I really didn't anticipate it being this long until I could sit and think about how I wanted this to go. Probably because we're actually . . . hitting . . . true manga events in time, which is very exciting but also very frustrating for me to write as I want it to work even with all my changes I've been throwing in throughout.
I've been going through a lot since the summer of last year when I last updated, and I lost a lot of motivation to do anything for a while, but things have been better – like me actually working again – so hopefully chapters will come without so much time in between them.
I was so unbelievably happy to see all the love this fic has gotten in my absence. The number of views this story receives has been great (for me at least). I hit my milestone of over 100 favorites and follows! I cannot thank you all enough for the love and support for these past fourteen chapters. Thank you to all that have been following along with this story.
I also had some of the funniest reviews yet from blankardtheeighth. I truly have such a love-hate for Akashi, so your reviews had me smiling a bunch.
I hope that you all enjoy this next chapter. It's taken awhile, but I think it'll be worth the wait.
Disclaimer: [Kuroko no Basuke conceptually and character-wise does not belong to me. The lines from Kuroko's friend as well as paraphrasing of what Akashi said during Kuroko's game are taken from translated panels in KnB. My OCs and the story-divergence I do take credit for, however. Quote belongs to David Frost.]
Chapter 15: May All Dreams Not Remain Dreams
"Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you want and believe in, and it will come naturally." – David Frost
"This is it, huh?" Yuki seemed to ask into the Void – or the outside of the boys' locker room.
Her quiet companion nods in agreement.
"Time flies even if you're not having fun," she sighs mournfully.
Kuroko smiles at her, "I've had fun. I've been doing what I love."
Yuki moves to place her head in her left hand, holding her forehead. "I guess we really do have to put work into the things we love, even if it's difficult." She shakes her head in her hand, some strands of long, ebony locks getting stuck around her fingers.
It's almost too soft to be considered a whisper, but she can still hear it: "Thank you."
She feels like crying; probably one of her first true friends in life, and she's potentially set him up for disaster. Yet, Kuroko still stands next to her – thanking her – despite it all.
Yuki opts not to look at him, and instead mentions, "I think I should be thanking you." She pauses. Taking a deep breath to prevent herself from sounding too worked up, Yuki then continues, "For putting your faith in my attempts to help you work on some skill we didn't even know could succeed. For going along with every person I sent to you. For – for dealing with me."
It's silent for a little while. It's not tense, but it's certainly not comfortable. She can't place it, but Yuki knows it's not an atmosphere she's particularly fond of. Maybe it's how vulnerable she feels; maybe it's how quiet Kuroko has gotten. All she knows is that she wants nothing but the best for him, and if her plan doesn't get carried out in the way she's hoped for, Yuki won't be able to face Kuroko again.
A hand on her right shoulder stops her inner panic from continuing to swell. It's such a gentle hand in comparison to the other hands that have touched her previously – not painful and overbearing like Haizaki's, and not rough like Nijimura's. It's calloused, but it's filled with a kindness in a way that makes her feel warm.
It feels nothing like the ghost-like tendrils you'd imagine the gym's "phantom" to have.
"You're a very good person, Yuki-san," he says to her in the most emphatically neutral tone a person can muster.
She meets his cerulean blue eyes and gives him as large a smile as she can.
"Good luck, Tetsuya-san."
Two days prior . . .
The weekend had been flying by, much to Yuki's utter despair. She'd hoped that it would drag on so that she could wait out her inevitable demise. Yuki'd toyed with deadlines before, pushing things off until the last moment to try and enjoy what she could when she had the chance.
However, this wasn't truly her deadline; the outcome of this event had nothing to do with her life or her personal goals. This was someone that mattered to Yuki, and her eagerness to prove people wrong – to show that the underdogs can come out on top – may have backfired completely.
The unknown was terrifying to her, and as she mulled over the many possibilities that could happen after this weekend, Yuki found herself with a pounding headache and an irrational sense of paranoia. Going into a group ice cream adventure with some of the noisiest, wackiest people she knows on top of it all was a recipe for disaster.
Her sister jokingly told her that she should invest in stress-management alternatives to calm down – even urging her to buy lotions with soothing, de-stress intensive scents. Yuki wanted to snap at her to mind her own business, and then she realized that again, that was her anxiety pushing her to go after everyone around her, so she'd held her tongue.
Yuki sighed loudly as she looked blankly off into the corner of her room. She knew she needed to finalize getting ready to head over to where the group was meeting, but she couldn't seem to bring herself to move.
