Third POV
As the Seirin team started joining the crowds while drawing closer to the exit and to the parking lot, (Y/N) was beginning to feel the repercussions of the game they had just finished. It didn't help that Seto literally jammed his elbow right into her scarred side, and then there was the fact that she hadn't performed any gymnastics moves in a very hot second.
In short, the triple threat was frickin' sore. Kuroko, who had been walking beside her, noticed the tall girl's discomfort as she ran her hand over the shoulder she had smacked on the pole of the basketball hoop. He was really hoping there wasn't any serious damage done to it since the girl's adrenaline was probably rushing at full force through her veins at the time of impact.
Well, the phantom remembered a little something, so he poked the girl's arm, gaining her attention as she turned and looked at the light blue haired boy. Kuroko then pointed over to the parking lot where all of the cars were located. Oh, that's right! The triple threat totally forgot.
Lightly slapping her forehead and making an 'oh right, duh' face at the fact that she had forgotten just how she had gotten here in the first place, the tall girl shook her head as the phantom let out a small snicker.
"Hey, Riko?" (Y/N) called out to her cousin while the team continued to walk.
The brunette soon turned back, seeing her and Kuroko stopping and separating from the group while the taller girl pointed to the parking lot.
"Do you mind if Tetsu and I run to get some ibuprofen? I didn't bring any with me," the triple threat requested since there was both a pharmacy and a Seven-Eleven near the gymnasium.
Riko then remembered as well that her cousin had gotten here a very different way than the rest of the team. Well, she didn't blame the tall girl for being a bit sore, even if Riko knew her pain tolerance was rather high. The triple threat's numbers were looking a little low too. Sending the younger girl a smile, the coach nodded.
"Yeah, sure. You know how to get to where we're going, right?" she asked, causing the rest of the team to look at the coach with confusion.
They were going home, weren't they? Where else would they possibly go? Hyuga knew the training camp in the mountains was coming up soon, but that couldn't be for another couple of days, right? Plus, the stores were a good couple of miles from here. A lot of questions began filling the boys' heads, but there wasn't any time to ask.
(Y/N) looked up in thought for a second at her cousin's question. She and Riko had discussed it literally that morning, but she couldn't remember the place's name. Still, the triple threat had a general idea of where it was if it was the right place she was thinking of.
"Uh, it's your friend's family's place, right?" the tall girl wanted to confirm, prompting a nod in response from Riko.
"Okay, then yeah. I know where that's at. We'll meet you guys there," the (h/c) haired girl waved as she and Kuroko began making their way to the parking lot.
There were still quite a lot of people coming out of the stadium and going out to the parking lot, so the girl thought it was a good idea just to get her keys to her car out now instead of waiting so she and Kuroko could just go and escape the parking jam. She had gotten a pretty good spot too.
Yeah, that's right. (Y/N) Bashira had a legitimate driver's license to drive around Japan, despite her being underage. However, she passed her driver's test in LA right before she came back to Japan. It was just a matter of getting all of the paperwork transferred over to where she could drive in both countries and getting her car fixed up as well. Today was the first day she was actually able to drive to a game, and since Kuroko lived nearby, she offered him a ride as well.
Fiddling through her bag, the triple threat finally felt the soft material of her keychain, which was a crocheted head of Stitch that she had made herself while she was on strict bed rest.
"OOH! Found 'em!" she let out as she pulled her car keys out while the two miracles continued to walk.
Then, just by instinct, the girl rubbed her sore shoulder once again, and Kuroko was quick to notice as Number Two popped his head out of the phantom's bag.
"Do you think you pulled anything in your shoulder?" the light blue haired boy asked her, feeling a little concerned at that possibility.
Realizing what she was doing, (Y/N) stopped immediately, looking to the phantom only to be met with his concerned expression. Ope, she wasn't looking to worry anyone, especially since the team was going to such a special place this evening.
The good thing was that the triple threat could still move her shoulder without any pain, so that was a good sign that she hadn't pulled or cracked anything in her body. But any sort of body slamming hurted and had its consequences.
"No, it's just a bad bruise I think, but that Seto guy elbowed me right where my scar is on my side. That one hurts more. I ran out of ibuprofen and totally forgot to go get more before this game. Plus, I'm hungry so I thought we could make a snack run," the tall girl explained as she fiddled with some strands of her hair that fell over her shoulder.
Okay, there she was. The light blue haired boy knew if she was hungry, that was more than likely a good sign she wasn't hurting too bad. Plus, (Y/N) was kind of skipping as she and the phantom continued making their way to her car. It made the boy smile.
"Sounds good to me," Kuroko agreed, feeling a little peckish, himself.
Continuing to make their way to find the triple threat's car, the tall girl caught sight of some familiar light gray school uniforms walking together in a group seeming to be heading in the same direction as the two Seirin miracles.
"Oh boy...I'm gonna get my butt chewed out," the girl groaned quietly as Kuroko looked at her before following her gaze and spotting just exactly what she was looking at.
Sure enough, there were the Kaijo starters walking just a little ways away from them. The two miracles were bound to come into their sights in just a couple of seconds. The triple threat was making a bet on it as she slowly turned back to the shorter boy, pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes.
"Watch, Tetsu, watch!" she whisper shouted in a slightly high pitched voice.
Putting three fingers up as they continued walking, the tall girl started putting a finger down as she mouthed the numbers, knowing exactly what was coming for her next. Countdown in 3, 2, 1...
"(Y/N)CCHI!!" Kise's voice wailed.
Called it, the triple threat was right on point. However, when she turned back toward her blonde friend's voice, the tall girl saw the model hauling ass and literally sprinting right at her. He was going a little too fast for her. (Y/N) soon started freaking out a little bit as she began erratically waving her hands out in front of her.
"Oh, Kicchi, wait wait WAIT!!"
Her attempts at getting him to slow down were useless, so the triple threat braced herself for impact. A second after, Kise had captured the girl in his arms, the force knocking her back a couple of steps while also causing her to drop her bag. Good thing Number Two was with Kuroko this time.
Talk about getting the wind knocked out of your system.
"Are you okay!? We saw what happened and when you fell and when you got mad and everything! Are you hurt? Do you need to go to the hospital?" the blonde copycat rambled on as he held the triple threat tightly in his arms, her hands grasping the back of his uniform so she wouldn't trip over her own feet and fall...again.
The boy was finally letting his worries and concerns out that he had been holding in during the entire game. He was planning on calling the triple threat, thinking he wouldn't be able to see her, but the gods must've heard his prayers and answered them because here she was.
Feeling the copycat squeezing her a little more as he nuzzled into her hair, (Y/N) kind of winced a little bit, not being able to get a good breath from Kise holding her so tightly against his chest.
"Kicchi...can't breathe..." the tall girl wheezed out, feeling him pressing his arm against her bruised side.
Luckily, Kasamatsu was there to save the day, coming up behind the blonde first year, grabbing his collar, and pulling him away from the triple threat allowing her to catch her breath once again.
"Dude, give her some space," the captain scolded Kise, the blonde realizing his mistake as he caught (Y/N) rubbing her side a little bit.
Not what he wanted to do at all, so now the blonde felt guilty as he began waving his arms around like crazy too. Typical Kise, acting with what his heart wanted instead of using his head first.
"AH! I'm sorry!" he apologized, but it only prompted a small giggle to escape from the (h/c) haired girl, assuring him that she was fine.
The cheery girl was all for a good hug, just not another full on body slam hug. She had enough of those for one day. As the blonde copycat calmed himself, there was another first year who was the complete opposite as he came stomping toward the triple threat, a clear glare set on his face.
