Chapter 12: Yuno and Asta

"Mim, I think he's nervous," said Noelle, in a teasing tone.

Mimosa hummed in agreement. "Yes, he definitely is."

"Now, now," said Klaus, amused, "let's not tease Yuno too much."

Yuno glared at his three friends. He and his friends had to stop at the mall to pick up presents for Asta's birthday picnic. It was rude to show up at someone's birthday and not bring a gift. They were on the way to the park to meet up with Asta, Leo, and the others. Yuno was more than excited, despite not being outwardly expressive. When Yuno had suggested stopping by and play a game of basketball with Asta, he didn't think Asta would agree. Since he loved basketball, he looked forward to playing a friendly game.

"You're all terrible. Why am I friends with you," Yuno asked, deadpan. It was thankfully a beautiful autumn day. The sun shined and it was clear skies—a perfect day to play a game.

"Don't be so grumpy. You can show off, impress Asta," said Mimosa, nudging him. "I mean, Asta definitely thinks the world of you already. You're so sweet to him."

"I admit that it's cute," said Noelle, grinning.

Yun grimaced. He was never going to hear the end of it from them, as it seemed they all figured that he had a minor crush on Asta, but he didn't let it damper his overall good mood.

"Cheer up," said Klaus, patting him on the back.

"I'm fine," said Yuno. "Let's hurry. I'm sure that you all want to eat before we play."

Yuno and his friends reached the park and quickly located Asta and his group, as many of Asta's friends were loud and bright.

Magna and Luck were bickering on the court, which was par for the course for them as they presumably played a one-on-one game. Gauche, with Grey hiding behind him, and Zora were off to the side, probably sniping insults at each other, while they kept an eye on Marie, who played on the jungle gym. Henry, Finral, Gordon, Leo, Secre, and a strange black long-haired smiling man sat with Asta at the tables where the food was located. Charmy was too busy stuffing her face to care what was going on.

There was a purple-haired woman, who Yuno knew was Miss Vanessa, and even several teachers from the school, Ms. Roselei (literature teacher/fencing coach) and Mr. Yami (Japanese language teacher/kendo coach).

"Hey, guys, you made it," said Leo, immediately spotting Yuno, Mimosa, Noelle, and Klaus, waving them over to the table.

"Happy belated birthday, Asta," said Mimosa, cheerfully.

"Yeah, happy birthday," said Noelle.

"Thank you for inviting us," said Klaus, the only one to ever remember his proper manners.

Asta smiled and he signed "thank you," which Yuno understood, but Secre nonetheless spoke up for Asta. "He says thank you."

"There's plenty of food, kids," said Miss Vanessa. "Eat up! Do you all know everyone?"

"We do, well, except him," said Noelle, pointing at the strange smiling man.

"I'm Nacht Faust, Asta's social worker," said the man, smiling. "I'm glad to see that Asta has made even more friends this year."

"Mr. Faust is always kind enough to stop by to visit Asta for his birthday," said Miss Vanessa. "Sit, sit."

The others made room at the tables for Yuno and his three friends. Leo, in a not-so-subtle way, gave Yuno his seat next to Asta. Sometimes, Leo was the best friend in the world. Noelle and Mimosa joined the table where Charmy ate and the resident foodie began making them plates. Klaus went over to sit with Zora and Gauche, who were both seniors like Klaus, so they were classmates (as they were actually three of the four smartest seniors in their grade—the fourth was unsurprisingly Kirsch).

Asta signed "Happy late birthday" to Yuno.

Yuno smiled lightly, but then Asta pulled a little box out of his pocket. Yuno's heart nearly seized in his chest. Asta bought him a birthday present. Not really knowing what to do, Yuno accepted the gift. "Thanks."

Asta smiled wider, very pleased.

And then Yuno remembered that he bought Asta a birthday gift too. He awkwardly pulled the box out of his sports bag. He brought a basketball since he couldn't count on Magna or Luck remembering to bring a ball that had air in it, but it was also to carry Asta's gift.

Asta sighed "You didn't have to."

"It's no big deal," said Yuno, gently.

"So, Asta tells me that you play basketball," said Nacht, the social worker.

"I do," said Yuno. "Junior Varsity as a small forward."

"Yuno is working towards Varsity as a point guard," said Leo. Leo grinned. "Mr. Nacht is quite protective of Asta, Yuno, so he's just checking you out."

"I'm still not too sure of you, Leopold," Nacht hummed, still smiling.

Asta waved his hands, which Yuno interpreted as Asta trying to tell them that Nacht was joking, but Yuno didn't think he was joking. Yuno thought it was fair that Nacht was protective of Asta. He seemed like a good guy even if he was a bit creepy. Yuno assumed that Nacht had been a replacement social worker because he didn't seem like the type to lose a whole child in the system.

Asta pulled out his phone and texted Yuno.

"Mr. Nacht is my second social worker. He's also Gauche and Marie's social worker. He was the one that placed us with Miss Vanessa. His twin brother Morgan is buddies with Mr. Yami."

"It's a small world sometimes," said Yuno.

Asta nodded in agreement.

"Hey! Yuno, you need to eat too," said Charmy, coming over and placing a ridiculously large plate of food in front of him. "Secre bought all the yummiest foods this year."

"Yeah, only because you picked the catering server this time," replied Secre.

"I don't think I can eat all of this," said Yuno, staring down at the plate. Yeah, he was a basketball player, but he didn't need that many calories. Besides, all their school's basketball teams were on specialized diets to maintain their strength and health.

"Eat as much as you can."