"Knock, knock."
"Hi," Yuki mumbled out.
Kimi welcomed herself into the room and pulled out Yuki's desk chair, making herself as comfortable as possible before putting her hands together in a position Yuki could only seem to think of as Kimi's "Serious Talk" position.
"You're going to be late if you keep this up," she admonishes Yuki teasingly.
"Yeah, maybe that's the goal," Yuki pauses. "Maybe I'll just sit here and miss it entirely."
Kimi rolled her eyes, before looking at the various books Yuki has on her shelves. "You read all these?"
Yuki shakes her head, "Nah, Okaa-san told me when I'm older or something like that for a few of the books."
"I was going to say, I don't know too many kids your age reading something like No Longer Human." Kimi laughs a bit to herself. Yuki can't help but feel envious of how jovial Kimi always seems to be. She can see it in her eyes how much Kimi makes the most of her days. Her face seems to say that she's not read many of the books on Yuki's shelf herself.
After a bit, Kimi looks back at Yuki. She seems to think a bit longer about what she wants to say before she tells her, "There's no point dwelling on what hasn't happened yet."
"I can't get it out of my mind." Yuki's response is quick and shaky.
"Well then think about the logical ways the day could go and do your best to plan ahead for those various outcomes." Kimi looks at her expectantly before continuing with, "I know that's what your mother does when she's nervous about something."
"Sounds like her; sounds like a lot of outcomes, too."
"Sounds like a lot of excuses as well. People are offering you an escape before the big day." Yuki watches as Kimi collects strands of her hair together and begins braiding. She can't help but admire how pretty Kimi's brown locks are; such a warm shade, her hair can only be described as inviting.
"Because I don't really deserve to be hanging out with friends when I'm going to let one friend down." Yuki's admission of her feelings causes Kimi to pause in her ministrations for a moment before she continues to work on her braid.
As she comes to the end of her braid, Kimi remarks, "You don't know what's going to happen, so you might as well enjoy what you have while you definitely have it."
She scoffs in reply, "Yeah, until it's gone and then they won't even be able to look at me after I ended a person's sporting career."
"Then they weren't really your friends, Yuki."
"After Akako . . ." Yuki starts to say before trailing off.
"After Akako?"
"After her, and everything that happened with her and those girls, maybe I don't deserve real friends."
She scoffs at Yuki, "That's a ridiculous and downward way to look at life, Yuki." Kimi stands up and flicks Yuki on the forehead. "The only reason you wouldn't deserve real friends is because of your pessimistic attitude."
Yuki went to tell her that she was offended by Kimi's comment, but Kimi cut her off. "Go. Get ready and head out. This is non-negotiable."
She feels like whining. "I don't even know what to wear!"
Kimi's halfway through the doorway as she glances over her shoulder and utters, "Clothing."
"Ohhhh~ this is so, so exciting, isn't it, Dai-chan?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Satsuki," he responded sarcastically. "That's probably the fifth time you've asked me that in the past ten minutes."
It takes everything in Yuki's power to not laugh at how pained Aomine's tone sounds. She can imagine how Satsuki's been behaving, seeing as it's been five minutes and she's pranced around more than an Energizer Bunny on full battery. As much as she appreciates Satsuki's enthusiasm, Yuki's headache seems to be getting worse the longer she stares at her friend.
Aomine bends lower to Yuki and whispers in her ear, "Help me out here, yeah? I'm dyin'." His breath tickles her ear causing her to giggle a bit. It's not often that Aomine asks Yuki for help, except for moments like these when even his childhood friend proves to be too much for him.
"So, where's Tetsuya-san? Or am I just missing him as always?" Yuki questions the cotton-candy pair. She's been known to not ask before and then deal with the harsh reality of him being next to her the entire time.
Her friends regard her questioning differently. Aomine stares at her in surprise before mentioning that Tetsuya-san is meeting them there; something about him needing to help his grandmother out before he can leave the house. However, Satsuki stares at Yuki, her face coming across as flabbergasted and envious. She says nothing but her mouth opened and closed slightly. After a time, she turns around and continues to stare straight ahead, rather than look at Yuki and Aomine.
It takes Yuki a few moments longer walking for her to realize why her friend reacted the way that she did. She'd forgotten to let Satsuki know that she and Kuroko were on a first-name basis. Yuki resists the urge to face-palm, her negligence towards her friend's feelings overwhelming her.
She decides to change the subject by asking Aomine, "How did you even get that big, purple idiot to come anyways?"
