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BANDS OF black AND blue
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o4 : two halves of a half
Boys. Seriously. I guess it's pretty sexist (as Aomine-kun would call me out on) of me to say this, as I've been hanging around them pretty much all my life, but when it comes to the squiggly-iggly little things like emotions, they seriously can't dribble much less pass.
And yes, you know, that was a euphemism for something; what can I say - I do not so much as 'play' basketball as I play basketball.
Anyways, getting on-topic with the main purpose of my ranting... two of my friends in-particular, Aomine-kun and Tetsuya-kun. We used to all be so very close, you know? We would go to the games together and I would spend the first ten minutes each morning picking lemons from my family's lemon tree and then lovingly soaking them in water... only for no one on the team to want to eat them! Oh, the nerve of those people - complaining about silly little things like poisonous peels and unwashed fruits!
I would sit in the seat next to the coach's seat (because I wasn't a coach) and watch the five of them play, attempting to chat with the sixth person (this game it was Murasakibara-kun, who angrily ate his way through a record fifteen candy bars because of course no one on our team - well, except possibly Tetsuya-kun - would need to rest) and generally failing. But here was where this game ended differently from the previous games: Aomine-kun was the one to sit out.
"What happened?" I demanded, because I had been watching the game and nothing looked out of the ordinary.
'Sakibara-kun gave Aomine-kun a little sneer before patting him on the back. Aomine-kun simply collapsed into the waiting chair, chest heaving and breaths shallow, not even bothering to watch his teammate take his place. To say that I was surprised would be like saying Aomine-kun was unhappy - I was jaw-dropping shocked (not that I would be allowed to show it) and he was boiling with uncontained fury.
"What happened?" I repeated, a little softer - and hopefully more insistent.
"Nothing," Aomine-kun sullenly said. I crossed my arms and pouted, and while I could probably have wriggled more information out of him, I was a member of the team as well (even if I was unofficial!) and I loved basketball too. So I turned my attention to the game; watched Murasakibara-kun easily slam dunk the ball and Tetsuya-kun weave his way in and out of opposing players (who probably, for all intensive purposes, didn't even see him - the losers) and Midorima-kun shoot a three-pointer.
Thirty minutes flashed by; the endgame buzzer sounded; I don't even remember the score.
Here is what should have happened: Akashi-san would round everyone up and the five of them would each bump fists with the benched player (in this case: Aomine-kun who most certainly would not have a towel draped over his face) and then all six of them would proceed to line up with the other team. Then they would head back to the locker room and I would wait for them outside and we would all go for yogurt or drinks or ice cream and amicably chat our way through the afternoon, talking about the other team and upcoming homework assignments and crazy teachers and school rumors (well, the last one was definitely my doing but still).
This is what actually happened: Akashi-san give-or-take ordered the team to line up - without Aomine-kun. And Aomine-kun didn't even notice, didn't even make any motion of surprise. He just sadly sat in his mopey little way, towel tossed over his sweat-soaked hair.
"Aomine-kun," I tried, because none of this made sense. "Are you going to - "
"Daiki-chan, Satsuki-chan," Akashi's voice smoothly cut in as he nodded graciously towards me. Cue more surprise; I had not registered the fact that the congratulations had already been said and the rest of the team had already shuffled their way to the locker rooms. Aomine-kun, at least, removed the towel, though he did not turn to face the captain. I had no doubt that it was Akashi-san (who was held in higher regard than the coach!) who 'recommended' that Aomine-kun be benched for the game.
"That was rather stupid of you," he said in an utterly mesmerizing voice, and I watched as Aomine-kun said nothing in-response. "Tetsu-chan is, as you know, a basketball player through and through. He owns the court as much as you do and a single bruise is never worth a free throw." I understood absolutely nothing. This clearly had something to do with Tetsuya-kun and Aomine-kun, but how?
"It wasn't just a bruise," Aomine-kun growled, turning his head to face our captain.
"Nonetheless, if you continue to give way to any opportunity of a foul, I will have you benched again." Akashi-san, of course, would've been able to see Aomine-kun's actions before everyone else. He turned on his heel, strolling cssually into the locker room. I turned to face Aomine-kun, whose eyes had narrowed - at Akashi-san, I assumed.
"Aomine-kun," I started again - this pain is feeling more and more like déjà-vu - only to be interrupted by Aomine-kun.
"Everyone's so damn selfish," he muttered, craning his neck and stretching his arms. "But I'm the most selfish out of everyone," he said, a crooked smile bent firmly in-place. I rolled my eyes, because I was starting to see what this was all about - and yes, we weren't exactly in an accepting society and no, romance wasn't what anyone played basketball to get, but all the same - it was possible.
"Why don't you tell Tetsuya-kun?" I asked what I thought was a perfectly legitimate question.
"No way," Aomine-kun scoffed, moving to get up. "Satsuki..." he paused and I could see that he was biting his lower lip, "You... like Tetsu, don't you?"
"That doesn't - " I attempted to retort, but he was already walking away. 'That doesn't matter,' I would've said, 'I've seen how he looks at you from time-to-time - I've seen how the two of you are when you're studying or eating lunch or playing video games.' Firm arguments in-favor of the two of them just getting together - but I wasn't able to voice them. Because... at the end of the line, I'm just as stupid when it comes to 'want' and 'love' as any of the boys on the team. And Aomine-kun hit it right on the mark; that - in some silly manner or another - I, too, wanted Tetsuya-kun to something faithless degree of Aomine-kun's affections.
But I would have - I like to think - backed down, folded, crawled away with no tears at all, had he asked. But he didn't, so neither did I.