"(Y/N) Bashira!" Hibiki's yell caused the said girl to flinch.
Oh, full name was never a good thing, not at all. Especially considering it was coming from her twin brother. Like a robot, the triple threat rigidly turned her head to see the younger twin coming right at her. Here we go, she had to prepare herself for the butt chewing she saw coming.
"I can't believe you! You are frickin' nuts, you know that?!" the (h/c) haired boy started, pointing at his sister as she stood and took it.
Kind of, but that didn't mean (Y/N) wasn't going to throw in some of her own sarcasm to try and downplay the scolding she was receiving from her little brother. Putting a hand on her shoulder, the triple threat gave the younger twin a little bit of an exasperated look, her eyes widening a little bit in the process.
"Yes, Hibs. So I've been told about four times today," she responded with light sarcasm lacing her tone of voice.
But Hibiki was not having any of it. That glare on his face only stayed as he sharply pointed at his slightly shorter sister, something she wasn't expecting at all as she felt the heat from a (e/c) gaze identical to hers.
"Will you shut up and listen to me for a second?" he snapped at her, not showing any signs of this being a time for jokes nor did he want her to argue.
Even the rest of Kaijo was shocked by how serious the younger twin was being. It wasn't like him at all. But then again, he had gotten rather worked up during the game and had mentioned he had a thing or two about his twin and Hanamiya.
(Y/N) got the message, and she admitted, she kind of deserved this for scaring everyone for what she had done by making a challenge to the ruthless uncrowned king. Letting a small sigh out through her nose, the triple threat nodded, letting her brother continue on with his rant he had going on.
"Geez, it's not always a good idea to play hero and let your temper show when it comes to people like him. You could've gotten hurt all over again 'cause he would've done it too," Hibiki raved on as the tall girl listened to him.
Yes, she agreed Hanamiya could've hurt her and was out to do that. But it took all that she had not to retort with the fact that she was stronger than he was. The face that she made said it all to the younger twin and he was quick to stop her as he pointed his finger at his sister once again.
"Don't-"
"I'm not, Hibiki. I'm listening," the tall girl stated in a calm tone of voice, putting her hands up to show she wasn't going to start up an argument.
Because she knew her brother was right when it came to something like this. The girl probably should've taken everyone else's feelings into consideration before she opened her mouth. That was more of her anger and temper talking when she had made that declaration to Hanamiya.
Everyone was kind of surprised the older twin didn't retort to her brother, since she was very much known for that. They kind of also guessed that Hibiki was also speaking on their behalf as well since it was clear that she had scared them too. Though, the younger twin was being way harsher than they would've been.
The younger twin could tell that his sister was understanding him, that much was clear when she decided to keep quiet and listen to what he had to say. Letting out his own sigh, his shoulders relaxing from his tensed up figure, Hibiki didn't waste any time in taking a step forward and wrapping his arms around his sister, definitely catching her off guard as her eyes widened a little bit.
"Don't scare me like that, (Y/N). I already worry about you enough," she heard him say as the boy leaned his cheek on the side of his sister's head, his face a little red from embarrassment that he was showing his affectionate twin side after acting all cool.
Ever since seeing his twin, someone who he felt was a part of him, get as hurt as she did and almost die from it, that scared Hibiki to death. No one wants to see their sister like that, not one bit. He just didn't want it to happen again because if his twin sister wasn't there, the boy would lose a part of himself. When people tell you twins are more connected than one may think, the younger Bashira twin will tell you it's the darn truth.
Hearing him say that made (Y/N) smile as she wrapped her arms around her brother's waist, closing her eyes and feeling comfort from her brother. She had heard him loud and clear, and the girl wanted to make sure he knew that. Seeing that most of the scolding from her brother was done and over with, the triple threat finally piped up.
"Wow, look at you being so loving to your big sissy," she teased him in her own little silly fashion.
Hibiki had to try so hard not to let a grin creep up on his face, so he made sure to keep his face turned away from the others so they wouldn't be giving him a hard time about this later.
"I love you to death, so quit giving me heart attacks like you like to do sometimes," the younger twin told her, making sure she knew where he was coming from and why he was acting this way.
And trust her, her twin side knows very well why he had gotten upset at her in the first place. Smiling to herself, the triple threat patted her brother's back, knowing very well he was hiding his embarrassment from everyone else.
"I'll try not to for you, Hibs. 'Cause I just love you that much."
That was able to get a smile to finally on the younger boy's face as the others grinned at the twins having their little moment. An even nicer ending to such a rough game. Pulling away from each other, Hibiki heard the familiar jiggling of keys, to which he then saw car keys in his sister's hands as she fixed her hair up a little bit.
"Did you drive here?" the younger twin asked, directing the triple threat's attention to the Stitch keychain keys in her hands.
"Yeah, my car's all fixed up and I have my Japan license-"
"Hold up, you drive, (Y/N)?" Kasamatsu interrupted the girl, his shock apparent on his face along with the other players, the most exaggerated looks being from Kise and Hayakawa.
No surprise there. The twins plus Kuroko looked back at the Kaijo players, the siblings synchronizing their blinking. Then it dawned on the tall girl. Driving rules were different in Japan than in America when it came to age. Here in Japan, you have to be 18 in order to get your license, not 16.
"Soooo, technically, I got my driver's license before I came back from LA since you can get it at 16 over there," the triple threat explained.
"That's so cool, (Y/N)cchi!" Kise awed, his eyes sparkling along with Hayakawa's, both of them looking like two kids that had just walked into a candy store and had free reign over the entire thing.
"You'll have to take me for a spin sometime, darling~" Moriyama winked at the sole female player with some envious gazes going through him.
His mind had pictured (Y/N) driving a very fancy car, sunglasses on her face, her long hair flowing in the wind, and her looking absolutely stunning in the setting sun of his fantasy. Kasamatsu was quick to react as he smacked the back of his fellow third year's head, three red tick marks popping up on the captain's face.
"Will you knock it off with that flirty crap, you idiot?!"
Why did he have to act like Mr. Mom once again? Before the game was enough for one day for the steely eyed captain. And knowing the tall girl, the captain knew she would do it too, which was even worse. Not really thinking much of it, the sole female player then noticed some car keys in the third year's hand. Oh yeah! He had a car too! The girl had even ridden with him a few times in the past.
"I forgot you could drive, Yuki. You uber?" the long haired girl inquired as she pointed down to the object in the captain's hands.
Forgetting he was even holding his keys, Kasamatsu had to look down at his hand to remember that he indeed, was an uber for the two people he didn't want to be an uber for. However, Kaijo's former captain had some evening classes that he had to attend, meaning he wasn't able to come and pick up his little brother.
In short, Kasamatsu got a call from Hayate asking if he'd take Hibiki home since the third year also lived in that area. Out of respect for his upperclassman, the steely eyed boy agreed, though a part of him didn't want to.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Kasamatsu nodded as he gestured to the two first year starters.
"For these two idiots, yes," the captain answered.
"Hayakawa, Moriyama, and I live near here, so we took the bus," Kobori added as he stood by the captain and the triple threat.
Thank gosh for that, Kasamatsu might actually lose his mind if he had to be uber to everyone. Plus, it was always a fight for shotgun, and that in itself made him want to smack his head up against the hood of his car.
(Y/N), well, she didn't see any issue if she had to be uber. Carpooling was fun when it was with your friends.
"Oooh, fun~ And yes, I will definitely take you for a ride sometime, Mori," the tall girl returned the wink to the flirty third year, taking the words he had said earlier seriously.