He starts chortling at her outburst, completely oblivious to Satsuki's behavior and Yuki's topic change. "Sheesh, what did he do to you?"
She crosses her arms and glares at him childishly, "What didn't he do? I'm still hurting monetarily after spending as much as I did on his snack-addiction." Yuki puts her hands on her hips and leans closer to Aomine. "Don't you know it's improper to supply someone with their own personal vice?"
Aomine stares at her wide-eyed before cracking up again. He pats her on the back while trying to manage his own giggles. "Man, you're a riot."
"I hate him. It's not funny."
"You do not hate him," Satsuki admonishes her, surprised by Yuki's comment. "We mentioned food; of course, he wanted to come."
Yuki rolls her eyes but is happy to hear Satsuki's addition in the conversation. "Oh, of course he did," she grinds out sardonically. "Only a billion other players on the team and you two have to let the one with a food-fetish overhear our plans."
Aomine nudges her shoulder lightly. "Hey, in his defense, he's a good ball player."
"Only because he's tall."
He stares at her in shock. "Wha'? Nah, not because he's tall." Aomine motions to Satsuki to back him up.
"Well, Dai-chan, his height is a major factor."
Aomine gives Satsuki a hard look before glancing back at Yuki. "Okay, okay, fine, so he's tall. I'm tall? Not the only reason why I'm good at basketball."
"Yeah, well, you also don't have an awful personality," Yuki mentions before crossing her arms. "His is the absolute worst."
Satsuki giggles and then taps Yuki on the head. "You're forgetting about Dai-chan's magazines though, Kiki-chan. What about when he's reading those?"
Yuki groans loudly.
"Oi! What's wrong with my magazines?!"
Yuki kicks him in the shin. "It's not about the magazines; it's about how you act when you read them, you perv."
Aomine yelps in pain before swiping at Yuki. "There's nothin' wrong with appreciating attractive women."
Satsuki and Yuki both give Aomine a disgusted look before turning to each other and grinning. The two start to quicken their pace, leaving Aomine behind them, limping.
"Oi, oi, oi! You two, wait up!" He shouts out, annoyed and in pain.
"We're early!" Satsuki greets excitedly to the server at the entrance. "There should be eight of us, if I've counted correctly!"
The server stares at the trio blankly before pensively looking around at the rest of the restaurant. They'd opted to not go to Maji Burger to the delight of Yuki and Satsuki as Kuroko and Aomine have practically moved into the establishment over the past few weeks. Something related to Kuroko not being able to function without his vanilla milkshakes? Yuki can't remember entirely, but she can't imagine being so reliant on such a boring milkshake option – not that she'd tell Kuroko that. So instead, they stand in the entryway of a hot pot restaurant nearby where the trio and Kuroko usually frequent.
After a few moments, the server looks back at the students. Yuki can't entirely read her reaction, but she can tell the older girl – a high school or early college student from the looks of things – isn't pleased to be seating such a large group, especially when only three of them have shown up presently. "Right this way, please," their server says assertively.
After the three are seated, Aomine and Satsuki on one side of the large table, Yuki on the other, their server leaves them. Yuki looked back at the server before whispering to the two of them, "I feel like she hates her job."
Aomine snorts at her comment. "She's probably just annoyed she's gotta serve so many kids younger than her while we eat good food."
"Speaking of food," Satsuki interjects eagerly, "Kiki-chan, do you prefer a spicier broth or a milder one?"
Her response was instantaneous. "Spicy."
"Ice Queen likes the heat," Aomine says, nodding his head pensively while looking down at the menu. "Noted."
Yuki rolls her eyes at him but smiles at Satsuki as her friend tries to make guesses as to what each of their friends might enjoy eating more.
It's not long before Kise arrives, unknowingly with their notoriously invisible friend in tow. She'd heard Kise before she saw him, a loud, whining version of his ridiculous nickname for her escaping his lips.
"Morinecchi! Oh, how I've missed you!"
Aomine starts to chuckle at Yuki after he sees the steely look on her face.
"It's not funny," she hisses out, feeling rather embarrassed by how loud Kise was being in a public setting. Her embarrassment morphs into wrath when she sees the seat next to her on the left suddenly hold the blond-haired idiot she'd come to know. "You are not sitting next to me."
"Muu~ but no one else is here?" Kise looked around dramatically with a hand over his eyes to further this point. He looked back at her with a smile, knowing he'd made a good point.
She groans. "Do not talk to me."
