Summary [chapter 15]: As a former captain and current manager, Miyuki liked to think she was the most level-headed in the middle of all these sweaty males. But being level-headed did not mean she had no wrong: Miyuki came to that conclusion at the expense of her own health. She also realized she dreaded growing up... literally and figuratively.
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
[SUMMER TRAINING CAMP ARC]
FRAGMENTS
~.~
Chapter 15: growing pains
"Game over–! Shutoku wins with 91 to 82!"
"Thank you!"
We're in trouble.
Between Seirin's determination, their Coach's methods and Iron Heart's come-back, Seirin was evolving at an alarming rate. Add Miyuki as their Manager and...
Masaaki, despite being a former national team player and Shutoku's Coach for more than a decade could not predict Seirin's evolution.
He watched Miyuki's post-practice pep talk. His godchild grew up so fast.
But as the expression said: 'time flies'.
The last time he had seen Miyuki, she was still a child and now she was becoming a beautiful and successful young woman. She had her mother's features except for the eyes. They were blue, like her father's. She was poised and calm like her father but also had her own... particular sense of humor.
He saw his team interacting with Seirin after the traditional post-match greeting. It was good to see his players bond with people outside of their own basketball team. Sharing the same dining hall and training schedule that weren't matches probably helped. And to his relief, he could see that Miyuki was truly part of Seirin and that they were treating her well...
He did not want her to suffer like she did last year.
"That makes three games, three wins... Hmph."
"Guess that means, the preliminaries were a fluke after all?"
Takao was a fool and so were all the first and second years.
"Don't shrug off the loss with bad luck. Run some laps, Takao. Outside, at least ten."
"Gyaa!?"
He sighed. "Besides you should know best, that they're way more determinated now compared to the preliminaries."
On top on that... They were playing without Kiyoshi or Kagami... And Miyuki has something in mind... At this rate, we will have to be careful in the winter.
"You're right, Masaaki-san," Miyuki said.
He frowned and stopped himself from jumping in surprise. "Miyuki, stop doing that."
"Masuko-san!"
At least, his players looked as suprised as he was by her interruption. He sometimes forgot how easy for her it was to weave in and out with all these tall players around her, despite using crutches.
"I have my reeducation among other things to consider but I take my duty as Seirin's manager seriously. We will become the best basketball team in Japan."
It would have sounded crazy if it was coming from anyone else but that was Miyuki. His goddaughter and her parents' daughter, the current French National Football Champion and the one who was on par with France's new hopes.
Of course, his players had no idea about the whole truth but the first part was known by everyone: she was the only one in the gymnasium to have won a highschool national competition. Such statement said so calmly was frightening, to say the least.
Can a dark horse win over the Kings... and the Emperor?
"Don't forget that Shutoku will be there."
This time, he could not hide his surprise. It was Midorima who said that.
And he said 'Shutoku'.
It took him a while to realize that the prideful Midorima Shintaro, their ace, changed after losing against Seirin. The rest of the team gaped at him. All eyes were on Midorima, who was quickly starting to show signs of irritation.
"What?" he asked with irritation.
"Holy shit!"
'Holy shit' indeed.
"It's an honor to know that the Veteran King is so eager to play against us again," she answered with a smirk.
Everyone was so flabbergasted by Midorima's answer they forgot who he was talking to.
He turned his eyes on her. Polite yet provocative, just like her father.
Her eyes were mainly focused on Midorima and Masaaki thought about the numerous times he had seen them together for the past two weeks.
Among Seirin's members, Midorima spent most of his time with her and also Kagami since she always stayed with her best friend and Kuroko. and occasionally that brown haired first year.
Their friendship was odd.
Midorima was not the type to get along with people: he was too blunt, too selfish, while Miyuki protected herself with polished words and politeness to hide her trust issues. However, he noticed they got closer and he wondered to what extent.
"I wanted to thank you for these two productive weeks. It's been a pleasure and a privilege to train with such a great team and rival," she bowed and the word 'rival' echoed in his head. "I'm also here to invite you to a special dinner with us, I do hope you'll attend to this event."
"Special dinner?" Miyaji asked.
"Masuko-san is too kind with us!" Another third year added.
"Of course we'll be there! Do you need help with something?" Otsubo asked.
Miyuki shook her head. "I don't want to bother you, Otsubo-san."
"I want to help you since you've done so much for us."
