Chapter 5: Why?
"He's huge!" speaks Hyuuga-senpai for us all, as we all take a look at the photo Riko-senpai had taken of Shinkyo's tall, foreign ace.
I stand quietly, listening to the chatter of everyone. For some reason, I didn't feel so good. Emotionally wise. Satsu-chan and myself had gotten into a fight yesterday when I arrived home. She nagged me about how I should have remembered to stretch properly and what I was thinking. She then brought up the topic of Aomine-kun, something I didn't want to hear about considering he had ignored me.
"He's just like that, Yuki-chan. Lately, Aomine-kun likes to keep to himself," she says, as she places the heating pad gently on my calf.
"Still, ignoring me like- wait, how come you didn't tell me he was in the Generation-"
"Because, I didn't want you to get put off by it," she says, as she continues to examine my leg.
"You say that like I'm attracted to him!"
"You are."
"How do you know!?"
"Because of that response. The first thing would've been to deny it, not question it," she says happily.
"I I don't like-"
"It's okay if you do, Yuki-chan. If you and Aomine-kun got to together then that would mean I could spend less time worrying about him."
"Well, did you tell him I play-"
"Nope."
"Maybe that's why he ignored me. And I thought you'd get my ball back?"
"Eh? Oh, Aomine-kun told me he didn't need anyone doing favours for him. So he said you'd come to him soon enough."
My eyebrow twitches in annoyance. The way she worded that made me sound like a stalker.
"Yuki-chan!"
Shaking, the ball in my hand drops and rolls across the gym. I look up at the coach, who has a worried expression on her face.
"H-Hai?"
"Are you okay? Please don't tell me your leg-"
"N-No! Please, I'm fine, really. I just have my head in the clouds," I joke, as I scratch the back of my head.
"That reminds me. Kagami-kun, how's the weather up there?" says Izuki-senpai, with a grin on his face.
We all remain quiet, finding no amusement in Izuki-senpai's lame joke.
"Yuki-chan, I want you to stay here when we go play Shinkyo," says the coach, as she taps her clipboard with her pen.
"What?" I scoff in disbelief, as I can't believe what I was hearing. Did they not think-
"You don't look well today and I'd much rather have you stay here and practice than to have something happen to you at Shinkyo. Just this one game, alright? We'll win and come right back. Understood?"
Reluctantly, I nod my head in agreement.
As the boys begin to leave, they all rub my head for good luck before they do so. It made my eyes water as to how much they cared about me. Waving goodbye from the gym, I decide that I might as well go home than to class.
Grabbing my bag, I instead decide to head to the basketball cage considering I still didn't know how to get home.
Without a basketball to play with, I sit on the floor, bringing my knees up to my chin. Like a lonely child, I sit and lay my head in between my legs.
How I wished I could go to Shinkyo and be with the boys. My boys.
I startle awake when I hear the sound of a basketball hitting the backboard. To my surprise, it's Aomine-kun.
"You shouldn't skip school," I mumble, as I get up from the ground.
"Speak for yourself," he says, as he runs to grab the ball.
"One on one?" I ask, as I walk towards him with a hopeful smile.
He shakes his head, his response a no. A little dejected, I go back to my corner and text Satsu-chan.
"Aomine-kun is being mean. :("
Flipping my phone shut, Aomine-kun's face is right in front of me.
Yelping, I stumble back and fall on my butt, my back pressed up against the cage.
"Who was that?" he asks, his face unreadable. Just like Kuroko-kun's!
"S-Satsu-chan," I stammer hopelessly, as Aomine-kun continues to draw closer in.
"Ehhhh? Satsuki doesn't like being texted to during class. You should know that the most. Yer' lying to me," he says lazily, as he rests the side of his face on his hand.
"I-I'm not!"
"Then let me see yer' phone."
"W-What? No-"
"If it was Satsuki then you'd have no problem, right?"
He he had a point there. Plus, I had nothing to hide. It was Satsu-chan I had texted too after all.