For Moriyama, he thought his heart would stop because of that cute little wink. Kasamatsu only began to freak out along with Kise as their jaws dropped. Kuroko kind of let out a sigh as he lightly facepalmed. She was actually serious about this, wasn't she? Oh, (Y/N), you naive little angel.
"Don't encourage him, (Y/N)!" the Kaijo captain yelled to her, causing the girl to freeze at the sudden shouting.
"What'd I do?" the tall girl shrugged, not knowing what she did wrong.
All it was was offering a friend to drive around in her car, nothing more than that. But the Kaijo members knew Moriyama, and they knew that wasn't his intention to just drive around with her. He still wanted a date with the famous Triple Threat. The third year had even stolen Kise's phone during practice just to get her number.
That was a fiasco and a half, resulting in a lot of smacks and bops on the head delivered by none other than the blue team's captain, himself. Kobori decided to just take Moriyama and leave before the captain actually pounced, so the third year center grabbed the boy's collar and started dragging him off with Hayakawa following close behind, but not before sending the girl a wave, to which she returned.
Hibiki just deadpanned at his sister, knowing fully well how she was when it came to romantic gestures. Folding his arms behind his head, the younger twin just decided to call it a night and began walking to find the captain's car.
But not before he said one last thing to his sister as he walked past her.
"You are so stupid when it comes to things like this," the (h/c) haired boy roasted the triple threat.
She was speechless, not able to form words. The girl didn't know what she had done to deserve such insults, especially from her little brother. Putting her arms out to her sides, a clearly offended look on her face.
"You just showed me all that love and then you call me 'stupid', what the honk?"
"It's the truth, Sis. Deal with it!"
Letting out a small groan, (Y/N) simply let her arms slump to her sides as she shook her head. This was just the recipe for a mimic fight and for once, she wasn't in the mood for it.
"I'm not even gonna," the triple threat just let it be as she turned back to the only two Kaijo members left, Kasamatsu and Kise.
The blonde just let out a little sheepish laugh while the captain just shook his head. But he knew the younger twin had a point. And for the first time in a while, Kasamatsu agreed with Hibiki.
The captain then turned back to the girl who stood at his height, seeing a little bit of bruising near the collar of her shirt, as well as some bandaids on the other side. Honestly, he probably would've lectured her himself if her brother didn't do it already. He really did worry for her, but that selflessness was also admirable in a lot of the cases.
Kasamatsu soon lifted his hand and brushed a couple of strands of hair out of (Y/N)'s face and rubbed her head gently as she closed her one eye while using the other to look at the captain.
He had a gentle smile on his face, which was very unusual to see from him considering how serious and stern the captain was when it came to basically everything else. It actually kind of made the triple threat blush a little bit. A smile looked good on him.
"Listen to your brother and just be careful, alright? I'm leaving her to you, Kuroko," Kasamatsu said to the phantom before taking his hand off of the girl's head and turning to find his car and the youngest Bashira son.
Kuroko nodded to the upperclassman as the two Seirin miracles turned back to their former teammates And then there was one member of Kaijo. Kise didn't think he'd ever get this chance where he'd see all of the former prodigies of Teiko participating in such a big tournament like the Winter Cup.
The blonde was excited, and he wanted to play Seirin again more than anything to settle the score between the two rivals. Sending his two former teammates a smile, the copycat turned to catch up with his captain. But not without giving some parting words.
"I'll see you guys at the Winter Cup. Let's give it all we got, Kurokocchi, (Y/N)cchi," Kise waved to the two of them.
The phantom and triple threat soon returned the gesture, smiling at the blonde boy and nodding while the tall girl threw her arm up and waved back.
"Yes, let's."
"We'll see you there, Kicchi!"
Now, with that all said and done, the two Seirin miracles could now go find the girl's car. Luckily, the tall girl knew it was around here somewhere. Hitting the unlock button on her key fob, the teens soon saw the red tail lights of a dark gray Hyundai light up twice.
"Perfect! Okay, Tetsu, snack run! Does Baby Boy need any water? I think his bowl is still in the back," (Y/N) asked, referring to Number Two as she opened the back driver's side door, sticking her bag in the seat as the phantom climbed into the passenger's seat in the front.
The inside of the girl's car just screamed her personality. The triple threat wasn't kidding when she said she literally became a master at crocheting stuff. One must do something in order not to go crazy when they are literally not allow to do anything.
Inside of her car, the cushion of each seat, headrests, center console, steering wheel, and the seatbelts were decorated with coverings that had sunflowers on a black background in order to give it more of a comfy feel.
Not only that, but (Y/N) had even made little passengers of her own, which included the first generation of Pokémon and four different colored axolotls, sitting up in the window in front of the driver and passenger side.
They're cute critters, how could she resist? Plus, there was whole lot more at her house. In short, this car was very much screaming (Y/N) Bashira.
Once Kuroko had gotten situated in his seat with his bag and Number Two in his lap, he turned back to look at the tall girl since she was still situating things in her backseat.
"No, I gave him some right before we came outside," he answered.
"Awesomeness. Okay! Let's go!" The excited girl grinned as she closed the door to the back, opened the door to the driver's side, hopped in the seat and got herself situated.
Seeing that the phantom was all buckled in with Number Two letting out a bark, the triple threat threw her own seatbelt on, put the key in the transmission, and off to make a snack run they went. The traffic had died down a bit in the parking lot, so the triple threat was able to get out to the road without much of a wait.
Kuroko made sure (Y/N) went to the pharmacy first before her hunger blinded her from what her body needed. And that was a little pain relief. About five minutes later, the two miracles pulled into another, less busy parking lot that led to a small walk-in pharmacy where the triple threat was quick to run in, grab a little thing of ibuprofen, pay for it, and run back out where she threw the small plastic bag in one of the front cup holders.
"Come on, Tetsu! This place is pet friendly!" The tall girl grinned as she closed the driver's side door, waiting for her phantom friend to follow with the little pup on his arms as she bounced on the balls of her feet on the sidewalk.
Kuroko had to admit, her smile was very much contagious. He soon copied her gesture, taking the little puppy out of his bag before getting out of the triple threat's car and joining her on her trek into the Seven-Eleven.
It took the two miracles about fifteen minutes to grab what they wanted. More so the (h/c) haired girl not being able to decide what she wanted to drink after she had gotten her favorite snacky snacks. Eenie Meanie Minie Moe finally gave her the choice to go with chocolate milk, and the girl loved her choky milk.
The light blue haired phantom simply bought some vanilla milkshake flavored cookies, to which he had to hide from the tall girl to make sure she didn't try and pay for them along with her stuff.
Not like it cost that much anyway, maybe about 1500 yen (about $10). Once they had gotten what they had came for, the trio piled up in (Y/N)'s car as she started up the vehicle while opening up her beverage, taking a nice swig of it before backing out.
Now, if her memory served her right, Seirin's destination shouldn't be too far away from here. The car ride was mostly silent for a good minute as Kuroko watched the driver leaning forward a little bit as she squinted at the street sign while coming up to a stoplight.
"Do I turn here? Yes, I turn here. Welcome back to another episode of '(Y/N) Knows Where She's Going'. I've only been to this place, like, ten friggin' times," the triple threat muttered in a goofy way to herself as she steered her car to make a left on a little highway that had the occasional car passing them every now and then.
That was when Kuroko realized he still had no idea where they were going to be meeting up with the team. He was little too busy enjoying watching the tall girl try to decide what drink she had wanted. It was kind of funny because she literally looked like she was having a mid-life crisis.
"So, where are we going again?" The boy in the passenger's seat finally spoke up as he turned to face (Y/N).
