POV Takao
I had to ask him to repeat that last statement.
"Do you want to play basketball with Kagami and his friends this afternoon," he said slowly. "Should Dad examine your ears as well?"
"Ha, ha," I smirk. "I just can't believe you're willing to be sociable. You must be very worried about me."
"Basketball is therapeutic," he said and adjusted his glasses.
We arrived at the court at 3:15 on purpose so that the other players would feel, as Shin-chan said, no obligation to sit out on our account. The game was in full gear as we arrived and they waited until the next basket had been made before they acknowledge us.
"Midorima-kun, I didn't think you would come," Kuroko says.
"Takao, what happened to your head?" Kagami asked, referring to me casually, as if we've been friends forever. Shin-chan was annoyed, but Kagami was just too American to bother me. I scratched my head just above the bandage and tried to figure out what to say without lying.
"Bar fight, hah hah," I joked. "But no really, I don't want to talk about it."
"I see that jumping is still all you think of, Bakagami," Shin-chan said, making himself the center of attention to relieve some of my discomfort. Kagami pursed his lips at Shin-chan, before sticking his tongue out and making a farting sound.
"Come on, let's get back to the game," Hyūga, Serin's clutch shooter and team captain suggested as he threw the ball directly at Kagami's head.
"Would you like to swap in?" Izuki offered.
"We came to –" Shin-chan stops awkwardly as his vocabulary fails him.
"We're here to hang out," I finished his sentence.
"Who's the player you hated being up against the most since entering high school?" Kagami asked as he completed an alley-oop begun by Kuroko.
Almost simultaneously, Shin-chan, Izuki, and I all answered with the same name, with no hesitation: Akashi.
Kuroko held the ball in one hand and thoughtfully scratched at his cheek with the other.
"He is a monster, but I think the worst player to be marked by is Takao-kun. He was the first one to see through my misdirection and that hurt."
"Oi, Kuroko," I said, mugging a huge smile, "You hurt my feelings and made me blush with the same sentence. That's not fair."
"Sorry, I just say what I feel," Kuroko shrugged and passed the ball to Kagami who started play again.
"What about you, Hyūga?" Kagami asked, making a fast break past Izuki.
"It's a toss-up, both were so utterly repugnant in different ways," he said and he backed tipped Kagami. No one was playing hard, it was more about trying out new techniques and I could see why they worked so well together as a team.
"Two? You're a greedy bastard having so many rivals," Kagami joked.
"Not rivals. You can't consider someone as unbalanced as Hanamiya a rival."
"I hate him too," Kuroko said in a strangely monotone voice for such a heated statement.
"Who do you hold in equal disregard with that psychopath?" Shin-chan asked.
"It's not nice to call people names," Kuroko said.
"Only other psychopaths are allowed to use the 'p' word." Shin-chan meant it as a joke, but I was the only one who laughed.
"Reo Mibuchi," Hyūga admited.
"Seriously?" I asked and cat-called Kagami as he took a bump pass from Kuroko and dunked the ball like he was repaying a great insult.
"What team is he from?" Kagami asked.
"He's an Uncrowned King from Rakuzan," Shin-chan answered. "You should pay more attention to players outside of the Generation of Miracles."
"What's so bad about him? I don't even remember him," Kagami ignored Shin-chan.
"The creepy pervert was hitting on me the whole game," Hyūga snarled as he stopped moving forward and got into position to shoot. "Yeah, ok, we're basketball players and we end up rubbing against other guys, but he was getting off on making me uncomfortable." Hyūga missed the shot and swore.
"That's unprofessional and un-sportsmen like," Shin-chan decided.
"And creepy as hell. Who wants some gay guy marking them?" Hyūga asked.
"Kuroko," Shin-chan said, "I've changed my mind, let me sub in for a while." He took of his Shūtoku jacket and unwound the tape on his shooting hand. Kuroko joined me on the bench and Kagami face twisted up as he realized he'd be partnered with him.
"As a fellow shooting guard, I'll mark Hyūga," he offered. Shin-chan was just as bad about dropping honorifics as Kagami, but he was a sexy hypocrite.
"He's a strong defender, not just a good shooter, Senpai. Be careful," Kagami warned.