Asta texted Yuno once again. "Charmy's serious about food and feeding people. You had better listen to her…lol."

"You'll have to roll Yuno down the street if he ate all that," Mimosa commented.

"Geez, thanks, Mimosa," said Yuno, in a deadpan tone.

"And we still have that basketball game to play," said Leo, toothily grinning.

The basketball game was one of the two reasons to come out this Saturday. The other, of course, was to see Asta for his birthday and give him the gift. So, instead of upsetting Charmy who if the rumors were correct was Very Serious about food, Yuno ate what he could, because he really wanted to play.

Yuno really wasn't supposed to be playing, but he was going to be playing one-handed anyway and since it was a friendly game, no one would get hurt. Besides, there were adults there and he cleared it was William and Dorothy beforehand. His wrist was almost healed anyway. Another couple of weeks then he'll be out of the cast and then he'll have P/T training, just in time to join the season with his JV teammates in November.

After everyone ate and chatted, Mr. Yami was the referee for the two teams. They were playing to five points (this was the main stipulation given to Yuno by William, the shorter the game the better). Asta and Yuno both decided to play five-on-five. Yuno was the point guard. Klaus was the shooting guard, so he wasn't playing his normal position. Leo was center, so he wasn't playing his normal position. Noelle was the power forward. Yuno always thought Noelle would be great in women's basketball, but Noelle opted for swimming instead. Mimosa was the small forward, as all Vermillion knew how to play basketball.

On Asta's side, Zora was the point guard and everyone knew that Zora could have made the Varsity team, but chose not to even join the basketball team. Magna and Luck were their normal positions as Center and shooting guard, as they weren't the best at switching up their positions as Leo and Klaus. Secre was small forward, which was a surprise but she was actually very athletic to her credit. Asta played power forward, which made a lot of sense for Asta.

And the game began.


Asta loved basketball. He loved playing and scoring points. He was honored that Yuno offered to play a game. Normally, his close friends who knew the basics would play with him sometimes, but they didn't have the same passion for the game as Asta. Miss Vanessa, Miss Charlotte, and Mr. Nacht kept an eye and made sure that Mr. Yami called the points fairly.

Of course, Asta's team lost 5-2, but it was fun. That was all that mattered. Asta had made the two points for his team, but Yuno made 2, Klaus made 1, Leo made 1 and Noelle made 1. Perhaps the teams were a bit unbalanced in their match-up.

Asta breathed heavily from exertion, as he texted Yuno about the game while the others spoke around him. Yuno complimented him in a text back and that had Asta flushing, despite the noise around him.

Zora snorted. "Yuno's still ridiculously good with only one hand. How unfair for us plebes."

Klaus smirked, replying, "Yuno is up for replacing Kirsch as the point guard of Varsity, after all."

"Maybe. Langris might still take it," Zora countered. "And that pretty boy captain of yours gets a big say."

"Kirsch may be a bit…much, but he's got a keen mind for basketball strategy. He's serious about keeping the whole team in top form," said Klaus. "He'll help the coaches pick the best choice."

"Klaus, you can call my brother an annoying weirdo like everyone else," said Mimosa. "I give you permission."

Zora, Magna, and Luck laughed, while Klaus gasped.

"Brutal, cous," said Leo, high-fiving Mimosa. Noelle rolled her eyes at her cousins' antics.

Asta grinned, as Yuno rolled his eyes and signed, asking Asta if he wanted to escape for a minute. Asta did, and so he followed away from their friend groups mixing and speaking and joking with each other. He didn't go far, so he didn't worry Mr. Nacht and Miss Vanessa.

"You played good," said Yuno, this time complimented in words said out loud. "They were getting a bit loud."

Asta nodded. He signed back to Yuno, "Your wrist?"

"My wrist is all good. Didn't strain it," said Yuno, assuring him.

Asta breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Speaking of that, I'll be playing games again in November," said Yuno, awkwardly and face getting a bit red. "You should come to some of the games then."

Asta nodded. He usually went to games anyway to cheer on Magna, Luck, and Leo as a friend, so it wasn't any problem to cheer for Yuno. Yuno didn't need the cheers, because he was so very brilliant at basketball. Asta signed, "You'll be the varsity point guard for sure."

Yuno said, a determined look in his pretty golden eyes. "I hope."

Asta signed back. "I'll be rooting for you." Always.

He didn't sign that part, just thought of it. Yuno was amazing. Asta was so lucky that Yuno wanted to be friends with him.

"Oh, open your gift," said Yuno.

Asta always forgot and pulled the box out of his pocket. It was a little Pangoro (a dark-and-fighting type Pokemon) figurine. Fighting-types were Asta's favorite type of Pokemon. It was one of Asta's favorites. Asta felt an unexpected surge of joy that Yuno remembered something Asta merely mentioned off-hand one time a while ago. Asta flushed.

"Your gift," Asta signed sloppily.

Yuno smiled, wider than Asta had ever seen, and opened the gift Asta got him. "A Noctowl figurine?" Flying types were Yuno's favorite Pokemon type and Noctowl was a favorite of favorites.

Asta remembered the little things.

"Thank you," said Yuno.

Asta replied, by still signing clumsily, "No, thank you."

~to be continued


Notes:

Haha, I finally brought it back around to basketball. Anyway, Chapter 13 will be out on May 18th. Yes, I wrote two chapters this month, hurray! I'm planning on writing two chapters for June (be forewarned that angst is incoming so mentally prepare yourselves for that and that my original plan has gone off the rails so we are going places)

Let me know what you think.