Miyuki smiled gently. "If some of you are willing to help in the kitchen, I can also share some recipes with you."
He landed his eyes on her crutches. She told him she could walk a short distance by herself and although she had shown signs of exasperation, she was positive about her recovery.
Despite that, Masaaki was worried about her. Kagami told him about the panick attacks and the lingering trust issues. He also asked about her anger issues management.
She was still holding in a lot a anger a year after what happened in middle school and Kagami told him that he found her too calm, especially considering the fact that she could not play football until the end of the year.
"I'll see you at the dining hall at 9 P.M," Miyuki said. She bowed one last time before leaving the room followed by half of the third years along with Midorima and Takao.
"Here. Be sure to cool it."
Kouki stared at the bucket that coach handed him with confusion.
What was he supposed to do with all that ice?
"We use this technique in football as well, including the national team. The ice is here to reduce the muscle pain and prevent overstressing. To sum it up, it will help you with the recuperation," Masuko-chan whispered in his ear.
Kouki jumped in surprise, blushing at the physical proximity with her.
"Masuko-chan! You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
"Perhaps."
Masuko-chan did that with him all the time for some reason. If he didn't know better, he would say she was flirting with him but she was sometimes doing that to Kagami too and there was nothing remotively romantic between them.
So why?
"Stop trying to mess up with Furi!" Kagami said.
She rolled her eyes. "Get your legs in the ice," she said as she pushed her best friend who yelped in return.
Kiyoshi-senpai chuckled. Now that he looked around him, Kouki noticed Kiyoshi-senpai was the only second year smiling.
"In the end... It was a total annihilation."
"Did we get weaker?"
"... 'Course not. We're getting stronger... Have a bit of confidence! We're strong!"
Kiyoshi-senpai's words were... confusing. Were they getting stronger or were they already strong?
"What Teppei means is that we were already strong but that we can always get better and more determined. In the end, losing doesn't matter that much because it happens in sports. The main point we have to figure out to get better is the 'how?'."
"Please, you only lost once in your highschool career," Kagami said.
"My football highschool career only lasted one scholar year but thank you for reminding me."
Kagami...
The most tragic thing was that Kagami wasn't doing that on purpose. He was just naturally too blunt without any hurtful intents and that somehow made it worse.
Masuko-chan had naturally understood before any of them and just scoffed, not looking offended at all. "You're right, I only lost once in my football highschool career, no matter how short said career was but that was for official matches. I lost many friendly matches and that's thanks to these defeats that I won. Losing means learning. Think about the 'how?' of your defeat and you'll understand," she insisted.
Everyone stopped talking.
She furrowed her brows. "Why are you all looking me like this?"
"Uh?... Ah, we're just surprised, you don't usually talk that much..."
"Is that so? I get carried away sometimes. Midorima says I talk too much sometimes."
Midorima...
"He's right, all these pretty words are so annoying," Kagami added.
Instead of getting upset, Masuko-chan smirked. "Oh? So you agree with Midorima for once? How exquisite."
She was messing with him.
"Shut up! You know what I mean," he yelled.
"I do. But I have my way with words whenever it is necesarry. I just couldn't just talk with my football while being the coach and captain of the team, I had to put it into words as well. Who do you think was in charge of pep talks before and after a match?"
"Oi, are you calling me out? You know I'm not good with... that."
She rolled her eyes and Kouki almost did the same. Everyone could see that. "Of course not. You're Kagami Taiga. You're the team's ace and there's nothing wrong with letting your basketball talk for yourself. Hyuuga-senpai, Riko-san and I are here for the other part."
"She's right, now shut up or go die! I want some peace," captain shouted, looking absolutely exhausted with his team's antics.
They all shivered but silently complied.
Kouki threw a glance at Masuko-chan. Something had changed with her. She used to only say 'Seirin' when talking about the team but she recently started saying 'we' and 'us' sometimes.
Kouki wasn't as dumb and airheaded as most people thought. Sure, he wasn't the cleverest but he could see that Masuko-chan, despite liking basketball, mainly became Seirin's manager for Kagami... Not that it bothered Kouki, he couldn't judge her since he kinda joined the basketball team for his crush but he noticed she was getting more and more invested.
She also dropped the over-politeness with them most of the time. She was getting more moody and dry when talking to them despite always having control but Kouki liked it. Having her willing to show an uglier side of herself felt more sincere and genuine.
"What's this half-assed pass?"
"Sorry."