Out of her peripheral vision, Yuki sees Aomine whisper something to Satsuki, causing the two to giggle softly. Yuki kicks him in the shin again – lightly – but just enough to let him know this is far from over.
After a few minutes of Kise's pouting have gone by, Yuki finally says that he can talk to her, causing him to bounce animatedly in his seat while he talked to Satsuki about something basketball related. She refuses to admit that she told him he can talk to her because she felt bad for his pouting, but Yuki knows deep down that somehow, someway, watching a middle school student pout as adorably as Kise did weighs down on her soul.
She silently tells herself she hates him before seeing a different group of chaotic individuals approach their table. Yuki would be lying if she said she was drawn to Murasakibara first; despite his height, her eyes zeroed in on the drastically shorter redhead in front.
Yuki despises the way he stares at her the most. There's something almost alien in the way that Akashi watches people, and it spreads a foreign chill across her body. She can't help but twist her hands almost painfully while averting her gaze to the only person of that trio she can willingly tolerate.
Midorima nodded at her casually, his green hair moving slightly with the motion before seating himself on her right. She was certainly shocked that he wouldn't opt to sit next to Akashi, but anything to gain extra distance from that menace was a huge benefit.
Murasakibara decided to sit across from Akashi, landing him directly next to Midorima and almost entirely out of Yuki's line of sight if she slouched obnoxiously low in her seat or planted herself in the opposite direction.
So, a win.
"You're not going to sit like that the entire time, are you?" Midorima asked her quietly, but she could tell he was miffed the moment he started speaking.
She glanced at him quickly and then looked away before a splash of purple could appear in her vision. "You've come with the enemy," Yuki whispered back.
She watched him look in front of him and then back at her a few times before giving her a blank stare.
"Not him," Yuki hisses, watching Akashi observe their reactions out of the corner of her eyes. "The other terrorizer next to you."
Said terrorizer was eagerly perusing the menu. His nonchalance about it caused Midorima to look back at Yuki in blankly. "Are you unwell?"
"Are you an idiot?"
"What she's trying to say," Aomine interject smoothly, "is that that one over there is on her list after he made her buy all those snacks for him."
"Morinecchi bought Murasakibaracchi snacks? I'm so jealous!"
"Kise-san, I swear I'm – " Yuki's livid as she motions to smack him.
"It's only fair to replace lost goods when an individual is inconvenienced," Akashi added pointedly while calmly looking at the menu.
"It's not my fault she's clumsy," Murasakibara whined out, clearly still annoyed thinking about all his wasted snacks on the ground.
Aomine started laughing again, pretending to wipe a tear out of his dark blue eyes, "Man, how many snacks did she knock on the ground?"
Yuki blocked the two of them out while she stared at the grooves in the table irately. She wished Kuroko would appear, but even if he did, it's not like he would draw the attention away from her.
"It's so nice seeing all of us outside of school like this, don't you think, Kiki-chan?" Without looking, Yuki knows that Satsuki's tilted her head sweetly, with a blissful facial expression, and all Yuki can think about is the fact that her experience in these past five minutes has been anything but bliss. She simply nods without making eye contact.
Midorima's burning holes into her head, but she tries her best to ignore it. She could chant any mantra she wants into her head, yet Yuki knows it's all for naught.
"Stop staring at me," she shrills out at him as quietly as she can. Despite her wishes, the feeling of eyes watching her doesn't dissipate, so she looks up at Midorima grumpily. However, he's not even watching her, and is instead, making eye contact with a shadow next to Satsuki.
Her embarrassment barely registers for longer than ten seconds as she sees her friend seemingly manifest out of thin air. Yuki smiles brightly while Satsuki calls out brightly, "Tetsu-kun! You're here!" Satsuki seems flustered by his appearance, and while Yuki is also – unsurprisingly – as shocked by his presence as her pink-haired friend is, all she can think about is the nickname that erupted from her mouth.
Tetsu-kun.
She resists a giggle. Yuki knew Satsuki was annoyed earlier when she called Kuroko on a more familiar level, but she was astounded that her friend would up the ante so quickly.
Yuki catches the minute nod Midorima sends Kuroko's way, whereas Aomine gives him the infamous fist-bump. Yuki greets him with a grin, eager to have the attention shifted from her. However, she can tell there's another set of eyes quietly observing.
Always observing.
Like a bird or something.
Yuki refuses to stare back at him, already dreading how often he'll continue to calculate throughout this entire meal.
She wonders how well he can handle spicy food and smiles to herself.
One day prior . . .
"Akashi and I were speaking earlier about our education," Midorima mentions casually to Yuki while they both look at a recent English assignment of theirs.