"It's a hot spring/hotel. Riko's friend's family owns the place, so we both thought it'd be good for the team after this game. I don't know about you, Tetsu, but I could use a good hour-long soak in a hot spring," the driver answered as she kept one hand on the steering wheel, while using the other to place on her chest, turning to the light blue haired boy with her usual smile.
While she meant that as an innocent little move, Kuroko's mind couldn't help but to flash back to seeing her shoulder during halftime, those three cuts as a sign of a declaration of war against her. Plus, there was when he had passed the ball to her which ended in the captain of Kirisaki ramming her into the pole.
It just kept replaying in his head, the fear of what could've happened had it escalated any further than that.
"Hey, (Y/N)?" The light blue haired boy softly called out to her
"Hm?" She hummed back immediately.
She wasn't able to peek over at her friend since she had been trying to find the next sign to see if she had to turn or not, but the triple threat was all ears.
"Can I ask you to promise me something?" She heard the boy ask.
"Of course."
(Y/N) didn't even hesitate. This was Kuroko she was dealing with, the phantom boy she had known since she was a kid. If he had some sort of concern, then she wanted him to share it with her so she could maybe attempt to fix it. And believe her, the girl could tell by his tone of voice that something was on his mind.
Kuroko looked down at his lap for a second before finally being able to form his words correctly.
"Can you please...rely on me more?" he spoke in a much softer tone of voice with more emotion added to it.
The question...well, you could say it kind of caught the triple threat off guard, but at the same time, it didn't. She soon lost her smile and grew quiet, looking at the road ahead of her. And that reaction kind of frightened the phantom that maybe he hadn't worded it quite right, so he quickly wanted to explain himself and get his feelings across to her.
"The whole thing that happened with Kirisaki Daiichi, and Hanamiya, I get that it made you mad and all that. But none of us like to see you getting hurt. You've already been through enough with what happened over the summer. And I guess I'm being selfish when requesting this-"
"No, you're not, Tetsu," the girl's voice cut him off.
Her tone didn't show any signs of anger, in fact, it was very much an understanding and agreeing tone. Kuroko turned back toward the girl to her kind of giving him a side smile while still keeping her eyes on the road.
"I don't think it's selfish at all. I was kind of wondering when you were gonna say something and honestly, I don't blame ya," (Y/N) told him as she turned left on another road, her turn signal clicking in the same rhythmic pattern.
She had seen the look on the phantom's face while her brother was lecturing her, and she had a feeling it wasn't going to be the last one she'd get from what she had done. (Y/N) knew that, and she accepted it. Because it probably wasn't the best way to go about things.
"Hibs was right, I can't play hero all the time as much as I want to. I mean, obviously, I wasn't trying to get hurt when Teppei finally got taken out, but I basically did what he had done. Guess I'm kind of a hypocrite, huh?" the triple threat talked, looking over to the phantom in the dark, the only light being from her headlights and the occasional street light on the road they were on.
Aomine's words from middle school kind of ran through her head too, the girl wanted to protect her friends, even if it meant there was a possibility of her getting hurt. Just like Kiyoshi. The tall girl kind of figured she was confident in her own abilities to prevent Hanamiya and the other members of Kirisaki Daiichi from doing anything.
But she wasn't invincible, and sometimes, she just had to get that way of thinking out of her head.
The light blue haired boy beside her was on the same side as her brother when it came to this, but there were some things he had very different thoughts on. Out of the corner of her eye, the triple threat saw Kuroko shake his head.
"No, I don't think so. I get where you're coming from and all, it's just...I don't want you to feel alone and everything. I've seen what that's done," he brought up as gently as he could so that no bad memories would resurface.
But it didn't, not at all. In fact, his words made the girl smile as she took one of her hands off of the steering wheel. Even in the dark, she was still able to find the usually unnoticeable boy's hand. Finding it laying on his bag, the triple threat took his hand in her own scarred one.
By instinct, since this was something they had done for so long, Kuroko curled his fingers around the girl's same sized hand as his. When he looked back at her, (Y/N) had a smile on her face as she looked back at her phantom friend.
"I promise you that I do not, in any way, feel alone. Especially when I'm playing ball with you guys. And just in general. And if you want me to rely on you like there's no tomorrow, then I will darn tootin' try my best," she stated, keeping a grin on her face as she looked back to the road.
That feeling of loneliness was probably always going to be one of the tall girl's fears, one that she probably would never shake, but she spoke the truth when she said that playing with Seirin and Kagami and Kuroko. These were some of the best games she had played in her life, there was so much light and energy to them that she couldn't get enough of. It was like an addiction.
While the beginning of her career at Teiko were some awesome games that she loved to play as well, they came second to her experiences and memories she's had with Seirin.
And Kuroko could see that. The light of (Y/N) Bashira that was thought to have been extinguished has only come back brighter than ever. That was clear by looking at the smile on her face whenever she was around the other members of the team.
The phantom miracle soon gently squeezed the triple threat's hand as she did the same in response. Kuroko was never one to fully express his emotions all that well with others, but she was the one person that he wanted to just let everything spill out. He wanted her to hear him.
"You can rely on me as much as you need to. Because I'll always be here. I just wanted you to know that. You're a special person to me, (Y/N). And I just don't want to lose you," the phantom told her, a small blush coming to his face since this was mushier than perhaps he would've wanted it.
But it definitely was heard by the (h/c) haired girl, her smile growing even more as she held their hands up while they were still interlocked with one another.
"I'm not going nowhere, Tetsu. You're stuck with me," she lightly joke before letting out a small laugh, seeing her phantom friend finally grinning a little too before turning back to look at her.
"I'm good with that."
The two miracles giggled a little bit before falling back into a comfortable silence. That is, until (Y/N) noticed the flashing light coming from one of the cup holders beside her.
"Uh-oh, my phone's blowing up. Tetsu-"
"On it," the light blue haired boy quickly responded, picking up the girl's device so she could keep focused on the road.
Knowing her password and also having his Face ID in her phone, the notifications showed up for Kuroko right on the lock screen.
"They're from Snapper Chatter," he informed her.
Okay..? Was the rest of the team just wondering where they were? That's what she thought, though that didn't stop her from arching her eyebrow a little bit.
"Who's it from?" She asked as Kuroko unlocked her phone and going straight to the app, bringing the device a little closer to his face so he could read the names.
It was a whole bunch she had gotten at once, and really, the only names he recognized where the nicknames the triple threat had called the members of Seirin and Momoi's name.
"Um...Yoshi, Waka, Saku, Momo, and Masa. He sent a video. And then there's a couple from some of the team," the phantom listed off.
"Oh, boy. Cover your ears for that since it's Masa," she commented, since she knew exactly what it was going to be.
As for the nicknames, Yoshi was obviously Imayoshi, Kuroko recalled the triple threat using that for him. Waka was Wakamatsu, Saku was Sakurai, and finally, Momo and Masa were Momoi and Masaru, respectively. The girl honestly kind of forgot they were watching the game too along with Kaijo.
"Can you open all of the ones from the Touou guys for me? And leave Masa for last, 'cause Lord only knows what he's gonna say," (Y/N) politely instructed her friend, to which Kuroko nodded as he began opening the different pictures.
Most of them were basically either someone's foot, a black screen, or the corner of their face, all of them asking the same question.
"Basically, all of them are asking if you're okay and that they saw what happened," the light blue haired boy told her, still leaving Masaru's video left out of all of the chats.
Nodding her head, the triple threat braced her ears for what she and the phantom were about to hear. Kuroko made sure the volume was turned down to its lowest setting because the gray haired boy's voice was definitely going to be heard no matter what.
