Chapter 16: Thank You
Waking up the next morning, I roll across my plush bed, thanking whichever God that today was a Saturday morning. One day where the team of Seirin was allowed to take things easy. Laying my hand upon my nightstand by my bed, I begin to fish around for my cell phone, knocking over a picture in the process.
Groaning in annoyance, I lean half of my body over my bed, searching for the fallen photo. Where was it?
Suddenly my bedroom door creaks open, welcoming a groggy Satsu-chan who was still dressed in her pajamas; a long, oversized black t-shirt.
"Nice shirt. Where'd you get it?" asks a sly Satsu-chan, as she climbs into bed beside me. Her body squishes against mine, considering that my mattress was only a twin size.
Satsu-chan was referring to the gag gift Aomine had gifted me back at the resort where Kaijou, Touou and Seirin had all been conveniently staying at. The same shirt I had been wearing around all the boys, much to my misfortune did I not realize on the back it had said, "I LOVE AOMINE DAIKI" in large, bolded red letters. That was the only time I had worn it, but ever since I came back from Miami, I had found myself secretly sleeping in the large jersey to bed. Something Aomine-kun didn't know about. And he wouldn't know about. That is if Satsu-chan would remain quiet. Something told me that my bubbly cousin would somehow manage to spill the beans. Just some more leverage for Aomine-kun to make fun of me with.
Smiling at the fond, embarrassing memory, I find myself beginning to giggle like a smitten middle schooler.
"You're in a good mood. Hey, you never told me what you and Aomine-kun did when he came over?" asks Satsu-chan, as she rolls on her side, wrapping her hands up to her chest as she faces me. I do the same, so that we stare at each other face to face.
"What we did? Well…you're laying in it."
"What're-"
I begin to laugh as Satsu-chan's face grows deathly pale, as she jumps out of bed quicker than Aomine-kun had did yesterday.
"THAT IS DISGUST-"
Grabbing her arm, I yank my overly gullible cousin back towards the bed, nestling close to what would be more of an elder sister.
"I'm kidding, silly. We didn't do it and I don't plan to anytime soon. So please don't worry," I mumble reassuringly, as I cling on to her arm like a child not wanting their mother to leave their side.
Sighing out loud, Satsu-chan soothingly smoothes out my hair, making my eyes beginning to close once again in comfort.
"Say, have you done it?" I ask, as a loud yawn escapes my lips.
Satsu-chan remains quiet for a few seconds, before answering. "No," she says softly.
"Waiting for Kuro-kun?"
She suddenly and swiftly, slaps my head, causing me to sit upright in pain. Any ideas of sleeping again had been thrown out of the window. "What was-"
"Kuroko-kun is a gentleman. He and I will wait until we're married," she huffs out, as she crosses her arms over her large bust.
Laughing, I begin to fish around my nightstand for a second time, searching for my phone. Which reminded me that I dropped that photo somewhere on the ground. Leaning over again, I find it squished in between the crevices of my nightstand and bed. Grabbing it, I'm about to place the photo back on it's surface, not about to bother with photo at all. But I find my eyes glued to the picture, my eyes burning at the old memory.
Satsu-chan gently takes the frame from my grasp, inspecting it herself. "You never showed me this," she mumbles more to herself than to me.
Flipping open my phone with my spare hand, I frown upon the empty screen. No new messages. Grumbling irritably, I begin to scroll through my contact list. I suppose I'll be the bigger person and apologize first. The last thing I wanted was an unbalanced team for Seirin and our senpai's to become worried over the tension between us both. I'm sure Kagami-kun, nor Kiyoshi-senpai for that matter would've mentioned much.
Holding the phone up to my ear, I cover my eyes with my other hand, dreading the conversation that was about to take place.
"What?" grunts a still quite upset Kagami-kun. I ignore his rudeness and get straight to the point.
"Look, I…I want to apologize about yesterday. I should've had let you spoken in private instead of causing such a big scene. Especially after I decided to walk away like a child. I'm sorry that you've been feeling that way lately, Kagami-kun. The last thing I want is for you to be unhappy, alright? And plus, with us fighting we've got poor Kuro-kun worrying as well," I profess, as I feel an intense weight lifted off the brim of my shoulders.
Glancing towards my side, I find Satsu-chan listening in on my conversation with Kagami-kun. I had explained the whole ordeal to her after dinner. Seeing as how Aomine-kun had decided to stay for it.
Thankfully now it seemed that this whole problem was out of the way. I could now start to live my life guilt, drama-
"How'd Aomine take it?" he asks.
Free? I was so close to the much needed freedom.
Jolting upright, I place my hand up to my forehead, not understanding what he just said. I throw my arms up in the arm, giving Satsu-chan an incredulous look. She stares back at me in confusion, throwing her hands up as well. I would've put the call on speaker but I knew it'd be unfair on Kagami-kun's part. Plus, I'd end up retelling her the story anyways.
"I'm sorry. How'd Aomine take what?"
"The break up. How'd he take it?"
