate, Midorima Shintaro."
The other one immediately reacted at the mention of the word 'tsundere'. Mom used that word when talking about Miyuki's godmother.
"Shut up, Takao."
She purposefully ignored Midorima's intervention and gently grabbed her best friend's wrist. "Come on Taiga, just come back and sit down. Focus on our next game before thinking about getting 'revenge'."
Adjusting his glasses, the tall young man was now looking at her in disdain.
"'Revenge'. Aren't you saying some reckless things..."
That high-and-mighty tone was unnerving yet familiar. It made her skin crawl.
"I have faith in this team. They will make it," she explained.
On the back of her mind, she remembered saying the exact same sentence before French Nationals semi-final.
"Didn't you hear anything from your senpai? Last year, against the three Kings in the Final League Seirin got crushed by triple the points each time, you know?" Shutoku's number 10 said.
He wasn't tall for a basketball player, probably around 175cm tall so Miyuki deducted he was either point guard or small forward. He had pretty eyes and reminded her of how her godfather used to look in his twenties.
She saw Taiga's eyes widen as she remained completely unfazed by that piece information. As the manager of the club, Riko-san had informed her of the previous year's results when they planned the training schedules. Miyuki simply chose not to say a word to the other first years for the sake her senpai's pride.
After all, she knew from personal experience how words could wound them, even if it was to attempt comforting them.
"It's your right to get worked up, but the difference between you and us is overwhelming. Even if you make it to the final history will only repeat itself."
She knew that tone Shutoku's ace was using... That tone full of arrogance given to those they considered as good as nothing.
She had heard it enough in the past year from her own team.
"You should never look down on your opponent..." she started, her usual calm tone turning into something that could be associated to a frightening one. She hadn't know until now she still had so much anger in her but she finished, hissing in a low voice, "... Because sometimes, those who you thought to be at your feet would take you down."
Their eyes met. Midorima-kun dropped his plushie, probably destabilized by her sudden change. Miyuki saw it and gave him back, feeling her calm coming back.
"... You've dropped something," she said as she handed him the plushie.
"Ah..."
"I think Kuroko-kun agrees with me, right?" she said turning back to look at him.
The others looked on her left side to see that Kuroko-kun was indeed standing with them.
"Hai. The only thing you can do with past results is a prediction. I think you cannot know how the match will turn out until we have played it, Midorima-kun."
"Kuroko. It seems... I just can't get along with you. Especially with those eyes that won't show what you're thinking... There is a lot I'd like to say, but it'd be pointless to do it here. Come to the final first."
Takao-kun had now his hand casually wrapped on Kuroko-kun's shoulders.
"Yeah! Well said! You're that guy, right? The one from the same middle school as Shin-chan? Don't worry about that guy, he's just a tsundere! The truth is that he's seriously focusing on you, you know?"
Miyuki began to understand...
They used to be in the same middle school. That means they were probably teammates.
Midorima-kun immediately said a simple yet dry dry, "Stop making up things like you usually do, Takao."
The shout of another Shutoku player calling them for the match interrupted them.
Midorima Shintaro turned back and only looked at Kuroko-kun, ignoring her and her best friend again.
"... Kuroko, look well. I'll teach you how overly optimistic your thinking is."
A heavy silence settled in until she decided to talk again.
"Well, have a good game," she politely said as farewell.
Takao-kun answered her, "We will!" with a wink and a smirk before following his teammate.
Did he just flirt with her or was he just always that way?
Kuroko-kun pushed her wheelchair with Taiga on her left and she could feel Takao-kun watching them. Kuroko-kun stopped for obvious reasons.
"Taiga, wait! I can't go there."
Taiga, still as oblivious as ever, asked her, "Huh? But don't you want to see the game?!"
"Kagami-kun can really be dumb sometimes. The team is sitting on the balcony seats and Masuko-san can't go upstairs."
She sighed. "Taiga, you're way too distracted by basketball sometimes."
"Kagami-kun is a basketball idiot."
"I AM NO–"
"Guess who's gonna carry me?!" she said in a teasing tone.
His eyes widened, finally understanding what she implied. "What– Why not Kuroko?"
A few seconds of silence followed that sentence and Taiga probably realized how stupid his suggestion was.
"FINE!" he yelled before slowly pulling her up to carry her, surprisingly gentle for someone so pettily angry.
But Miyuki wasn't really surprised. Of course he would do that though he said he wouldn't. He had a soft heart when it came to his friends.
"I'll tell Coach to not double your training schedule like she planned!"
Kuroko-kun took the now empty wheelchair, his blue eyes slightly reflecting a hint of amusement.
"I didn't know Kagami-kun could be a gentleman."
"WHAT–"
"Yeah, I'm surprised too since I'd have expected you to carry me like a potato bag."