Taiga and she had the habit to naturally slipped to English whenever they were alone. Her language register also tended to go back to something between familiar and standard.
"Did you get rusty?" he asked her.
She hated that teasing tone.
"What are you implying? That I suck?" she joked.
Miyuki didn't know whether she was the one who was helping Taiga or he was the one helping her but it was great. She was now starting to get in good shape, although it was nowhere near her former self. Of course she couldn't play basketball yet, since she wasn't even able to walk a long distance by herself.
However, making plain passes helped her to sharpen her instinct. She was getting restless and after finishing cooking food for everyone and rushed outside, dragging him behind her.
"Isn't that a bit extreme?"
"Worried much about me? I'm moved," she answered, a smirk on her lips.
She passed him the ball again with more force than intended and heard Taiga dunk. She knew what he meant but she had done it many times already.
Wearing a blindfold to make passing exercices helped her sharpen her instinct and her other senses from the sensation of the ball in her hand to the sound of her pass.
It also was strangely therapeutic. The coolness of the silk masking her eyesight soothed her and felt familiar. She had learnt to play sports with her eyes closed with the kids in the neighborhood centre but that was something Taiga didn't need to know for now.
"My, how devoted..." a new feminine voice said, clearly amused.
"Coach, hi!" She waved in Riko-san's direction.
If Riko-san was surprised by what she was doing, she didn't say word about it. Miyuki had the inkling feeling Coach's scanning abilities was even better than she had thought.
"Not really... Emilie's doing passes and I dunk. Actually... I've been runnin' on the beach by myself during this whole trip."
"Hey, I was there!" Miyuki protested.
Riko-san giggled and acted surprised. "My? Really?"
"All I got was Emilie's hellish trainin' but every time I came back, the game's already over. Oh, man. Why did I do all this..."
"So dense," she whispered, reverting back to Japanese.
"Shut up! What the hell do you even mean?"
Riko-san giggled. "Geez... You haven't realized it by yourself?"
"Eh?"
"Of course not, that's Taiga."
Miyuki quietly shook her head and laid down on the ground knowing where that was going. She tought that Riko-san's special training as well as her training were clearly screaming at him that he hadn't reached his full potential yet but apparently, they had been mistaken. He was even more dense than they thought.
"Okay, then let me tell you. Try to jump."
She didn't even need to take off her blindfold to know that his jumping strengh had greatly increased. If she was correct, Taiga jumped higher than the basketball hoop's ring. Miyuki suddenly felt another pair of eyes on them.
"You're tired, so I guess that's about it... Next, try the other side," Riko-san told her best friend.
Apparently, Miyuki was the only one to have felt a new presence.
"Eh?"
Taiga's jumps were messy and rather irregular. It was the complete opposite of Tatsuya's style: where Tatsuya mastered technique, Taiga mastered power through his jumps. Tatsuya's basketball was so polished while Taiga's was akin a to raw diamond.
Perhaps it was a matter of maturity as well. Taiga was everything but self-aware when it came to his own skills but that what made him so charming.
That was also the reason why she thought her best friend was the only one who standed a chance against Tatsuya and the Generation of Miracles, although she was quite concerned about Taiga's ability to fully play without holding back against Tatsuya, given their history.
"Ei~ Ah."
What's this noise?
Miyuki gasped. "You did not just–"
"WAH, IDIOT! Too much strengh!"
She lifted up her blindfold on time to see that the idiot had indeed made the basketball hoop fall before putting it back. Taiga was now lying on the ground as well, flabbergasted by his own jumping power.
"Ah, you did..."
At least, he had finally realized his strong foot was his right foot and not his left.
"Get it now? Your greatest weapon is your jump, but you still haven't completely mastered it. For now, just train your body, and think about what to do after."
"Don't worry Taiga, I can think for the both of us."
"Shut up!"
She laughed quietly.
She was almost sure he had thought air battle would be the only weapon he had to face the 'Generation of Miracles'... and Tatsuya. But the problem was that she knew from experience that one weapon wasn't enough. No matter how great that one single weapon was, he needed to master all the basics first and a set goal to try to reach.
'Talent isn't everything.'
That was what she said half a year ago. And she standed by it.
The best players couldn't be strong at one thing only and they needed the team, in football a least. Basketball was different when it came to that, Kuroko Tetsuya was the living proof of what specialization to its extreme looked like. But Miyuki truly believed team work based on reliable all round players was the key to a true victory.