I reluctantly hand him my phone, as I watch him go through it's contents.
I sigh a breath of relief as I slowly find the floor to become more and more comforting.
Suddenly, I hear the noise of my phone, signalling I had a new message. Must be Satsu-
Jolting up right, I freeze my hand mid air.
The message I had sent to Satsu-chan. It talked about none other than-
"Hm? A message from Satsuki. She never sends me replies back. What does she want?" drawls Aomine-kun.
"W-Wait-"
"Reply to: Aomine-kun is being mean. :(
Reply from: Well, he is an Aho-mine anyways. He has a reason to be upset. :J"
I watch as a vein pops out from his neck, after had just reading the message out loud.
"Aho- I mean Ao-"
Biting my tongue, I watch as Aomine-kun begins to text Satsu-chan back. But I can't help but notice how his left hand awkwardly reaches out towards me. I then notice that my skirt had risen up. Quickly pulling it back down, I blush, raising my head down in shame. That was so un-lady like!
"Ao-"
He holds his finger up to my mouth, silencing me.
After a few minutes, he tosses my phone onto my lap.
"What did-"
"Nothing. Get up. Instead of one on one, let me help you with those pathetic lay ups of yours," he says, as he begins to get up himself.
Excited, I shove my phone into my bag and forget about what had just happened. This was the perfect chance to practice a skill I was terrible at while everyone else was at Shinkyo trying their best.
"Here. Try to do one," he says, as he hands me my ball.
Grabbing it, I dribble a couple of times before running in. Jumping up, I stagger mid air to keep my balance, but I still somehow manage to keep the ball in.
"How was it?" I ask, with a hopeful look on my face.
"I'd be lying if I said it was good," he says flatly, as he grabs the ball back from me, setting it on the floor beside him.
"Y-You really are blunt, Aomine-kun," I say, as the smile on my face slowly begins to fade. He notices my sudden change in emotion and sighs out. I look up as the tall man walks past me, stopping behind my form.
"What're-"
I stop as I suddenly feel Aomine-kun press his body into mine, his large hands grabbing my hips tightly and protectively.
"These," he whispers into my ear, as he forces me to sway my hips from side to side, "are the problem."
"What what do you mean?" I choke out, happy that he couldn't see my red face.
"I noticed you not only use them as a distraction, but you use them to run and move like you do. Yer' so use to moving your hips that when you go in for the jump, you're unconsciously moving them, causing you to go off balance," he finishes, his hands still firmly planted on what would be my strength and now weakness.
Aomine-kun was right! Now that I thought about it, whenever I walked, my hips had to sway more than usual. Something Satsu-chan had always pointed out, saying that I was only doing it for the attention of other boys.
All of a sudden, Aomine-kun digs my body deeper into his, leaving no room in between. His body is big, warm and most certainly inviting. I feel myself relaxing into him and I realize that he notices it. Without looking at him, I could tell he was grinning.
"A-Aomine-kun?" I mumble quietly, trying to break free from his hold. I noticed an older lady walking by the cage looking at the both of us.
"Hm?" he mutters, as he keeps a firm grip on me. He had no intentions of letting go already.
"How come you ignored me yesterday?"
For a moment, he remains quiet before answering my question.
"You were with those guy's from Seirin. It annoyed me that you went with them to their game but rejected me when I had asked asked you "
Aomine-kun stumbles, finding it hard to say the right words. He couldn't say that, but he had no problem touching me like this?
"But, I didn't go to their game. I was play-"
The sound of my phone going off brings my attention back to reality. This time, Aomine-kun let's me go. Running to my bag, I flip my phone open and almost have a heart attack.
Not one, but 5 missed calls from Satsu-chan and 2 new messages.
Reading the first one, I couldn't help but laugh at the pictures. First, it was one of Koga-senpai and Furihata-kun taking a funny picture behind Riko-senpai. The second was one of Riko-senpai hitting them both. I send them a quick reply back, asking how the game was going.