Yuki at least feels that the remark is casual, even though she can't remember the last time she ever calmly broached a subject like that to a peer.
She smirks a bit. She really does go to school with some interesting characters.
"What about?" She inquires softly, probably after a few pauses too long, but if she spoke up sooner, Midorima might have caught her mirth.
Midorima flips to the next page, regarding its contents before glancing over to his table companion. "Our choices on high schools; which ones seemed the most appealing and which ones our parents seemed more willing to have us attend."
Yuki resists snorting. To think that her mother was having similar conversations with her seemed unsettling. She knew that Midorima and her had some similarities but sharing anything in common with Akashi repulsed Yuki. "Ahh. What a fun conversation."
He glares at her. "It's an important decision to make."
"For some of us," she responds airily.
Yuki twirls her pencil around with her right hand before asking, "So, you plan on attending the same high school or something?"
Midorima pauses before meeting Yuki's eyes. His irises seem to be a darker green than usual, bordering on a forest shade. A very brooding color for her brooding classmate. "We were toying around with the idea of going to different schools, actually."
"'We' were, were you?"
"Well, Akashi especially, but when he mentioned it, I felt like it might be a good idea," Midorima admits, pushing his glasses up along the bridge of his nose. Yuki feels he's attempting to be aloof, but she can tell there's something about this conversation that has her bespectacled friend on edge.
"That's . . . different, no?" Yuki fumbles around, trying to think of a way to phrase her thoughts. "Aren't you two like, best friends or something?" After she utters the question, Yuki can't help but cringe. She's never really put a title on Midorima and Akashi's relationship, yet friendship feels too strong regarding the two of them. Perhaps referring to their relationship as quid pro quo would be more fitting.
It's a cold, hollow concept to think about, but Yuki can't imagine anyone regarding Akashi warmly.
Midorima seems unsure about how to respond.
"Well," Yuki tries to alleviate the tension between the two of them, "You guys have another year to decide on what high school will bring. A lot could change in a year." She gestures to the two of them with her hand. "I mean, look at us. I daresay that we might truly enjoy being in each other's company."
Yuki smiles a bit at Midorima.
"Yet you're still horrendous at math."
Her smile falls immediately. "That's a low blow," she mumbles out.
He raises his eyebrow at her in surprise. "How is it a low blow? I wouldn't still be tutoring you if there was improvement."
"There's been improvement."
Midorima sighs at her before collecting his things. "You're most likely going to need a tutor in high school," he mutters while placing his books in his bag. Yuki regards him warily. She's unsure as to where he's going with that.
He sees her confusion. "Have you not thought about how difficult our mathematics classes are going to get in high school?" He watches her face contort in annoyance. "You're going to need a good tutor."
Yuki places her head on the table in defeat, her dark locks covering a portion of the table, creating a sea of black over her pencil and papers.
Had she been watching Midorima, she'd have seen the pointed look he'd been giving her, seeing as he was the only competent tutor willing to work with her at this point. He'd die before he ever admitted it aloud, but Midorima had grown accustomed to tutoring his ebony-haired companion.
He was too prideful to admit he enjoyed her company, but he knew deep down that there could very well come a time in which he would miss it.
Grabbing his lucky item for the day, a music box, Midorima turns away from her before he gets caught staring.
"I'm leaving."
Yuki snaps her head back in shock, her hair flying around her. "W-wait! Don't leave without me!" She yelps before haphazardly throwing her things into her bag and following him in a half-crazed manner.
"You have no thoughts to share, then?"
It took Yuki quite a few moments for Midorima's question to register. "Thoughts on?"
He looks at her like she's a dunce. "Education in the future."
She nods her head exaggeratedly, realizing what he was getting at. "Right, right. High school. Sure, I've thought about it."
"Well, I should hope so."
Yuki rolls her eyes and begins fiddling with the strap on her bag. "Well, my mom's mentioned some schools." After setting the strap comfortably on her shoulder, she continues, "Wants me to go to Rakuzan in particular."
In her peripherals, Yuki sees Midorima flinch lightly before he scoffs, "The math scores alone would bar your entry."
"Thanks," she bites back bitterly. It's not like she's unaware of how pitiful her scores are; the last thing she needs is someone else to tell her that before she even attempts to take the entry exam. "I already informed her of that but she's optimistic that with my wondrous tutor, I'll experience a true miracle."
If Midorima was willing to groan, she thinks he would. "I'm no god."
"Oh, I wasn't aware."