"Not you too, Emilie!" he whined.
38-8. Second quarter time.
Miyuki had to admit it was quite impressive. They were already thirty points ahead and she knew they hadn't shown the true extent of their powers yet.
"So far today he scored five out of five. Seems like Midorima is in a good day too, huh?" It was more an affirmation than a question from Taiga.
"Is that so?"
"Like hell if I know! Shouldn't you be the one to know that?!"
The following sentence from Kuroko-kun got her attention.
"Who knows...? I have never seen him miss one... I apologize."
Miyuki frowned. "You've never seen him miss...? Kuroko-kun does that mean..." She couldn't finish her sentence, too entranced by Midorima Shintaro's three pointer from way beyond the three-point line.
But what surprised her the most was how confident he was. The guy was going back to his side for the defense before the ball even got into the hoop.
"As long as his shape is good, Midorima-kun will score 100% of the time."
'100%?!' ... Impossible.
Even in football, there was no such thing as a 100% scoring rate. It was always around 60% in basketball as she recalled.
"The time until it goes in is unnaturally long... That also has a deep psychological impact..."
Miyuki silently agreed with Coach. Out of all of them, Riko-san looked the most uncomfortable at the sight of this match along with Hyuuga-senpai, probably because they shared the same thoughts about Shutoku's game. She decided she would have to ask Hyuuga-senpai about something.
The match ended with the overwhelming victory of Shutoku: 153-21.
Midorima Shintaro threw a glare at the balcony – or rather at Kuroko-kun, obviously – once more.
"Alright, then let go ho–"
Riko-san violently pushed the senpai.
"NO! WE'VE GOT ONE MORE MATCH TODAY! ARE... ARE YOU GUYS STUPID!"
Hyuuga-senpai managed to say, "We were just kidding! Trying to lighten the mood..."
"Eh? Really?!"
Oh no.
Miyuki was speechless. "Taiga, I told you this morning."
Everyone, even Kuroko-kun sweatdropped.
That Bakagami was probably lacking sleep again, was probably everyone's thought.
"There are two matches on the day of the fourth round and on the last day too! We've got the fifth round at 5P.M today!"
"But if you think about it, two matches in the same day is reckless. Even there's some time between them, fatigue still stays."
"The semi-final and the final take place the same day too... Hm? Does that mean we'll have one match before playing Shutoku?" The look on Taiga's face showed his surprise. "Senpai... The three Kings, they're Shutoku and..."
"Seiho and Sen-Shinkan!" completed Izuki-senpai.
He handed the sheet of paper so the senpai could see it.
"...Look at that..."
"Coach... That..."
"WAIT! Do you mean the second years didn't notice it either?"
That time, Hyuuga-senpai looked away, embarrassed.
"No well... Usually, they're always in different blocks so I didn't pay attention..."
She sighed deeply. "Boys..." She wasn't even a player yet she seemed to know better what match they would play, unbelievable.
"On the last day, the semifinal will probably be against Seiho! And the final against Shutoku!" Riko-san announced.
"We face the Kings of the West and the East in a row," Miyuki concluded.
"ARE YOU KIDDING?! THE SEMIFINAL AT 1P.M AND THE FINAL AT 5P.M. WE'LL DIE!"
Miyuki could see her best friend getting excited at the challenge.
"Ha! If you have to play two matches in a day... If both are strong then it's just as a wish."
"That's just talking tough... Right, Kuroko!"
"Sorry. I'm a bit excited as well..."
The first years were worried now. "HAA?! What did you get infected by the Kagami disease too?!"
"WHAT'S THAT KAGAMI DISEASE?!"
"I would hate that," Kuroko-kun said.
"Somehow the way you deny is pissing me off too, Kuroko!"
She couldn't help but mockingly add, "Don't worry, I was with Taiga for years and nothing happened to me."
"Emilie, you bastard!"
"But, being it a pinch... Doesn't it fire you up?"
That sentence brought a smirk on everyone's face.
She knew that feeling, the excitement before a thrilling game.
"Alright, I'm fired up! I'll go train for a bit..." he confirmed, taking her with him.
"DON'T! REST!"
"Don't worry Coach, I'll check over Taiga," she yelled as her wheelchair went faster because of the basketball idiot...
Her basketball idiot that served her as best friend.
A/N: Chapter 2 done! Things may have been slow in this chapter but it was necessary to settle some elements without OOCness (because I'm trying to follow the canon chronology and characters as much as possible) such as Masuko's friendship with Kagami and Kuroko (I really enjoy comedic scenes with this trio) or Midorima's introduction. For the next chapters, I will begin to develop Masuko's past and her journey until her arrival at Seirin but also what she will do from now (the surgery and what happens after).