And given the vague yet dreadful stories she heard from the Generation of Miracles about themselves, even the most talented players hit a wall albeit different from everyone else. She had seen it beforehand as well. It almost to Taiga in the match against Shutoku and it had happened to her own teammates last year.
'Talent isn't everything... but it sure helps.'
Tatsuya's flat answer had lacked of the bitterness she had expected from him but it still hurt nonetheless.
She felt crestfallen whenever she remembered his words. She understood what he meant. He was right in a way but she knew talent wasn't everything. She tried to explain but Tatsuya was too pessimistic. But then, perhaps it was quite presumptious from her to say those words to him...
She was so focused in her thoughts that she only noticed Taiga's unusual silence now.
"Mh?"
Was that...
That time, she completely took off her blindfold to see Taiga and Midorima angrily glaring at each other.
"Are you still children?" she asked them.
Midorima jumped, spooked out by her presence. "Masuko?!"
"Indeed... I'm here too." She rolled her eyes and sighed. She was always forgotten during their childish quarrel...
"What are you doing?"
"I'm resting, obviously."
There was no need to tell him about their passing exercice. Being friends with him didn't change the fact they were still rivals. She had the feeling Midorima had suspicion already about her coaching.
"What's up?" Taiga inquired as he erected the basket back to where it was.
Midorima silently observed him before cooly replying, "Nothing. I'm just out to buy a drink."
It was fascinating how those two managed to make such trivial words agressive (and, in her opinion, almost threatening).
"Drink?" She went to a sitting position and saw he was drinking a 'Shiruko', a can with sweet bean soup with puffed rice cakes... Japanese food and drinks were so strange sometimes.
"Impressive you can drink that in summer."
"It's obviously a cold one, idiot."
"IT'S NOT 'BOUT THAT!"
"I have lost faith in you," he declared.
She took a note of the way Midorima worded his opinion.
'Faith', uh.
Taiga raised an eyebrow. "Where did that come from?"
"Before losing to me, you lost horribly to Aomine, right?"
"Guh. I'll win next time! It won't ever stay like that!"
"Heh... Don't tell me you're thinking that you can win with an aerial battle? Is your head only filled with jumping, huh? Fool."
So he decided to help him? Interesting. She had realized what Taiga was lacking as she hadwatched Seirin against Shutoku, and apparently Midorima did the same.
Taiga's skill worked the best against him since his three pointers took time to prepare, allowing Taiga to counter it with a high jump done with good timing time. She hadn't been sure at that time, but still shared her theory with Riko-san who later confirmed she had been right.
Neither of them said a word to Taiga or the rest of the team back then, because that kind of training would take months and they had naively thought he standed a chance against Aomine Daiki as such.
"Huh?"
"Just because you're jumping high, doesn't mean anything will change." Miyuki frowned at Midorima's choice of words. "You're still only half-way, it's not worth being called a weapon yet. I can't have you lose numerous times like that before I beat you. Come. I'll fix that cheap conclusion of yours." Miyuki thought that Midorima had never looked so cool until now, in the pale moonlight. "Ten shots. You'll play offense, I'll play defense. If you score once, you win."
"Woah, so much food!"
"It looks tasty!"
Half of the players from both Seirin and Shutoku was already drooling... Shintaro was hungry himself but he was decent enough not to act like these barbarians. Still, the smell of food reminded him that he hadn't eaten anything since lunch.
Shintaro was bad at cooking. That was something only his family and those guys from Teiko knew. He had discovered how bad he was at cooking when he was at his second middle school year... It had involved a summer training camp and collective food poisoning.
After that event that should not be mentioned, Akashi had forbidden he and Momoi the access to the kitchen since and he couldn't blame him. But he couldn't help being envious of people skilled at cooking like Masuko.
"For this last dinner together, you can go around with your plate and take whatever you want to eat. I don't think I need to thank you again for this summer training camp, so just go and eat!"
"Thank you so much," was said in a rush beore everyone started running towards the plates of food.
As he stared at Kiyoshi-san biting a second year for wanting the same chicken kebab as him, Shintaro decided that staying in the back for now was definitely a wise decision. Coach, along with Masuko and Aida-san did the same.
"Boys are always the fastest when it comes to food," he heard Aida-san say.
Masuko snorted. "Right."
Aida-san left them to join Iron Heart and Hyuuga-san. The both of them were understandably wary due to Aida-san's smile and Shintaro syloathized with them. The woman was truly frightening.
