Hanamiya looks irritated when I walk onto the court once more. My lips curve into a hungry smile at his fury. "You should wear that expression more often." I say pleasantly. "It suits you perfectly." He drops several swears as I near, narrowing his eyes. "I will crush you." He replies in a much more strained tone of voice.
"Nobody can crush me." I reply with an eerie, chipper voice. "Welcome to Hell, Hanamiya Makoto. Allow me to show Kirisaki Daiichi what it means to mess with demons." He steps back, narrowing his eyes as the game resumes once more.
"Hanamiya likes passing. He can steal them." Satsuki says firmly. "The key to our success relies on us not passing much. That means we'll have to place all our faith in our individual playing ability."
"If he can't get the ball from you, and they don't touch you, you're almost good to go. Our playing ability is better than theirs. Individually, their skill is somewhat lacking. That's why they rely on Hanamiya so heavily. He dictates who to take out to better their odds, and then makes the other team angry so that they rely on simple, easy-to-read plays that he can easily intercept." I supply, looking at my four teammates seriously.
"I did hear that a certain group of middle school students had a rather scary demon they liked to use." Imayoshi says with amusement. "Would you happen to know such a demon?" My lips curve into a smile as I glance away.
"Isn't it natural for an Emperor to have some sort of power to command besides his own?" I reply deviously. "After all, it's no fun to do your own dirty work."
The ball will always fall into my hands. I can see everything, and I see all the pieces falling into place as I dodge and scurry past the other players, jumping as high as possible and managing a three-pointer. A grin coats the bottom portion of my face. "Hai-chan! Lefty!"
"This'll be easy." I say with an indulgent grin. My mouth itches to say something, but I bite my tongue slightly. If you have something to say, say it through basketball. My playing style does a 180 as I shift to playing left-handed. I haven't played like this in a long, long time. Ready to bleed all those points you somehow managed?
The third quarter passes in a blur as I assess, adapt, and get the advantage. It doesn't take much to push Hanamiya's buttons, and hopefully I've pressed all the ones I can. 105-58. We get another two-minute break. "Do you still want me playing left-handed?" I ask as I talk with Satsuki on the bench, watching, assessing Kirisaki Daiichi. Satsuki barely suppresses a grin.
"Of course, Alex." She says craftily. "Didn't you want to crush them?" I snort.
"I want to triple their score, but I doubt there's enough time left for that." I say with a sigh. "I may just have to shoot for doubling it with a few extra points for good measure. I mean, the guy's smart. Evil, but smart." His foul mood will only lead to more mistakes. "Do you think it's demeaning to take advantage of his bad mood? I mean, it's only going to get worse. Might as well use it."
"I think he already knows you've been holding back all game. I don't see them winning." Satsuki murmurs. My lips quirk into another smile.
"Imayoshi, should we double or triple the score?" I ask boredly. "I want it to sting, but I also want them to come back so I can crush them again."
"You're a sadist, that's what you are." Wakamatsu says. I smile brightly.
"Only for these guys." I reply cheerily. "They've really pissed me off. No amount of points is really going to soothe that." I remain silent for a while longer, waiting to get back into the game so I can finally crush the bejeesus out of this team.
Thirty seconds to go. They won't catch up. What should I do? Some little, moral part of me tells me to let them at least have a go, but the rest of me screams a most definite "crush them." I decide to mess with these guys a bit more. I pass to Sakurai, watching as he gives me this cute little smile and shoots a buzzer beater. We line up after a while longer. 164-58.
"Not quite triple, huh?" I say with a sigh as we head back to the locker room. I go into one of the bathroom stalls to change so I don't have to wait for the guys to finish. I exit the locker room quickly, grateful it's a Saturday, and say goodbye to Satsuki and Coach Harasawa before heading home. I'm glad Daiki didn't show. He'd probably yell at me. My phone rings, and since I know this is Daiki, I answer. "Hello?"
"Your game over? I'm on my way to get you." I smile to myself.
"Just finished. I'll wait for you outside the gym." I reply, scanning the street. "Hey, Daik-" I don't have a chance to finish my sentence. My phone is knocked most violently from my hand and I drop my gym bag as someone who really should not still be here glares balefully at me.
"You! People like you sicken me. I want to crush you." Hanamiya's dark eyes are unusually angry, angrier than I've ever seen anyone. "I had it planned. I had everything planned!" I step back only to find the wall directly behind me. I see no immediate escape routes.
"Look, what do you want?" I hiss defensively, trying to find some distance to put between us. "I want to crush you. Geniuses and prodigies don't matter once they break. They're just trash afterward." I grit my teeth at those words. "Obviously you learned nothing from last time. I can make you useless..."