"I'm not a 'good shotter', Bakagami. I am our generation's number one shooter," he boasted as he jigged around Hyūga and took the shoot from outside. It wasn't often that I could sit back and enjoy watching Shin-chan play. It was truly a beautiful shot with an undeniably perfect form. Hyūga tried to take that long hang time to answer back, but Shin-chan was on him in a moment, expertly blocking any attempt to pass the ball back to Izuki.
"The shot clocks running," Shin-chan taunted as Hyūga and Izuki danced for better position. Kagami blew around the blockage and took Izuki head on.
Shin-chan in the meantime, engaged Hyūga in a different kind of battle.
"I'm curious. Was it his sexuality that bothered you or his unprofessionalism?"
"Huh, well, I've never thought out it. Using sex against a mark, just seems like poor form."
"It would be the same then, if a straight athlete used his overt sexuality to distract – like one of those childish American taunts about sleeping with an opponent's mother."
"I guess I don't know," Hyūga admitted. "I've never played against anyone who did that, but I've also never been marked by a gay player before Reo."
Shin-chan allowed Hyūga to begin his shot before he blocked it, sending it spiraling toward Kagami.
"Tch, of course you have, how unobservant."
"Not every has Takao's hawk-eye or Izuki's eagle-eye," Kagami argued.
"You only need to be a good observer of human behavior," I said, "because our eyes aren't good for such thing."
"Whatever," Kagami dismissed.
"Takao-kun, you want to sub in for a while?" Izuki pleaded. Poor Izuki seemed nervous playing with the big boys.
"No, sometimes it's more fun to watch."
"Wait!" Hyūga shouted and I thought maybe, just maybe he'd finally gotten it. "Kise-kun's gay, right? He's totally got to be gay."
"No," both Shin-chan and Kuroko both deadpanned.
"Kise is simply an attention-whore," Shin-chan sighed.
"Again, it's not nice to call people names," Kuroko said.
"I never accuse anyone of behavior I am not also guilt of," Shin-chan said.
"You're an attention whore?" Kagami laughed.
"Only on the court. Otherwise I prefer to be left alone."
"Yeah, I can see that," Kagami shrugged.
"I'm curious about the gay players you're hinting at," Hyūga stopped play long enough to take a long swig on his water bottle.
"Duh, it's not that difficult…" I said.
"How long have you and Takao-kun been together, Midorima-kun?" Kuroko asked.
"Fifteen months," I said and at the same time, Shin-chan said, "A year and a half."
I couldn't help the laugh that barked out of my gut. The other guys looked back and forth between us.
"There's got to be a story behind those answers," Izuki chuckled.
"Takao," Shin-chan warned.
"The first three months were more unofficial," I demurred.
"A year and a half would put it right after last year's Winter Cup?" Kagami asked.
"Yes, after our lost to you at inter-high and our eventual third place victory at the Winter Cup, we recommitted ourselves to training and didn't have time for personal lives," I said and I could see that Shin-chan was grateful he didn't have to explain.
"You were unstoppable at the Kanto Cup," Kagami acknowledged.
"Our winning was inevitable, but the games would have been more interesting if the Iron Heart had been able to play," Shin-chan said and I was proud that he could answer compliment for compliment. "His loss was an obvious factor in your defeat."
"This year…" Hyūga warned.
"Yes?" I said. "This year? Are your first years any good?"
"Not as good as Teppei," Kagami admitted while Hyūga pretended his glasses needed cleaning.
"We have a new hook shooter," I offered. "He's not as good as Mitobe-kun, but he's energetic."
The only rule, we learned on that first Sunday, was that no score could be kept. Shin-chan of course knew exactly how many points he made, but at the end made no mention of it.
"We play every Sunday," Hyūga told Shin-chan. "Come play with us again, alright? And bring your hook shooter. We'll bring Mitobe."
"Perhaps, if our training schedule permits," Shin-chan replied.
"About those cracks earlier..." Hyūga said.
"Forget it," I said, slapping him on the shoulder. "You didn't know, but it doesn't changed anything, right?"
"No, we…I respect you as players, professionals, and sportsmen. I appreciate that neither of you are like that guy."
"It's how it should be. Our private life isn't for the court, it is for those close to us," Shin-chan answered. I saw Kuroko nod in acknowledgment of Shin-chan's obscured compliment.
"We do a mass text each week so we can know whose coming – you want in on that?" Kagami asked. I jumped off the bench and offered my phone, Shin-chan pulled his out as well.