He saw coach saying something to Masuko before leaving as well to get creamy salmon pasta. Masuko moved on her own as well. Shintaro's cool gaze remained on her. Despite the fact she was still using crutches, she was stubbornly trying to hold her plate while taking food by herself.
Fool.
He headed towards her. "Give me your plate."
She turned her head and semed surprised to see him on her left. She tiltled her head, as if what he just said was bizarre.
"Aren't you going to eat? You must be hungry after today's practice."
"I'm waiting for these idiots to calm down."
They were now looking at Kagami battling for food against Takao.
"An insightful decision though you shouldn't wait too long if you want to have something to eat," she answered, finally giving her plate to him. "By the way..."
"Hm?"
"Taiga's birthday is in two days but since he doesn't want a real birthday party, I thought dinner at Maji Burger would be great."
Masuko was fidgeting under his piercing eyes. He noticed the sadness in her eyes, the one she had whenever she talked about painful memories.
Did she just... No, it couldn't be. It didn't concern him anyway.
"I... asked the same to Tetsuya and Kise-kun, if he would be available at that date, of course. There's no need to bring gift or money, I'll pay everything."
He made no effort to hide his long-suffering sigh at the mention of Kise's name.
"Shouldn't we–"
"Pay for your order? No need to, I invited you and there's no need to feel guilty. Yes, I'm a girl but that doesn't mean I can't treat you to lunch. I'm probably more wealthy than you anyway."
Was she?
He remembered Yachiru saying Masuko came from the deprived area of her city but he couldn't see why she would lie about it.
Another strange thing was that she could attend a private middle school in France and a private high school in Japan. Her apartment was probably similar to Kagami's, meaning that it was expensive...
"I'll come if I feel like it," he finally answered.
She nodded, visibly satisfied with his reply. "I do hope Kise-kun won't be there."
"What?"
Didn't she like him? She shook her head at his reaction.
"Masaaki-san hasn't told you about tomorrow's Inter High match yet? Kaijo against Touou."
Kaijo against Touou.
Kise against Aomine.
Despite his pride, Shintaro had to admit that he wanted to see that match with his own eyes. He knew that other than Akashi, Aomine was the worst opponent Kise could have. In all the one on one Aomine and Kise had, Kise had never won.
"I really want to see Kise-kun win but..."
"You don't think he can?"
"Perhaps one day... though I doubt it will happen tomorrow."
He gave her back the plate now full of food.
"Will you go there? I know it's not mandatory for you but Seirin and Shutoku will go there to watch it together."
He almost shivered at the thought of having to hear Kagami and Takao's loud comments the whole match.
"No," he simply answered while starting to take food for himself.
"Me neither," she said.
What?
"You're a bad liar by the way," she continued before he had time to ask why she wouldn't assist to the match.
He scowled, stopping his move. Shintaro wanted to say that back to her. She was a terrible liar. However, he chose not to comment on it, knowing it wasn't the moment.
He also knew what she said was true. He fervently wanted to see that match. Instead of answering, he took back the plate he had given her. Her attempt at eating while holding her crutches was pathetic.
He walked away and knew Masuko would follow him.
"Thank you," she muttered once she noticed they were heading towards the chairs available.
He threw her a quick glance but didn't meet her eyes. Masuko was looking at her crutches, a pensive look on her face.
They sat side by side and started eating silenty. The food was delicious as usual. He decided to make the effort to break the silence for once to thank her...
"When is your next appointment at the hospital?"
She stopped her fork midway. "Tomorrow."
... It didn't mean he was good at small talk.
"Ah."
Masuko apparently noticed his effort and continued to talk despite visibly not enjoying talking about the hospital.
"I've been spending enough time at the hospital for a lifetime or two. I loathe this place..."
Figures.
"... But people who work there have always been kind to me and people I care about and for that, I'm grateful," she paused. She frowned, as if trying to figure out something. "Have you..." She paused again before finally shaking her head. "Nevermind."
"What? Just say what you intended to say."
"You'll figure out eventually."
"You're saying that as if it was easy."
She snorted. "It took me half a year to figure out... You do know I'm technically your senior, right?"
"What?"
"You can call me senpai," she said with a wink.
Shintaro sputtered as he felt his face getting hot. "WHAT IS THAT?"
She laughed wholeheartedly and Shintaro realized that was the happiest he had seen her for the past days.