Opening up Satsu-chan's message, I remember that Aomine-kun had sent her something. What was it?
"Reply to: Aomine-kun is being mean. :(
Reply from: Well, he is an Ahomine anyways. He has a reason to be upset. :J
Reply to: Satsuki, you always find a good moment to interrupt us. ;)"
What did Aomine-kun mean by that? Wait, there was more. A picture had been sent as well. Opening it up, the blood drains from my face, my phone slipping out of my hands.
When I had noted earlier that Aomine-kun's hand had been reached out to me in an awkward position when he was texting Satsu-chan, it was because when I had fallen, my skirt had lifted further up, revealing my upper thighs. Aomine-kun had placed his hands accordingly so it looked like he was about to do something. And Satsu-chan had no reason to doubt that the picture wasn't me considering the uniform was of Seirin and I was pretty much the only girl who wore her skirt with tights.
Slowly looking behind me, Aomine-kun stands in the corner, with an oblivious look on his face. Grabbing my ball beside me, I stand up, giving him a look. On other occasions, I would've been angry and tried to have hurt the person with my lucky ball, seeing as how I never missed when I was angry. But instead, I let the ball drop from my hands, giving Aomine-kun a solemn look. Picking my bag up, I run past him, out of the cage, and back to Seirin.
Aomine-kun had promised to help me with my lay up, but that was only a distraction so I wouldn't look at my phone and send a quick reply back to Satsu-chan. With the time he had bought and me not answering her back, anyone would be led to believe that the two of us were doing something. All Aomine-kun did was try to get close to me. Sure he brought up the good fact that it was my hips, but other than that, I was just being used to his amusement. And I let him hold me like that because I sincerely did like Aomine-kun.
Being played out like a girl who was easy was much horrible than being ridiculed on the court for being one. Aomine-kun really didn't care about my feelings. Why would he? He was one of the Generation of Miracles and I was just a girl who was decent in basketball. I wasn't worth his time. I'd never be.
Sitting alone in the gym for a good half hour, I continuously check my phone for any word back from the team. The game must've been over. They couldn't have lost, could they?
But being alone and away from my team, it made me really realize how much time I spent with them. It had only been a week but I loved them all like family.
Without them here with me and Satsu-chan upset at me, I felt so lonely. All I wanted was my senpai's, the first years, Kagami-kun and Kuroko-kun's banter, and my role model, Riko-senpai.
It was pathetic, really. Away from them for almost an hour and I was so upset. I relied too much on other people's happiness to make myself happy.
Flipping open my phone, I had one new text. It was from Aomine-kun?! When did he- that's right. He must've put his number in when he had my phone.
"Reply to: You keep leaving yer' ball with me."
That's all it said. No apology. Nothing.
"You really are an Ahomine," I mumble, as my eyes begin to water. Deleting his message and number from my phone, I rub my nose. There'd be no reason to talk to him. I'd get Satsu-chan to get the ball back. Or leave it with him. Anything but seeing him would do.
I was much too emotional for a girl who played basketball.
Suddenly, I hear the comforting laughs of my team, making their way into the gym.
They one by one enter, all with happy faces. Then did I know that they had won their match between Shinkyo.
Getting off the ground, I run towards my anis (older brothers) first, jumping on them all.
Hugging them, I hide back my tears. It was so good to see them.
"Eh? Imouto, are you okay?!" they cry out, immediately beginning to panic. This time, I can't help but cry tears of joy. They were back home and had fulfilled their promise to me by winning against Shinkyo. It was more than I could have asked for.
"It's fine. She just missed us," says coach, as she places a comforting hand on top of my head, rubbing it gently.
Smiling into the warm chest of Hyuuga-senpai, the thoughts of Aomine-kun are all gone. Instead, thoughts about my team and the Inter-High preliminaries are replaced. I couldn't waste my time on boy troubles. Basketball and helping the team to victory was the most important thing. From now on, I'd be training relentlessly and for once listen to Satsu-chan about eating right. Anything to get my mind off of him.