The two look at each other before facing forward. Midorima seems to contemplate his next words for a time before he finally mentions, "Akashi . . . mentioned Rakuzan in particular when he and I last spoke."
Yuki's eyes widen in shock, but she says nothing. Of all the schools that her mother mentioned to her, and somehow Akashi's targeted the favored pick.
"Why Rakuzan?" Midorima inquires after a time.
She sighs, rubbing her hands together. The friction feels nice on her cold hands. "I guess it's in the family; we've had some relatives go there." Yuki's response is monotone, but she feels annoyed at the fact that her mother only ever wants her to follow in the family's footsteps. "I personally don't want to go anywhere that any relative has gone. Set my own standard, you know? I don't need some elite school to receive a good education."
Yuki can see the cogs turning in Midorima's mind, so she adds in with a bit of an edge, "I refuse to go anywhere that Akashi is going. I'll be sure to keep that in mind for the future."
He sighs, but she can see the relief in his posture. "That being said, it's about how it looks."
"It should be about how students make a school look rather than a fancy name on a piece of paper."
He glances at her out of the corner of his eyes. The look is brief, but she can tell that her comment intrigues Midorima even though it's too radical for his liking. "You're an odd one."
Yuki snorts. "Says the guy with a music box."
"I have already explained to you – and you especially – that you need all the luck you can get."
Yuki rolls her eyes. "I'll agree that I need it for tomorrow."
Midorima cradles his music box. "I'll check yours and Kuroko's horoscopes for tomorrow."
"Wow, such a hero."
"What are you looking at?" She asks him quietly while watching Kuroko hold on tightly to a sheet of paper.
"A note," he responds nostalgically. She can see the faint smile on his lips. As an afterthought, he adds, "From a friend."
Yuki looks over his shoulder and reads the end portion of the note:
Let's both work hard so we can play in matches and fulfill our promise!
She averted her eyes to give Kuroko a private moment with the writings on the paper. A note between good friends over what could only be the common bond of basketball.
Basketball.
Yuki smiled. It would always be about basketball to him. To them.
To love something so deeply, so passionately.
She envied him.
The room started to spin a bit, sweat starting to appear on her brow. As things seemed more claustrophobic than usual, Yuki told Kuroko she needed to step into the hall for a moment to catch her breath. Every decision since Kuroko's receiving of that letter was riding on this moment.
Yuki took a deep breath and allowed herself to feel the air enter and exit her lungs. She thought about the events prior to her visit to the locker rooms.
Their horoscopes had been vague today. Midorima was brief; she could tell he didn't particularly enjoy what was written for either of them.
A long journey is coming to an end.
How much more elusive could it get. She'd scoffed at Midorima, but then sighed in defeat, recognizing that he'd only wanted to help.
"You know I don't really believe in those things anyway . . ." she'd trailed off with a lazy smile, fiddling with her hair.
"And I've told you before that Oha-Asa is never wrong," he chided her. "You above anyone else need a good, strong fortune."
"Whatever happens, happens," Yuki stated with an air of finality. "I am the pilot of my own life."
"I won't bet on him."
"I won't ask you to?" She was surprised by his comment. It seemed bizarre to her. "You'll probably side with Akashi-san on this matter anyways."
Midorima paused. Pensive as always. He seemed to debate what he wanted to say to her. Fiddling with his lucky item, a slinky – "Of all things, a slinky?" She had asked sarcastically – Midorima seemed to grasp at linguistic straws in his mind.
Finally, he looked at her. "No, Yuki-san."
She opened her mouth to ask for clarification, but he beat her to it.
"I'll bet on you."
"Yuki-san?"
Her thoughts were interrupted by her blue-haired friend. "Sorry, my head's just elsewhere today." Yuki could feel the blush on her cheeks that flared up from the day's previous events.
He regarded her curiously, or at least Yuki assumed he was curious. He was always so good about not asking about things. She appreciated that characteristic of his the most.
Their walk over to the gymnasium was quiet; they walked in a tense silence spurred on by Kuroko's ambitions and Yuki's nerves. She couldn't control her feelings, so all she could hope is that Kuroko would be able to better manage his in the coming minutes.
Together, they stopped at the threshold of the gym. They knew what they had to do: go and greet Akashi. Yuki started to tap her thumb against her thigh, the nerves starting to become more evident, but one look at Kuroko told her it was unnecessary.
His eyes were more serious and confident than they'd ever been.
Kuroko nodded to her, and they entered.
