After the game has finished, the two teams bowed and then said goodbye. Of course, almost everyone noticed Kise crying but luckily his captain fixed him right up. Once they left school grounds, the Seirin team headed to the nearest hospital to get Kuroko's injury checked out.
Once they were told everything was fine, the team could relax and finally celebrate their first victory as a team. At first, however, everyone realized they had zero money on them. Sasaki was about to speak up that he had his black card with him, but Riko beat him to it.
Blowing her whistle to get everyone's attention, she grinned, "it's okay. What do you say we go for steak?"
"Huh?" The team echoed. Before long, they were seated at the restaurant with huge steaks in front of each person.
"Friggin nuts, good luck everyone," Sasaki grimaced.
"What's wrong? Don't hold back," Riko all but sang at them, appearing very pleased with herself. It would be fine, Sasaki assured himself, even if we don't finish, I can get the tab.
"What are we going to do if we can't eat all of this?" Hyuuga asked, holding the utensils.
"What?" Riko perked up at hear that, crossing her arms with a stern look on her face. "Why do you think I make you run everyday?"
Sweatdrops all around. Sasaki once again grimaced before starting to cut into the steak, everyone else following his lead. "This steak is steakalicious," Izuki said, making Koganei deadpan from beside him.
"Sorry but that shit is really annoying right now."
I'd rather die than eat all of this, Sasaki felt like crying as he shoved another mouthful into his mouth. Actually, I'd rather die than do a lot of things, but that's not relevant right now.
"Excuse me," Kuroko suddenly said, causing Hyuuga to perk up.
"Do you need some water?" He asked, but the reply he got was not what anyone wanted to hear.
"I give up," The blue haired boy declared, making everyone look at him.
"KUROKOOOOOOOO!"
Several minutes later, everyone else seemed to be down for the count. Sasaki's head was on the table, but from the angle he could see Kagami eating like it was his last meal. Good grief, eat mine too would ya, Sasaki grumbled.
"Huh? Sure, slide it over," Kagami said, grinning. Sasaki deadpanned harder, but did as told because there was no way he wanted to keep staring at that hunk of meat. "Oh, if you guys aren't gonna finish those, can I have them?"
"Our savior," Sasaki sighed, deflating on the table once again as everyone handed over their unfinished plates.
In the middle of watching Kagami eat, Sasaki noticed Kuroko was walking towards the exit, so after a quick look around, he darted up and went after him. "Hey, what are you doin-" He paused as soon as he saw that Kise was there as well. "Oh, hey man."
"Hello Sasakicchi," He smiled before glancing at Kuroko. "And Kurokocchi. Do you have a minute to talk?"
"Sure, don't see why not. What do you say, Kuroko?" Sasaki directed the question to the person, who nodded.
"Great, follow me," The blonde said, straightening off of the railing and holding out his hand. The two blinked. "Sasakicchi, can we hold hands?"
"Errr, not sure why you'd want to but sure I guess," The white haired boy hesitantly placed his hand in Kise's open one, and the blonde's face brightened the moment their fingers curled and interlocked.
Kuroko noted the exchange, his eyes widening as he realized what was happening in his former teammate's head. His eyes immediately narrowed a second later as he gritted his teeth. "Are you sure you want me to come along?" He asked, and Kise nodded.
"I do have something to say to you as well, Kurokocchi, so yes," He said, so the blue haired male continued along with them. Pulling Sasaki with him, Kise walked them to a park. "It's been a while since we last talked like this," The blonde stated, "how's your injury?"
"I'm fine," Kuroko responded. Kise set his bag down before climbing on top of a bench and sitting down, pulling Sasaki down with him so he was sitting between his legs. The white haired male just went with it.
"I saw Midorimacchi," Kise said after a second. Kuroko hummed.
"Honestly, I don't get along with him very well," He said, causing the blonde to chuckle.
"Now that you mention it, you're right," Kise smiled before his face darkened. "That left hand of his is no joke. Especially on good days for cancer."
"Who are you guys talking about with those expressions?" Sasaki asked as he leaned back into Kise. The action caused the blonde to smile.
"Ah, an old teammate from Teiko, our shooting guard. He's really good."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, I've never seen him miss one of his shots! Isn't that cool?" Kise's eyes we're bright as he spoke before he suddenly coughed and glanced away with a pout. "But I'm cool too.."
"Yeah, you are pretty cool, Kisecchi," Sasaki laughed at the childishness.
"Seems like he just came to watch today's game," The blonde said, remembering their conversation and clenching his fist. "Anyway..." He trailed off, "first you turned me down, and then I lost today's game. Almost everything's going wrong with my life right now."
"Almost?" Sasaki piped up, causing the blonde's lips to quirk upwards.
"That's right. I got to meet you, Sasakicchi, so not everything's gone wrong," He smiled, and the other male raised an eyebrow.
"If you say so, Kisecchi," He shrugged, closing his eyes with a sigh. Getting up, Kise's smile widened into a grin.
"I was kidding, at least about being depressed about all this," He said as he turned to Kuroko. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you about your reason," He threw his basketball at him. "Why did you disappear.." He trailed off as Kuroko caught the ball. "Right after the middle school championship game?"
"I'm not sure," He replied, and Kise's face morphed with confusion. If you don't know why you did something then who will? Sasaki shook his head.
"What?"
"It's true I began to question Teiko's policies because of the championship game. I felt we lacked something," Kuroko told him.
"Sports are all about winning," Kise said, an eyebrow raised. "What could be more important?"
"Kise, shut up for a second," Sasaki grumbled, standing up from the bench. He stared deadeyed at him, not even caring about the flinch he received from his tone. "Sports are not all about winning. It's about playing, competing, and having fun. Winning is just a word for the outcome of a game. Losing is just a word for the outcome of a game. If sports were all about winning, wouldn't they find a way for everyone to win? But that's not how it is. You know how both teams leave the court, knowing they put in their best efforts and that they have no regrets? That's what it's about. I honestly don't give a hoot who wins or loses because to me, I win as long as I have fun. That's why I try not to look at the score because who cares. Sure its nice to win and it feels worse to lose, but at the end of the day it's still about playing the game we love. That's my philosophy, take it or leave it, it's up to you," The white haired male said, "but either way, I'm gonna head back."
"Matte!" Kise called, catching his hand and pulling him in for a hug. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."
"Yeah," Sasaki bit the inside of his cheek as he sighed before closing his eyes and hugging him back. "Sorry for snapping."
"I understand now why you chose Sasakicchi as your new light, Kurokocchi," Kise said after they had separated, though he had wanted that moment to last forever.
"Technically he has two lights," Sasaki corrected him, "me and Kagami."
"Right," Kise blinked and nodded.
"I was impressed when I met both of you," Kuroko said, "you and Kagami love basketball from the bottom of your hearts. You guys seemed to have been through rough times, but you still take basketball more seriously than anyone else."
"I'll say one thing, then," Kise piped up, the wind beginning to blow. "If you think so highly of Kagami and Sasakicchi because of their attitude towards basketball, some day the three of you will part ways."