All air explodes from my lungs as pain makes my stomach implode. I gasp for air, eyes wide and looking to escape. My knees buckle after pain blossoms in my stomach once more. I didn't expect to get hit, or kicked, or to watch everything turn blurry as I try to protect my head. "Oi!" I could cry from hearing that one word. I really could. Things continue to dim for a while longer as I gasp for air and wish most vehemently that I hadn't been born. "You get away from her!"
As sudden as the abuse began, it stops and I crumple completely, sobbing. "What's going on out here?" I tune most of what follows out, most of which is yelling and someone running away.
"Hai-chan..." I shove the nearest body away from me, wishing I could bring my legs to move me so I can just run from everything. "Alex?" I do try to calm down, I promise. I try very, very hard to calm down and stop crying and pull myself together, but nothing works, no matter what I do or try. All I hear is more murmuring, my name, and Satsuki's girly voice.
"Alex." Why is it always my name in that strange English? "We're going to the infirmary, okay? I think it's still open. Can you stand?" I nod my head as best I can, grabbing the wall to use it to balance myself out. It doesn't work very well, I can tell you that much. My legs are frozen.
"I can't make my legs move." I say hoarsely. "I can't make them move." I keep my eyes on the set of shoes in front of me. "I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry."
"Oi, you're going to turn into Sakurai if you keep saying that." Imayoshi says with irritation, which brings a bout of apologies from the chronically apologetic boy. I attempt laughing as I sit there, wondering what the hell is wrong with me.
"Up we go." I let out a yelp as someone carries me, catching me off guard. I kind of go limp for a bit as I'm carried upright. My visit to infirmary turns into one to the clinic with the same gentle doctor, who looks most unhappy to see me here once again. As soon as I see him, and no, it isn't because of his face, I turn green.
"Daiki." I mutter. "Gonna hurl." Daiki blinks at me before telling the doctor in slightly better terms. It's less than ten seconds when my breakfast decides to show its face again. Luckily, there's something to contain the mess. I can't really remember what happened after that. I see lots of lights and faces keep swirling and at some point I think I fell asleep. Lots of words are scattered everywhere. After a while, everything goes right to hell, and I'm out like a light.
There's a strange beeping noise, one I don't think I've heard before. I feel nausea and my stomach hurts with every breath I take and I feel unusually sleepy. "Fuuuuuuck." I groan, attempting to peel my eyes open. It takes more effort than I'll ever admit to.
"That wasn't very ladylike." The teasing voice is eerily familiar, and makes my lips twist into a half-assed smile before I lock eyes with the bluenette.
"You're not very ladylike." I retort. "What's that annoying noise?"
"Heart rate monitor."
"Cute." I reply with more than a little venom. "Why am I he- never mind." I stare at the roof slightly.
"I have to go get Satsuki to tell the nurse you woke up." Daiki says after a few minutes.
"Okay." I say after a few heartbeats. He leaves in that relaxed way of his, as if he hasn't a care in the world. My lips curve in slight smile as I study him silently. I stare at the roof again, counting tiles and lights. There's something tight wrapped around my ribs and my ankle. My stomach is tolerable, but still irritating.
"Hai-chan!" The pinkette explodes into the room, tailed worriedly by the nearest nurse. "How do you feel?"
"Sleepy." I groan. "Kind of sore and stiff."
"You gave us quite the scare." The nurse muses, giving me a gentle smile. "The doctor will be here in a few minutes." I nod slightly, trying my damnedest to stay awake.
"It seems you'll live." I glance at the doorway and move to get up so I can see properly. "Don't bother sitting up. Won't feel good. I promise." I'm surprised to see Midorima here.
I blink in shock. "Midorima..." I say in shock.
"The others came by when you were sleeping. I dropped by since it's on my way home." Midorima says as he pushes his glasses up. "Hanamiya Makoto, right? We'll get him." I almost grimace at the mere mention of the devil boy's name. "Anyway, I need to go."
"Thanks for dropping by." I reply. "Good luck in your games." The boy merely nods before bidding me goodbye and leaving. "Daiki-"
"Jesus, Alex, you coulda gotten seriously injured! Do you even know what happened?" I freeze at Daiki's words as Satsuki helps me sit up properly. "You're lucky the nurse caught what was going on!" My mouth opens and closes as I search for something to say. I'm saved, just barely, by the clinic doctor coming in.
"I've been told I can call you Hai-san. Is that correct?" the doctor says as he reads a clipboard.
"Yes." I say anxiously.
"You came here because a school nurse thought you may be suffering from shock and blunt abdominal trauma. She was correct in both assessments." The doctor says calmly. "You had some serious internal bleeding, which we drained surgically. We also found three broken ribs, a serious sprain in your ankle, and many bruises. How did you acquire these?" I sigh deeply.
"We had this basketball match, and the other team was very rough in their playing style. I made one of their players angry, he found me after the game, and..." I frown. "I don't really remember the rest very well. I think he was kicking me?" The doctor assesses me silently.
"You're very lucky that he was stopped when he was." I nod.