"My apologies Midorima, I couldn't resist... But it was only a half-joke, I'm really going to be a second year in the French educational system in September. I'm not worried about it, I just need to get better in written Japanese and that double curriculum will be easy to pass."
"I can help you with that... To return you the favor for your book," he added as he adjusted his glasses.
"I wouldn't have pegged you as the type to return a favor."
"I am a man that proposes and by all means, I return all favors, including making you lose."
She looked pleasingly surprised by his answer. "My, how thoughtful of you..."
That Masuko was different than the one he met a few months ago but he didn't mind... Not that she changed much however, her strange wit humored him.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked
It was after hearing her question that he realized he had been staring at her for too long. For some reason, what she had just said took him back to the memory of a shogi game during his second year at Teiko. He shook his head.
"Nothing. Eat before it gets cold."
"If you say so," she answered in a light tone before continuating to eat.
Masuko spent the rest of the dinner trying to teach him whatever these French dishes' names were. Her voice was different in French than it was in Japanese... It was deeper and smoother to his ears.
Shintaro let her humor him since it seemed to make her forget about her injury for the time being.
And it made Shintaro wonder how different Masuko was when she used to live in France.
"Checkmate."
Masaaki sighed. It only took her twenty minutes to win that time.
"I remember when you never managed to win against me."
"I was ten, Masaaki-san," she said, amused.
"Still."
"I think I've spent enough time at the hospital to master the art of chess."
"Hmf."
Her witty yet noncommital answer lacked of her subtle bite. He couldn't blame her.
"You, Midorima and Taiga worry too much about my leg."
"Oh?"
He wasn't too worried about her leg. He knew she was in good care with Kagetora's daughter but he was more preoccupied with her mental health.
"During dinner, Midorima asked me about my next appointment which is equivalent to him admitting he's worried about me."
He mentally agreed with her. Midorima, despite being selfish when it came to his lucky items, was quite observant, not to mention the fact that he strangely got attached to Miyuki.
"Midorima, uh?" he wondered outloud.
She wasn't impressed. "I expected a comment from you about him sooner."
"You did?"
"Of course I did, you're my godfather." She knew him well even after years not seeing each other face to face. He supposed the other way was true: Masaaki knew his goddaughter qui well too.
He had heard from Takao's loud mouth that Midorima visited 'a cute girl' at the hospital every day (though the one concerned kept claiming he only went there to see his father) so Masaaki deduced that was how those two became friends. And he was convinced Miyuki was partly responsable for Midorima's change of heart concerning basketball.
After losing against Seirin, he was less isolated and even started giving pointers to other players in his own passive-agressive way.
"About that..."
"Yes?"
Miyuki's sharp look hinted nothing good. "Is it the first time you're trying to recruit Teppei?"
He feigned surprise. It was frightening to see she rightfully guesed his attempt to scout Iron Heart. It could only be that since he knew Iron heart would never say a word about it to Seirin. She really was her parents' daughter.
"I tried two years ago."
"And what did he tell you?"
"The first time or the second time?"
She looked amused. "The second time, obviously."
"He said he had already made a promise with Seirin about reaching the top together."
"Oh," was all she said.
He could read the quiet bewilderment on her face. Wasn't that the answer she expected?
"I know he was out of reach after that."
"I see... I know you're a rival team's coach but could you answer the question I'm about to ask, please?"
He sighed. It was hard to refuse her something when she asked so politely and she knew it.
"Go ahead."
"What kind of player Teppei is? I mean how he really is. I..." she hesitated before continuating. "I can tell when someone doesn't tell me the whole truth. I don't want to ask my senpais for now because his injury seems to have some history with Inter High Preliminaries but how strong is he when at full capacity?"
"Almost on par with the Generation of Miracles, which makes him more valuable than them in a way," he said, quite sincerely. It had been for that exact reason that he had tried to get him into the team.
Iron Heart was the definition of Shutoku's motto: 'Unyielding tenacity'. And so was Miyuki, but Masaaki now knew neither of the would ever leave Seirin.
Basketball Inter High was new and exhilarating. The continuous noise of creaks on the court, a stadium full of fans cheering for the teams... It felt different compared to football. Not in a good or in a bad way, it was just different.
When Miyuki was still playing with her team, only around twenty people went to see their matches for the first half of the year before they somehow got popular and managed to fill one-quarter, then half and finally all the seats availables.