As loud as ever, the gym was filled with a cacophony of sound; basketballs and footsteps serenading all who approached. The occasional pause to wipe a forehead or take a deep breath was the only moment in which the noise dissipated slightly.
"Do you see him, Tetsuya-san?" Yuki asked quietly before giving Kuroko a slight nudge.
"By the back wall."
"Let's go then!" She said with a smile, scouting out the flaming red hair across the way. Yuki dreaded the idea of seeing Akashi, but they needed to show him all of Kuroko's hard work.
"Kuroko-kun," Akashi greeted politely. Yuki looked to the basketball in his left hand rather than at his piercing red gaze.
"Akashi-san, if possible . . . could I show you all in a match?" Kuroko inquired, the uncertainty of what he was proposing evident in his voice.
Yuki could only hope that they would accommodate for him. She was unsure how else he'd show the team the technique he'd been working on for the past three months. Yuki's eyes betrayed her brain as she chanced a glance at Akashi.
His eyes had been set on Kuroko's face before they flickered over to her own. "I understand. Let me go ask for you."
Before he could turn away, Yuki quickly threw out, "Is Nijimura-senpai going to watch as well?" Her voice came out slightly higher than she'd intended, but she was curious to see who'd been inviting to what felt like was their divine judgment.
"No," he answered her bluntly without turning around. "He had a previous engagement to attend to."
Yuki stewed over his response, wondering where on earth the first-string's captain would be at a time like this while Kuroko thoughtfully admired the players in the room.
"I wonder what can happen without the captain here . . ." she said to herself softly.
"One less set of eyes to judge me, Yuki-san," Kuroko answered her, looking over to where Akashi was talking to the coaches.
"One less set of eyes in our favor, you mean."
However, Yuki truly wondered where Nijimura would stand regarding Kuroko. Even though she and Nijimura had built a solid rapport over the past few weeks, their acquaintanceship had no bearing on basketball and the team itself.
After what seemed like the longest seven minutes of her life, Yuki could see that same red hair approaching. A decision had been made.
Akashi explained the plan to Kuroko: a five-on-five game between the second-string players and the third-string players as these two groups had practice – something Yuki should have been documenting and had decided not to observe. Naturally, Akashi threw in a snide dig about it to her.
She rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed.
The goal was that Kuroko's team, his third-string peers, were to win. However, for once in Teikou's history, winning was not enough. Kuroko would have to demonstrate plays that are good enough to garner the approval of the coaches and what would have been both the captain and vice-captain had Nijimura been there.
"I wish you the best of luck, Kuroko-kun," Akashi said with a small smile, but his eyes were on Yuki's face. "You'll join me in watching over here, right, Morine-san?"
She absolutely did not want to watch with Akashi but nodded all the same. "See you on the other side, Tetsuya-san. Just imagine you're playing with Kimi!" Yuki patted him on the shoulder before walking away.
Not knowing what the future holds was never a concern to Yuki. Waking up everyday and going through the motions are a fact of life. She didn't cling to normalcy and even though change did surprise her when it transpired, Yuki still held no concern over the future.
However, in those few, dreadful moments in which Yuki turned her back to Kuroko and joined the enemy, she wished Oha-Asa could give her a sign that all would be well.
That the effort and love that Kuroko had would carry him through.
It'd been a while since she'd seen the second- and third-string members play. Yuki was embarrassed to even admit that in her own mind, but Satsuki had opted to go to the lower-strings' practices these past few days to see how other members of the team were doing.
Data collection purposes, most likely.
Satsuki was so much better at her role than Yuki was.
In her musing, she'd missed the first play of the game. Not that Akashi did. His face was alight with what she could only describe as awe.
He was practically glowing.
Yuki turned away to see the infamous lightning-fast passes she'd come to recognize from her friend. Passes that were so jaw-droppingly quick that if you blinked, you'd miss them.
"Misdirection."
That's all Akashi said to her after she saw the score: the third-string members were pressuring the second-string after only a bit of time had gone by.
Yuki said nothing in response, but she smirked with pride at her friend's efforts.
"You've been developing a manipulation tactic," he acknowledged pointedly, but his face showed nothing but excitement.
"What better way to play with members on the court than to take control of what the other team sees," Yuki chimed in happily.
"To apply it to basketball . . ." Akashi trailed off.
She finished his thoughts for him, "He disappears on the court – like a phantom."
Akashi said nothing for a few moments, witnessing Kuroko's brilliance on the court eagerly. Yuki watched a grin stretch across his features, but the reaction did nothing to quell the earlier fears she'd had before entering the gymnasium.