Bracing themselves, the phantom player pressed the icon in order to start the video. It showed Masaru having his camera on him, his expression looking like one of distress.
"HACHI!! Can you please call me later tonight?!"
"Masa-"
The first video cut off once Wakamatsu's own loud voice suddenly heard, cutting off the first video. No words were exchanged between the two miracles simply looked at each other. Oh, but that wasn't all of it. And neither of them were surprised. The phantom soon opened the second video, holding the girl's phone up.
It revealed a comically crying Masaru, a bright red and steaming bump on his head.
"Wakamatsu hit me...again. And threatened to tape my mouth shut," the older Kurosaki brother whined quietly, trying to make sure the pale blonde second year didn't add another bump to the collection.
Seemed like the second year had heard, and Masaru soon turned the camera where it looked like the Touou team was on a small bus since Wakamatsu appeared to be sitting in a row of seats in front of the gray haired boy. The second year center had his arms crossed as he looked over his shoulder.
"I'll do it too if you yell in my ear again. I'm surprised you haven't made her go deaf," Wakamatsu threatened the boy, pointing his thumb backward when he referred to the triple threat.
Once the pale blonde boy had finished with his words, Masaru flipped the camera back to his face, a sulky pout on his face.
"He's so mean to me, Hachi," the gray haired boy silently whined before ending the video.
You know, neither of the miracles were surprised at all by this. Masaru's mouth got a little too big sometimes and even she had thought about taping it shut sometimes whenever he got too noisy. But, that was just what made her cousin very lovable and what made him Masaru. It was the way he expressed himself, and there was nothing wrong with that.
But she also knew the others, including him, were worried since, like they had said, they had seen her hit that pole and almost get her legs crushed. Well, how could she reassure them that she was alright? A light bulb soon went off in her head as the girl's car came to a stop sign on the vacant road.
Forming a smile on her face, (Y/N) soon turned toward her light blue haired friend, catching his attention.
"Here, Tetsu, take a picture of me real quick," she suddenly said to him.
Not really knowing what she was planning, Kuroko simply did as she requested. He soon turned a little bit in his seat with Number Two popping his head out of the phantom's bag. With her flash automatically turning on, the light blue haired boy watched as the tall girl kept one hand on the steering wheel, holding the other one up and making a peace sign. She soon gave the camera a closed eyed and bright grin as her friend flashed the camera.
What came out of it was a very good picture of the girl looking happy and healthy as can be.
"Then can you type, 'I feel good! Gonna go relax at a hot spring, smiley face' and send it to all of them?" the girl asked her friend politely, who nodded as he typed out the message on her phone before hitting the send button.
"Done," Kuroko let her know as he placed her device back in the cupholder.
"Thank ya! Now, let's turn on some tunes, shall we?"
With all of the seriousness all done and over with, and with the two miracles only about five minutes away from their destination, it was the best time to listen to a song or two. So, reaching down to press a button on her radio, the perfect song came on. And that was 'Ghostbusters'. As that rhythmic beat at the beginning of the song, (Y/N) started busting out some dance moves, whipping her head around, and flipping her long hair in her face before turning to Kuroko, who then responded with a laugh of his own as she joined him.
There was the (Y/N) he knew, her dancing self, singing along at the top of her lungs while Kuroko nodded his head along to the beat.
The rest of the car ride consisted of the two of them chanting 'Ghostbusters' until the triple threat finally pulled into the parking lot, seeing the bus that the team had taken was also here.
Timeskip
Finally, now it was relaxation time. The phantom had met up with the rest of the boys since everyone had just checked into the hot spring and actual inn. The tall girl had already checked in with the women's side and gone into the bath.
The boys soon did the same, and boy, did that warm water feel good. One could almost fall asleep in a place like that. As he sat by the red headed tiger, Kuroko could hear the faint sound of bubbles coming to the surface and popping. Opening his eyes, the boy looked over to see that the tiger had something in front of him that was in the pool.
"Hey, Kagami? It's bad etiquette to let your towel touch the water," the phantom informed his red headed partner.
"Huh? Wait, really?" the tiger perked up.
He really didn't know any better, in his defense. But it wasn't a huge issue as the boy took the towel out of the water.
"Aw, viva-non," Koganei hummed in bliss with a washcloth on his forehead, which caused Kiyoshi to perk up as well.
"Is that a hot new saying?" the center asked, not ever hearing someone say that before, kind of making him sound like an old man.
"Be quiet...morons," Hyuga calmly scolded the children as he relaxed his back against the rocks surrounding the pool.
"Compared to your usual insults, that one seemed tame," Izuki told the captain as he sat besides the glasses wearing boy.
"Yeah, you're right. I've gone soft. I mean, it is hard to get mad in a hot spring," the captain agreed as he stretched his arms over his head, feeling warm water run down his sore muscles.
This was like being in a nice large and warm bed and it sure was hard to get upset when you were all nice and toasty.
"Go Riko and Teddy for making an excellent call," Seirin's center praised the two female members as he ran some water over his face with his hands.
"Yeah, there's nothing like a soothing dip to relax the muscles," Tsuchida agreed.
All of the aches the center had sustained from their game had virtually gone away. He didn't feel like he was going to keel over from exhaustion. This was just what the doctor ordered.
"Savor it. Come tomorrow, we're all heading back to practice. Gotta stay focused," Hyuga lazily reminded the team as he slid down further into the water to where it was only his nose and up that were above the surface, his glasses fogging up quite a bit.
"Yeah, we know," Kiyoshi reassured him.
It was kind of rare seeing the usually serious and stiff captain so calm and cool like a cucumber. But that would only go so far since he had other children to worry about. And that was mainly going to include Koganei. The cat faced second year was already swimming around the pool to begin with, now he was going to amp it up a little bit.
"Guys! Look, I'm a butterfly!" Koganei announced as he began trying to perform the stroke.
It only made the water he was splashing around that was giving him wings. Plus he was moving at the speed of a turtle. Still, it was a good effort.
"I know I can't stop you from screwing around but, dude, you are getting water everywhere," Izuki soon became Mr. Mom as some of that hot water splashed him in the face.
Up where the shower heads were, Fukuda, Kawahara, and Furihata had just finished cleaning themselves up and were ready to enjoy a nice long soak in the warm water.
"Hey, guys, let's try out that pool over there. It looks interesting," Furihata pointed out one of the other pools near the main one where the rest of the team were.
The other two soon agreed. But someone, who was very particular about the traditional way of things, was quick to step in before the other first trio could move another inch.
"Wait a second, you shrimps!" Hyuga quickly stopped them as he stood up with his hands on his hips.
Oh boy, he sounded like he was in clutch mode whenever they were in a game. The others thought he was all calm and relaxed since they were in a hot spring. Guess they were wrong. The bench warming trio soon saw the fogged up glasses wearing captain pointing at them.
"What do you think you're doing wearing your towels around your waists? Take a look at Kagami," Hyuga directed everyone else's attention to the red headed tiger, who had just gotten out of the pool.
"His towel slung casually over his shoulder, his posture gallant, and his swim trunks," the captain began listing off before noticing the dark blue swim trunks the tiger was wearing.
...
It took Hyuga's mind a minute to process what exactly he was seeing. And then it hit him.
"Swim trunks?!" The captain gaped, not believing what he was seeing.
Kagami responded by turning around, seeing the captain was indeed referring to him. Could blame the boy? This was his first time in a place like this. They didn't exactly have hot springs over in LA.
"Oh, I've never been to a hot spring, is that weird?" The tiger asked, looking down at his swimming shorts.