"Yes. I am." I reply quietly. "Um... about the hospital bills... how many years do you think it will take me to pay them off?"
"Actually," the doctor says with a smile, "your school has covered your bills because you were injured playing for them." My eyes grow wide from shock. "Is there an adult responsible for you?" I shake my head.
"If there had to be one, probably Coach Harasawa or the Kurokos." I say with a sigh. The doctor nods once more and looks over his clipboard.
"We'll let you go home in an hour or so. Is there someone who can take you home and take care of you?" He asks. I frown slightly.
"I can." Daiki says suddenly, surprising me slightly. I offer him a warm, nervous smile. My heart races slightly.
Somehow, the doctor's face softens considerably. "Hai-chan, you're not allowed to do anything strenuous, including basketball and lifting things and running, for a month. Your stitches need to be cleaned twice a day. I strongly recommend you refrain from standing for long periods of time, twisting, turning, bending over, and stretching." He says firmly. "Your stomach has four incisions, so it'll be tender. Bruising is normal. Your ribs are cracked, and that ankle of yours is not to come out of the brace until I see you again."
I start dozing off slight after that, so Daiki sets up another appointment for me and leaves to get my meds. "Hai-chan," Satsuki says, startling me awake. "We need to drive you home. Is it okay for my dad to pick us up?" I mumble something I hope sounds like "yes" and go back into my groggy half-sleep, humming slightly in satisfaction. Satsuki's father doesn't take long to get here.
"Oi, Alex, time to get up." Daiki says some time later as I'm being discharged. I toss several unsavory choice words at him before going back to sleep. "I'll dump water on you." He threatens. I crack one eye open grumpily, hoping it shows how bad my mood is about to become. "Yeah, yeah, you're about as terrifying as a kitten. C'mon." The bed is warm, although I'm sure it took more than a few minutes for it to become that way.
"I need to get dressed." I mutter with embarrassment. "I'm not going out in this. I feel breezes where such things should not be felt." Daiki, for once, shows a shred of decency and blushes like hell.
"Um... Satsuki..." He glances almost helplessly at the pinkette before darting out of the room. Once he's gone, my face darkens as I blush heavily.
"I get it." She says with a smile. "I won't look, but I'll help." It takes several minutes and a bit of struggling to get my pants on. My shirt and um, other underclothes, take a while longer as I raise my right arm in a rather uncomfortable fashion. It doesn't feel good at all when I do so, but the pain meds I'm on must be top-notch. I barely feel a thing after a while.
"Make sure you cough and take deep breaths at least once per hour." The doctor says firmly as I limp my way out the door. "You'll be coming back in about four weeks. We'll take everything else from there." I nod, thank him, and walk with Daiki and Satsuki to Mr. Momoi's car.
"Hai-chan!" He says with a smile. Satsuki's father has an unusually sunny disposition, something I really admire. "The way Satsuki was going on and on about you, the missus and I thought for sure you were on your way to kicking the bucket." I laugh breathlessly and hug him with one arm.
"Don't think I would keel over and start pushing up daisies just because some brat lost his temper." I reply with an amused smile. "I'm not so fragilely built, ya know." We grow more somber after a few more minutes of joking around. I sit in the middle of the backseat, wedged comfortably between Daiki and Satsuki.
"I'm serious when I say this though, Hai-chan." Mr. Momoi says with a very sober expression. "Your parents should be ashamed of themselves. From what I've heard, they haven't bothered to ask about what happened when we informed them of the, uh, incident." I attempt shrugging.
"At least I know how not to turn out." I reply with a sigh. "It is what it is, after all. I don't need them when I have Daiki and Satsuki beside me." I say the last bit with a smile and another little shrug of my shoulders, even though doubt is beginning to worm though my chest. Pink eyes look at me very seriously in the rearview mirror.
Silence consumes the interior of the car as we drive through several winding routes to get to my apartment. "Think you can make it up all those stairs?" Mr. Momoi says with a rather amused, yet still concerned look on his face.
"Well if I can't, I can use Daiki." I reply flatly. The bluenette slides a warning in the form of a glare from the corner of his eyes. "I think I'll manage." It takes another ten minutes, but I manage to convince the Momois that I will indeed survive for the remainder of the next four weeks without much hassle. They drive off only after seeing me enter my building, Daiki just a few feet in front of me. I do make it up the stairs, somehow, only to lie on my bed and stare at the cracks in my ceiling.
"You're really very lucky, you know." Daiki says as he enters my room, some water sloshing out of the glass in his hand as he carelessly sits down on my bed, his back against the wall and his legs draped absentmindedly over mine.
"I know." I answer. "Was it you who saw... him first?" The dark look that crosses Daiki's face confirms it. "Thank you for that." The bluenette stares at me in surprise for a few more moments.
"Jeez, I can't let you out of my sight, can I?" I smile slightly.
"Perhaps."