The strangest thing was that the more they advanced in the tournaments, the bigger the stadium was thus the more sits there were but even more people cheered for them, even after losing at Regionals.
"Masuko-san?"
She put aside her reverie to answer to the nurse in front of her.
"That would be me," she said.
She would watch Kise-kun, Aomine Daiki and their respective teams on replay. She looked at her watch. The warm-up would start in fifteen minutes.
Miyuki tried to stop thinking about that followed the nurse who led her to Osawa-sensei's office.
Taiga had insisted to accompany her but she flatly refused, knowing how much he wanted and needed to see two members of the Generation of Miracles clashing against each other. Same for the other in the team... Sometimes, Seirin were too selfless.
She bowed. "Hello, Osawa-sensei."
He bowed in return. "Masuko-san, take a sit," he indicated with a hand. "I got reports of your progress from Aidan-san."
"Ah."
She was at loss for words. She felt frustrated about the lack of significant progress. Sure, she was now able to stand up and walk on her own but it would only last for a few minutes.
"I noted that you said both of your legs hurt during your sleep."
"Hai. My thighs started hurting after the second practice of the day too."
Every night, she would wake up because of that, before feeling her eyes closing again. Fortunately, practices were so tiring she didn't have any problem to fall assleep anymore.
It wasn't as if it was new anyway. These pains had started a few months ago but stopped around Nationals.
"When did you stop growing up?"
She was almost ashamed to know the answer by heart. "At thirteen, during my third year in middle school... We have four years of middle school in France," she added quickly.
Why that question? She thought it was just soreness from daily practice.
"You're having growing pains."
"Uh?" What the hell? "I thought it only happened for children between eight and fourteen."
She knows that since her height was a sensible subject for her. She knew she wasn't considered as 'small' in France and even less in Japan but it was frustrating to see all her friends suddenly getting taller than her in one summer. It was even frustrating when her parents were respectively 182 cm and 187 cm tall.
"Generally, yes though it can also happen between the age of fifteen and seventeen in certain cases, especially considering your situation for the past two years... A combination of continuous stress, lack of sleep and overtraining made you stop growing. But only temporarily."
"Oh."
She had the feeling she was starting to get repetitive with the monosyllabic words... But her brain couldn't compute the implications of that new piece of information.
"But I wasn't..."
She stopped mid-sentence. Wasn't what?
Deppressed? Stressed?
Both knew it would be a terrible lie. And he had her medical file in his hands anyway.
"I don't think I was overtraining," she stubbornly said.
"Not necessarily overtraining but an adolescent practicing sports more than twelve hours per week might delay their growth and puberty. However, there is no impact on your definitive height." She couldn't help being a tad bitter about the lack of delay of her friends' growth spurt... "All athletes of your level competing either have minor injuries or are on verge on getting injured." She casted her eyes down. She knew it was true. An athlete at their best was always putting their physical integrity at stake. "Masuko-san, did you know you were going to get injured?" The 'answer honesly' at the end was left unsaid.
She closed her eyes. "Hai."
She knew something was off after Regionals but she only realized it was her knee after the semi-final. She was just relieved that it didn't hurt while she was practicing until her crash at the final.
She felt stupid about the whole thing sometimes: despite claiming she had made a more or less conscious decision to keep playing, she had been reckless with her own health. Too reckless.
Like she had said to the guys a few the day before, in no way she regretted her decision about playing the final. However, she regretted neglecting her own health for the past year.
Miyuki expected a never-ending lecture but she got nothing. She slowly opened her eyes to see Osawa-sensei was watching her with benevolance (and a hint of exasperation?)
"I'm not here to judge you. I'm here to help you. You realized your mistake and I hope you'll remember taking one or two days of rest every seven days now."
"Hai," she repeated, not even bothering to try to hide her surprise.
"Your regime diet has enough protein and is balanced so I have nothing to say about it but I'll prescribe you pills to lower your growing pains. You should also be informed of the possible repercutions on your reeducation and of the reeducation activities to practice to lessen the pain."
If she would have known (literally) growing up would be so tiresome, she would have rather stayed as tall as she was at the moment at the expense of her own pride. But at the same time, she hoped out of spite that she would get taller than her teammate who always joked about her height, despite not being that tall himself.
Ryouta wasn't a level-headed player and never pretended he was one...
He was still immature. He knew it and yet, he wanted to win.