He didn't know. The red head kind of thought it was weird when the guys started going into the bath with nothing but a towel. Honestly, to Kagami, a hot spring was just one big hot tub he saw at swimming pools.
"America has rotted your brain," Hyuga sighed dramatically before making his way over to the washing area and taking a seat on one of the stools.
Turning around to look at the youngsters, the glasses wearing captain soon pointed to his back with his thumb.
"Alright then. Time to wash your senior's back, underclassman," the captain instructed the younger boys to do.
Kagami was already out, so he was the chosen one for this. Welp, the red head was Japanese. If this was a thing, then he didn't want to disrespect the older members of the team. Little did he or any of the other first years know, Hyuga was kind of just pulling things out of his ass. Izuki could see right through the captain as he deadpanned at the boy.
"You know that's not actually a thing."
Well, nothing was stopping the tiger now. Simply shrugging his shoulders, Kagami took a seat behind the captain, grabbing a brush in the process.
"So, like this?" the red headed tiger asked as he ran the brush down the second year's back.
But all the glasses wearing boy felt was a burning sensation that knocked the air out of him. Izuki soon watched as the captain fell to the ground, out of commission.
"Hyuga!"
"How the hell did that happen?" Kagami questioned in a calmer tone of voice as he held the brush in his hand.
He genuinely didn't know what had just happened either, the boy was just doing what the captain told him to do. But the punster knew right away what the problem was. In fact, Izuki didn't know why the red head was asking questions.
"What do you mean 'how did that happen?' You're holding a cleaning brush, you idiot!" the second year punster yelled, pointing out the rather rough and sharp bristled brush in the tiger's hand.
Hyuga was soon coming to, feeling the cool air rush into his lungs once again. Even his glasses were cracked from the impact of the brush being scraped against his back. Shakily sitting up, the captain glared back at the dumb first year.
"I thought for sure I'd bleed out..." Hyuga groaned.
Oh, but that wasn't even the end of it. There was still more. Number Two had joined the boys in the bath, and he needed some cleaning as well. Kuroko was the one who decided to do so, however, the amount of soap had used to just get the little puppy clean ended up becoming a huge cloud of bubbles that had begun covering the phantom from head to toe, even on his shampoo hat. The boy and puppy were basically engulfed in a huge cloud of bubbles.
"And where'd you get that cotton candy costume?!" Hyuga made the mistake of asking.
"Huh?" the light blue haired boy hummed as he looked up at the captain, not really knowing what or if he had done anything wrong.
Hyuga couldn't even form words at first. All he could do was point, and then he started pointing and waving his hand around erratically before finally screaming and putting his hands on the side of his head.
"AHHH!!! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START WITH YOU!!"
Yep, Hyuga had officially lost it. These kids were driving him absolutely bonkers.
"Calm down, Hyuga. They did us we could bring the puppy in here," Kiyoshi tried to calm his fellow second year down as he sat on one of the rocks with his towel laying over his lap.
"Not sure they meant in the actual bath though," Tsuchida spoke up.
Well, the puppy wasn't doing any harm. It was just that the captain couldn't understand how washing the little pooch could turn into a huge cloud of bubbles. Whatever, he just needed to sit down and get back to his relaxed state. As he sat on the stool once again, Hyuga then felt that same burning sensation running down his back once again, knocking the air out of him, and down to the ground he fell.
"Hyuga! Again?!" Izuki yelled, seeing the culprit holding another brush in his hand, looking completely innocent with the captain's fallen body behind him.
"I just thought I'd give it another shot," Kagami told the punster.
"Start learning your brushes!"
On the other side in the women's bath, (Y/N) had just gotten out of the showering area and gotten comfortable in the bath, her long and damp hair being held with a large clip. She was sitting up against some of the rocks with one hand resting on her sore shoulder, her eyes closed. Honestly, she was about ready to fall asleep.
That is, until she heard the words 'cotton candy' followed by Hyuga's and Izuki's screaming. And that was enough to get her to start laughing to herself behind her hand. Oh, the chaos of this team was like nothing else and the tall girl was living for it.
Once Izuki had confiscated all forms of brushes from the tiger and gotten settled back in the bath, the boys soon started hearing giggling and soft speaking that sounded like a group of girls coming from behind the wall separating the two baths.
"Sounds like things are pretty lively next door," Kiyoshi smiled as he turned to look back at the wall as the noise started quieting down a little bit.
"Now that you mention it, there were some college girls at the front desk with (Y/N) when she went in," the punster suddenly brought up.
"What?!" Koganei perked up as he floated across the pool.
Oh, but it wasn't the college girls he was interested in. The triple threat was a very beautiful girl, and he was still a guy. So, there was a very simple solution to his equation. Blushing to himself at the thought of maybe getting a little peep at her, the cat faced second year found the perfect person to help him do this job.
"Hey, Kagami, could you come over here?" Koganei whisper shouted over to the tiger, who was drying his back off with a towel.
Not really knowing what was going on anymore, the red head just went along with it as the second year got up on his shoulders like a knight on his steed.
"Onward!" the cat faced second year put out the order as he pointed to the wall.
"Onward to where, you lunatic?!" Izuki didn't hesitate to question loudly, not really believing that this was really going to be happening.
Koganei didn't even hesitate to let him know what his intentions were, and he was very serious about it too.
"My good man, it's very obvious," the cat faced second year stated as he turned around with a serious look on his face, giving Izuki a thumbs up, only confusing the punster even more.
"What's with the expression?!"
Oh, if the point guard thought this was weird, then he was really going to be thrown for a loop when he saw someone else joining Koganei's little conquest.
"Shut up, you fool!" Hyuga quietly yelled over to the vice captain as he sat on Mitobe's shoulders.
There's no way, and Izuki was thinking the captain would be the mature one and get Koganei to stop. Clearly, he was wrong.
"Why are you of all people encouraging this behavior?!" the pun loving boy questioned the captain, not believing what he was seeing.
"Well, not all of us have the Eagle Eye, so this is what we have to do," the captain attempted to make his point.
The Eagle Eye could see over this wall in the boys' heads, so Izuki really didn't need to have anyone help him to look over at the girl's side. Of course, the punster was more of a gentleman than that, plus, what kind of nonsense was Hyuga even speaking of?
"Oh, come on, that's not what the skill's for!" the vice captain tried to make his point as he watched Hyuga and Koganei bump fists since they both had the same pervert intentions.
"Riko's gonna murder you if she finds out you guys are peeping on her and Teddy, you know," Kiyoshi spoke with a frown now on his face.
He, like Izuki, was a gentleman and wasn't too impressed that some of the other boys were trying to invade the girls' privacy. Plus, the center didn't quite favor the idea of others trying to oogle at the tall girl, in particular, while she was trying to relax.
"Wait, (Y/N)'s over there too?" Kagami asked out loud, some rouge color coming to his cheeks at the very thought of the triple threat being...naked.
No! Nope! The tiger was not going to have any perverted thoughts, that's not what he was about. But he still had...some of those thoughts. The color of his cheeks made that very obvious.
Back with Izuki, he was still trying to make sure the others could control their urges before they'd get the snot beat out of them.
"Aw, Kiyoshi not you too-" the punster then realized what the center had said, stopping him in his tracks as he turned to the tall boy.
"Wait, you're with me on this. Oh, thank goodness," Izuki sighed.
At least he wasn't the only sane one here. Maybe Kiyoshi could help convince the others to stop this nonsense.
"Arf!"
Hearing the high-pitched bark coming from Number Two, the punster then turned his head over in the direction of the bark. Once he did, there was Kuroko, his head leaning up against the rock, his cheeks rather red for his complexion, and he looked a little nauseous.