What break up?
"I still don't understand, Kagami-kun. Aomine-kun and I are still-"
"So you're leaving Seirin then?"
Was he- it suddenly hit me like one of Kuroko-kun's cyclone passes.
"Make up your mind! It's either the team or him!"
Kagami-kun wasn't actually serious, was he? By no means did I plan on choosing between Seirin and what would possibly be the love of my-
Kagami-kun sighs roughly on the other end. "If you don't choose, then we can't be friends anymore."
Unconsciously holding my breath, I feel my skin begin to grow uncomfortably numb, crawling irritably all over. I felt like ripping it all off.
"We can't be friends anymore."
"…can't be friends..."
"…anymore."
Suddenly I find myself yelling hysterically into the phone, clenching it tightly in my fist. "Just what're you talking about, Kagami-kun?! We're friends, we play on the same team, go to the same school, hang out with the same people for crying out loud! We're the same person, Kaga-"
"Are we? Because I sure as hell wouldn't betray the team by-"
"Fine. Fine Kagami-kun. You can have it your way. Even though you claimed yesterday that I couldn't have things go my way all the time, and that I had to think about the team, then here's me doing you a favour."
"So you're breaking up with-"
"Yes. I'm breaking up with you, Kagami-kun. I'm done. If this is how you plan to feel about how the relationships I share with others who mean a lot to me, then we can't be friends. I can't be on the same time as someone who hates me, Kagami-kun. I'll tell Riko-senpai myself that I'm handing in my uniform. Thanks for everything you've done, ba…ba…Kagami-kun."
Ending the call, I couldn't even find the strength to insult him. Bringing my knees up to my chin, I hold my legs tightly as my breathing becomes shallow.
"W-what happened, Yuki-chan?" asks a tentative Satsu-chan, as she shifts closer towards me. If that was even possible.
"He forced me to choose…choose between the team and Aomine-kun. H-How can I when I love both equally?" I whisper, as I find myself beginning to break.
Satsu-chan's gaze grows soft, as she lowers her head in pity. "And?"
"It wasn't much of a choice anymore when he threatened to stop being friends with me if I chose Aomine-kun."
"Then I don't think Kagami-kun's much of a friend if he said something like that," whispers Satsu-chan, as she pulls my head into her chest, rubbing my back softly.
"W-Was I wrong? Am I making a mistake by quitting the team over Aomine-kun?"
Satsu-chan is quiet, the only sound you could hear were my quiet sniffles and sobs. "When I first saw Aomine-kun and you together, I couldn't believe it. It…it was as if I was looking at the Aomine-kun from middle school. He was happy, kinder and much more friendlier when he was around you. Even though it didn't look like it to you, I could tell he was genuinely happy. That besides myself, he had finally found someone who could keep him occupied in a good way. And I could say the same thing for-"
"That's grea-"
"But," she drags on, almost not wanting to say the other part.
"But?"
"But when you finish playing with Seirin, you tell me stories about everyone as soon as you see me, going on and on for hours about them all. And I could sit there and listen for hours, not growing the least bit annoyed or tired. Because that look on your face, that…that light in your eyes was more than enough to keep my attention. Just as happy as you are with Aomine-kun, it's the same when you're with Seirin," she finishes, stating her opinion.
By now, I was out of tears and much more calm and relaxed than before. Hearing her talk about Seirin like that made me happier than ever. But it also made me happy to hear that Aomine-kun was changing for the better because of myself.
Rolling away from my cousin, but still staying near her, I hold up the framed picture in front of my face, studying the past memory. It was a photo that had surprisingly enough hadn't made into the basketball calendar. It had to be the only picture where everything was right. Everything was natural. We all stood in a line, our hands cupped around each other's shoulders, all smiling happily at the camera.
I was on the very end on the left hand side, with both of my arms clinging onto Kagami-kun's large, toned right arm. Never wanting to let go of him. Even he had a broad smile on his face in the picture. Something that was hard to get out of him.
Placing the photo gently back onto my night stand, I begin to analyze the situation before me.
"What're you thinking?" asks Satsu-chan, after sitting in silence for about 5 minutes.
"Say, remember when I had talked to you on the phone before I came to Japan. When we were talking about what school to en-roll me in?" I ask, as I turn to look at her.
She nods her head.
"You said there was only two schools willing to accept a girl on their basketball team. We had went for Seirin because they were the closest from home. What was the other one?"
"A-Are you sure?" asks sceptical Satsu-chan in response.
Of course I was sure. More sure than I could ever be about something. But I couldn't tell my decision to her quite yet. Not after I discussed it with a certain someone, possibly group before hand.
I nod my head.
"They hold practices on Saturday at their school as well. But it's not mandatory. If you want, we can go check them out," she says, as she begins to climb out of bed.
"Really? Okay. What school was it?"
Satsu-chan walks across my room, stopping underneath the frame of my door. Turning her head over her shoulder, her pink, tangled locks flow down her back like a waterfall. She finally answers.
"Rakuzan High."