He chuckled. Kasamatsu-senpai was right when he said he was still 'a kid' (but still... so mean from senpai!)
"... Ah."
He turned his head around but saw no one. "Eh?"
A ghost?
"Kise-kun. Hello."
He jumped in surprise. "Kurokocchi? Why are you here!?"
"I got seperated."
"Uh?"
What was Kurokocchi doing there?
"I never imagined you'd come to watch-ssu."
Where were Kagamicchi and Masukocchi? It was weird to see Kurokocchi without them by his side. It was also weird not to be used to see him alone again... but it was good for him, Ryouta decided. He now associated Kurokocchi with Masukocchi's calmness and Kagamicchi's nervous energy.
It almost felt like their second year at Teiko but Ryouta knew it was different.
Kurokocchi also became easier to find outside the court now. It was as if... as if he decided not to erase his presence too much. Ryouta supposed it had an indirect impact on his style and his misdirection.
"We had our training camp around here until yesterday, so we decided to come watch Inter High together. And with Shutoku," Kurokocchi explained with a flicker of amusement in his eyes.
Ryouta marveled that Kurokocchi's eyes looked so blue and alive again, at least as much as his gaze allowed him to.
"Tch – So you're not here to cheer for me?"
"Not at all."
"So mean!" He fake whined before realizing what Kurokocchi just said. "Wait, Shutoku? Is Midorimacchi here?"
"Not officially." which meant 'yes but he's probably hidden somewhere'. "Miyuki-san isn't either."
"Huh? Why?"
Kurokocchi calling someone by their first name was still foreign to him, he hadn't even done that with him. Ryouta shook his head. Now wasn't the time to think about the old Aomine. He would do that once he won against him.
(If he even won against him, the vicious voice in his head told him)
"Miyuki-san had an appointment to the hospital. She insisted she wanted to go alone there," Kurokocchi answered with... an exasperated yet short sigh?
A SIGH. FromKUROKOCCHI.
"However, Miyuki-san asked me to give Kise-kun this."
Kurokocchi handed him a brown envelope with 'Kise-kun' neatly written in roman letters. Ryouta delicately took it, questionning Kurokocchi with his eyes.
"I don't know what is the nature of its content. I'm just the messenger."
"Ah," was all he could say before slowly opening it.
Ryouta didn't know what he would find but it wasn't what he would have imagined at all.
On the grainy paper was drawn a watercolor portrait of himself in vibrant colors. Ryouta loved its composition: the focal point was on his eyes. They looked so bright and intense: from the yellow color used to the determinated look his gaze had. The other striking element was the deep blue color on his jersey. The person drawn there was shining in so many ways... But that was supposed to be him.
Was it really him? Was that how Masukocchi perceive him through her eyes?
"Masukocchi..." he whispered, his voice trembling before he noticed something wet on his cheecks.
Where did those tears even come from?
He was so lost in his thought that he almost forgot Kurokocchi's presence. He looked as speechless as him.
"There is something written in the back."
Her turned the paper. Ah, right.
In the corner, was delicately written with a pencil:
Kaijo's Ace, 'The Blue Elites'. As bright as the sun, as beautiful as a starry night.
Ryouta found himself smiling despite the tears. He would have to thank Masukocchi for that. With flowers. And chocolate. And everything that was bright and cheerful!
He pretended he didn't notice Kurokocchi's change of expression as took the tissue that he was handing him. They looked at each other without saying a word before they started to walk side by side.
Ryouta wasn't even tempted to ask Kurokocchi the question that was on his lips anymore.
'Who do you think will win?'
I guess I'll have to play to find out.
A/N: Sorry for leaving you during one year without any updates. I'm back and ready to continue this fic! I'm touched by all the favorites and follows, it gave me motivation not to stop Fragments. This is the end of the summer training camp arc! Himuro and Murasakibara will (finally) appear in two chapters meaning you will get more informations about Masuko and Himuro's dynamic. Unlike the anime and manga, I will write what is happening between September and October.
I would like to thank the people who has favorited or/and is following this story after I published the previous chapter: trouvaille, LegitimateLostGirl, restofourtimes, Gissung, Cinnamonroll-chan, badwolffor3ver, LenaLena2000, skaterrockgirl, Lemonsoda25, Kami-Kani, CeriseUnderwood1996, breathless13...
Once again, thank you for the fav/following! Don't hesitate to post comments, I'll make sure to answer them on next chapter's A/N or through PM :)