"Kuroko!"
"Sorry, you guys. I'm feeling a little light headed," the light blue haired boy managed to get out in a tired voice.
He felt like he was becoming part of a bowl of hot soup. Kuroko sometimes forgot that his body could only take so much unlike other players.
"He's overcooking. Hey, Kagami, help him out," Izuki called over to the tiger.
"Fine."
Kagami soon got Koganei off of his shoulder and went over to help the phantom out of the water and back to the changing room so he could cool down. But back in the bath, Hyuga and Koganei were having a bit of a mid-life crisis.
"We're screwed," Koganei grit his teeth.
"Yeah, this is bad," Hyuga shared the same expression as he got off of Mitobe's shoulders.
This was really a crisis for them. Because with Kuroko gone...
"Our peeping specialist disappeared," both second years sighed as they tried to come up with another idea as to how they could peek through the wall to the other side.
Do these boys just think these skills used in basketball could be used just whenever users wanted them to? Izuki didn't think they were that stupid, but when a boy had a girl on his mind, he might as well go dumb.
"Again, that's not how misdirection or any of these skills work!" the punster tried to get the others to knock it off.
It wasn't just them, even Kiyoshi was beginning to become curious. Not at looking through the wall, but at the nickname his fellow second years had called the phantom miracle player.
"Is 'Peeping Specialist' really one of Kuroko's names?" the center curiously asked.
Though it only made Izuki's brain hurt as he let out a loud groan. Was the steam of the spring just making these guys lose brain cells?
"UGHHH!!"
The punster just kind of decided that he couldn't stop them as much as he wanted to. That was made clear as the other first years started making their way over to help the older ones out with their plan. Mitobe was the tallest, so Hyuga hopped up on the boy's shoulders once again and tried to reach the top of the wall.
"A little further...I can't!" the captain struggled as he reached his hand up as far as his arm would allow.
It wasn't very helpful, not at all. Mitobe looked to be done with it too, but it wasn't like he couldn't go anywhere since he had Hyuga's entire body on his shoulders.
"Stay strong. There has to be a way, I just know it," Kawahara encouraged the captain.
It was only when Fukuda caught something out of the corner of his eye that things started moving. He soon went over and bent down, his eyes widening as he grew excited.
"A hole! I just found our ticket, fellas," the first year announced to the others as he caught sight of some bushes and a little bit of the pool, but not enough to where he could see any of the girls.
"Excellent job," the captain congratulated Fukuda as he was quick to scramble off of the silent giant's shoulders.
Izuki knew there was nothing he could do but to deadpan at his teammates. Well, he tried. At least he tried. But boys will be boys. At least he wouldn't be beaten to a pulp by Riko...he hoped.
"There's no hope left for any of them," the punster just accepted the fate of the others.
But the others thought he was one to talk. Koganei wanted to make the punster realized that too as he came over and swung his arm around the vice captain's shoulders, a coy smile on his face.
"Aw, come on, don't act like you're not interested too, Izuki. We might not get another chance to see the (Y/N)'s goddess body," the cat faced second year poked at Izuki as he shook the boy back and forth a couple of times.
"Dude, how can you say that? She's our friend," the punster somewhat glared at Koganei.
They had known her since she was in middle school, and friends usually don't think of friends like that unless there were other feelings there. And again, there was also the fact that boys would be boys. Koganei soon gave his teammate a knowing expression as he put one of his hands out.
"Well, duh! And she's beautiful!" the cat faced second year made his point.
It wasn't like Izuki didn't know that! He knew the tall girl was a beauty, but it wasn't like he was referring to her body when he said that. That wasn't to say she didn't have a good looking body, but it wasn't the main part of her beauty. Koganei was just acting on his perverted thoughts at the moment, as a lot of boys did.
Hyuga, well, he knew Izuki was kind of lying. He knew the punster's little not so well hidden secret.
"Yeah, plus, I see the way you look at her, Izuki! So don't play dumb!" the captain accused the boy as he pointed at Izuki while trying to get a good look through the hole.
Oh, and when one tells you the punster's cheeks turned red, that was an understatement. His face was basically shining by how bright red his cheeks had become. And the others knew the captain was right. Izuki always lit up whenever the triple threat was in the vicinity and how he was concerned he'd become whenever someone was out to do her harm. Not to mention, she loved his jokes.
Izuki frowned a little bit before turning his head away from the cat faced second year, his face still bright vermillion.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about! Besides, it's not like you don't look at her like that, Hyuga!" the punster shot back at the captain, whose face now mirrored his with the vice captain's.
Busted.
"Wha-?! Why, you-"
"Looks like you boys are having fun, would you mind if I joined too?" a sickeningly sweet voice suddenly asked while the boys had their backs turned.
Hyuga let out a little screech with everyone else excluding Kiyoshi, paled and started shaking once they realized Riko had decided to make her entrance into the boy's area of the hot spring.
"What game are we playing right now, huh, fellas?" the coach asked with a deadly smile on her face.
The boys had all turned around and were shaking like crazy, trying to explain away their actions. But that wasn't going to save them now, she had seen and heard everything. Now, protective cousin Riko was going to make her appearance. What was scarier to the boys was that the brunette kept smiling all innocent-like. It was terrifying.
"I thought you were being weirdly noisy. Okay, everyone, clench your teeth for a second," Riko grinned.
Seconds later, Kiyoshi watched as each of his teammates was smacked on the face and knocked into the water. There were now floating bodies as Riko made her exit, brushing her hands off as he walked. Now that she knew the boys would control their hormones, the coach soon went to join her cousin in the bath.
(Y/N), who had heard quite a bit of commotion but didn't exactly know what was going on, perked up once she heard her older cousin coming towards the bath.
"What's going on?" the tall girl asked, putting one of her arms on the rock she was leaning on as she turned around.
She was only met with her cousin's smile that kind of put her on edge just a little bit, but she didn't know why.
"Oh, you know. Boys beings boys," Riko answered as she stepped into the water and sat down next to the taller girl.
Oh well, the triple threat just kind of thought it would be better not to ask questions. Shrugging to herself, (Y/N) just let it go as she turned back around and closed her eyes once again, leaning on her back on the rock while she and Riko both let out a blissful sign at the same time.
The two sat in a comfortable silence before the coach finally opened her eyes and noticed the red and black coloration on the girl's inner bicep.
"I meant to ask you this during the game, but when did you get the new tattoo?" Riko broke the silence as the tall girl opened her own (e/c) eyes and took a second to realize what her cousin was referring to.
Holding her newly tattooed arm that was still wrapped in its clear bandage, (Y/N)'s mouth formed an 'O' in realization of what Riko was talking about.
"Oh! Literally, this morning. Since our game wasn't until the evening and we didn't have school, I called Kou and asked him if he could give me a new tattoo. You like it?" the tall girl grinned as she showed the coach her new ink.
"Yeah, I like the colors," the brunette agreed as she took the girl's arm to get a better look at the image embedded on her bicep, and also seeing the colors matched that of the team's.
The two silhouettes of the phoenixes were still vibrantly colored, since she had literally got it done this morning. And knowing the triple threat, Riko knew there was probably a deep meaning behind it as the younger one was about to explain.
"You wanna know what it means? These are Seirin's colors and we're kind of like the phoenix, coming back from the ashes and all. I've been meaning to get some ink for our team, but the idea just came to me this morning," she explained before putting her hand back on her shoulder and sliding down into the water even further.