In fact, his reaction did quite the opposite.
"He's gone beyond my expectations," Akashi uttered as the two documented the final score to the mini game.
Yuki could only watch the 31 to 25 score in bewilderment as she took in his words, the dread in her stomach pooling.
Midorima stopped her before she could celebrate Kuroko's success.
The coaches had decided that he'd earned a place on the first-string bench, an approval Yuki was astounded by. They'd decreed that he was an interesting player with potential use.
A use that Akashi seemed to be fixated on for team victory.
Per Midorima, Akashi'd been watching Kuroko on his own these past three months.
"He'd been doing what?" She spluttered out in shock.
"Watching him; watching you, obviously," he added monotonously. Yuki could tell Midorima was uncomfortable with the idea of Akashi keeping tabs on their lives, but the detached character that he'd adopted to share this information with her was just as off-putting.
"How long have you known?"
"Long enough."
Yuki pulled at her hair before massaging her head at the roots. "Unbelievable. The both of you."
"And what would you have had me do?" Midorima asked her quizzically. "Am I not allowed to also be curious about the people who managed to catch Akashi's eye?"
Yuki resisted the urge to break his lucky item. She just wanted to give him a taste of what betrayal and exposure feels like – even for just a moment.
She breathed in deeply, closing her eyes to block out the rest of the world before demanding, "When did this all begin?" Yuki refused to open her eyes until Midorima began talking.
"He told me a few months ago that he'd wanted change," Midorima informed her calmly. "He'd cited an example, a sixth man who could change the flow of the game."
"How convenient," she muttered bitterly. "I gave him exactly what he wanted."
Yuki glared at Midorima one last time before turning on her heel and walking out the gymnasium doors.
She had one last confrontation to make for the day.
She catches a glimpse of the only flash of red she'd expect walking down the hall and charges after him.
"What did you gain from that?" Yuki inquired suddenly, her outburst breaking through the tense atmosphere that seemed to follow Akashi wherever he went. She's shocked at the turn of events, and her brow is creased in confusion; her ebony locks are wild from her sprint over to him.
She watches to see if any cogs are turning in his head, but instead, Akashi seems to not require any extensive thought before responding with, "Everything; I gain everything from Kuroko's addition to the first-string."
"In what way?"
"You expect me to reveal my hand to you this early on?" Akashi dances around her question with one of his own.
"So, you do plan on revealing it to me at some point then?" Yuki asks instead. Every conversation with Akashi results in some form of a mind game, and she knows she's already lost this one.
"Not just you; I'm sure everyone will see my plans come to fruition at some point," Akashi looks at her impassively. Unlike Haizaki who blatantly likes to show Yuki how deranged he is, Akashi is detached and unfeeling. His eyes share nothing with her.
Rather than indulge her for a moment longer, Akashi blazes further down the hallway, a stream of red flowing by her periphery. Before he leaves her completely, Akashi remarks with contempt, "I hope your plans for Kise Ryouta have a stronger footing than what we just saw today."
She hugs him.
It's impulsive; it's aggressive; and it's arguably the best hug she's had in her entire life.
Yuki refuses to allow tears to fall from her eyes, but she can feel them building. All she knows is that she's never been prouder of someone.
If Kuroko is surprised by the hug, he doesn't seem to show it, remaining as nonchalant as ever. He accepts the hug without difficulty and responds with in a much gentler fashion than Yuki: his arms wrap around her softly and give her a light squeeze.
Yet she knows he's ecstatic; how could he not be?
Neither needs to speak, yet they both know that they've just accomplished an amazing feat; they'd proven to Teikou that the underdogs do have a viable shot when given the opportunity to flourish. Most of the school will most likely remain ignorant of the events that transpired in the gym today, but those that witnessed Kuroko's misdirection would never forget.
And if they dared to try and wipe the events of today from their minds, Yuki would be there to remind them.
Every.
Single.
Time.
A/N: I had a lot of fun with this chapter, which is probably why it's not only taken forever, but also another lengthier entry word-wise. I had a lot of characters I wanted to include. I had a lot of scenes that I felt should be in here. It was so much fun writing each scene and I kept re-reading each bit that I wrote because I wanted it to flow as logically as possible.
We hit canon? It feels so good to be able to say that. It's not entirely canon with how I've moved Kise's character into the group already, but we've actually started moving towards big events during the Teikou Era.
Hopefully my next chapter doesn't take me absolutely forever to write, but we'll see.
Until next time!