When she did that, the brunette couldn't help but notice the three cuts on the girl's scarred shoulder as well as the reddish brown bruise on her other shoulder from being rammed into the pole. The tall girl was kind of surprised the coach hadn't brought it up yet, but that would soon be short-lived.
"I still can't believe you did that with Hanamiya. I mean, I know you've got the balls to do that, but seeing him going after you was scary," Riko lightly scolded the triple threat in a much gentler tone than she would use with the boys.
This was in more of an older sister tone of voice. And (Y/N) saw it coming, but she was still scared she would come out with a handprint on her face.
"Like I said, if I told you what I did, you would've smacked me," the tall girl told the older girl, mentally bracing for impact as she closed her eyes.
But the smack she was anticipating never came. In fact, all the younger cousin felt was Riko pinching her cheek and pulling it a little bit. It caught the girl off guard for a second as she looked at her older cousin with a small dumbfounded expression.
"No, I wouldn't. You're kind of sort of my family and I love you way too much to do that," the brunette made sure to let her know.
Riko might've been a very strict person when it came to her personality sometimes, but when it came to her family, the coach was a big softie. Still, that didn't mean she didn't want to kind of smack the younger girl for putting herself in danger like that.
Giving her cousin a side smile, (Y/N) relaxed a little bit as the brunette let go of her cheek.
"Well, I love you too. But you're also right about me getting a little too ballsy. I just couldn't stand the thought of him hurting anyone else. And I thought I could get away without him doing anything, but I'm not invincible," the triple threat spoke some wise words.
Even though she wanted to be a hero to her friends when they were in danger, it wasn't always the smartest move to pull. In fact, it was almost selfish of her to do it sometimes. This time with Hanamiya was one of those times. Riko was just glad the tall girl realized and accepted that fact, so she didn't say any more as the two cousins went back to their relaxation.
What the two girls didn't know was that there was someone else that had just entered the bath and was walking toward them while putting her long pink hair up in a bun.
"May I sit next to you?" a voice asked Riko as she stood at the edge of the bath.
The (h/c) haired girl just kept her eyes closed, not registering the voice that should be familiar to her as the brunette girl looked to the side to see the newcomer standing by her. Well, no reason why she couldn't.
"Sure, go ahead," the coach kindly agreed as she went back to closing her eyes again.
"Thank you."
However, it was only when the girl sat down beside the second year coach that Riko finally realized who it was when she opened her eyes as did (Y/N). Safe to say it was a surprise to them that they saw it was Momoi sitting there with them. Well, Riko seemed more surprised while the triple threat seemed more delighted.
"The Touou team?"
"Heya, Momo! What's up?"
Momoi simply smiled at the two Seirin girls as she began to stretch out a little bit, letting out a blissful sigh with a smile on her face.
"This feels good. My shoulders have been feeling really stiff lately. You don't look like you'd ever get that problem. I'm jelly," the pink haired girl told Riko, poking fun at the one thing the coach was self-conscious about.
Just...why?! The brunette was quick to glare as she moved more toward her cousin while trying to cover her chest a little bit.
"Leave me alone!" she yelled while the (h/c) haired girl reached over and rubbed Riko's tense shoulders.
Seriously, why did the second year girl have to be around two girls that had what she didn't? And why was Momoi even here? It irritated her. Though, the tall girl thought her cousin was perfect just the way she was. Once she had felt Riko's tension kind of go down a little bit, (Y/N) stood up on the bench she was sitting on and stepped out of the water, feeling some of the cold air hit her.
"Here, Momo, scoot up a little bit," the triple threat instructed her bestie to do.
Doing as she was told, Momoi scooted forward a little bit on the bench just as the tall girl sat on the ledge behind her, the pink haired manager sitting in between the long haired girl's legs. (Y/N) soon began to massage her friend's shoulders, using her thumbs to get any knots she felt to go down. Momoi let out another relieved sigh as she leaned back a little bit against the triple threat's stomach.
"Oooh, that feels good, Shirarin. Oh, that's right. I just remembered there's a little something I wanted to share with you," Touou's manager told the two Seirin girls.
However, the tall girl could probably guess what it was about as she continued with rubbing Momoi's shoulders.
"Is it that Touou's gonna be our first opponent for the Winter Cup?" the (h/c) haired girl casually asked.
Clearly, that question caught the other two girls off as the oldest of the group kind of choked on air. Momoi was just as dumbfounded as she turned around to look at the triple threat, who looked just as confused as the other two girls stared at her.
"Wha-?!"
"How'd you know that, Shirarin?"
"Kou and I talked about it while he was doing my tattoo," the tall girl answered, not really knowing the coach of Seirin didn't have any of this information yet.
Kou, like the rest of the Bashira family and their partners, had been watching all the games and keeping track of who was making it to the Winter Cup. And the brackets were beginning to be released for whoever won that day. As he did his younger sister figure's tattoo, the boyfriend casually brought it up since he knew of the history with the triple threat and miracle ace.
A red tick mark soon formed on the coach's head as her eyebrow twitched with irritation. You know, she told herself she wasn't going to smack the younger girl upside the head, but maybe it would get her brain cells to realize that this was very important information.
"And why did you not bother to tell me this?" Riko questioned her cousin in a calm yet annoyed tone of voice.
But, being as that the two stubborn girls were a part of the same family, (Y/N) wasn't as intimidated as Momoi had excepted as she simply stayed quiet and watched.
"Hey! In my defense..kinda..I was more focused on beating Kirisaki's ass. And I kinda forgot about it until now," the tall girl defended herself confidently, despite saying 'kinda' twice.
Oh, Riko was too tired to even argue with the girl about this. Plus, the two of them had done it way too many times to the point where the brunette came to one conclusion.
"I will never fully understand how your brain works," the coach stated as she turned back around and leaned on the rocks.
"Sheesh, thanks, Cuz," (Y/N) grumbled as she rolled her eyes sarcastically.
It was all jokes and fun. But the triple threat really did have a unique way that her brain decided to work. Sometimes it was good, and sometimes, it was just a tad annoying.
As the three girls continued to sit in silence, Momoi suddenly formed a sly smile on her face as she crossed her arms and leaned them on the tall girl's knees. This was very sus, and (Y/N) quickly became very suspicious with her expression as she looked down at Touou's manager.
"What?" The triple threat asked with suspicion lacing her voice, only to be answered with a light giggle at first.
"Oh, nothing. I'm just trying to get a better gauge of how big they are. I think you're bigger than me now, Shirain~" Momoi finally responded with an innocent smile.
Although there was nothing innocent about it as Riko began looking back and forth between the two girls. More specifically, their chests. Well, Momoi wasn't exactly wrong. The second year girl shrunk down in the water even more. Why didn't that gene run in her side of the family?
It took (Y/N) a minute before she finally realized what the pink haired girl was talking about. With her cheeks becoming dark red, the triple threat shot up and scooted back on her butt as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"OH MY GOD!! WHY ARE ALL MY GIRL FRIENDS LOOKING AT HOW BIG MY BOOBS ARE?!?!" The tall girl yelled very, very, loudly.
Everything was still as she breathed heavily. Both Momoi and Riko were in shock that she had just screamed that. Because...they weren't exactly alone when it came to the baths. The brunette decided to break the news to her cousin.
"Uh, (Y/N), I don't mean to embarrass you, but you do know the boys are still over on the other side, right?"
...
Oh...no. On the other side, just after the boys had been confronted with the Touou guys, they all heard the triple threat's voice yelling about her chest size. Safe to say after that every single one of those boys except for Masaru were having the same exact thoughts, some of them developing nose bleeds. The very temperature of the water was beginning to rise.
Protective Masaru Mode was activated as he stood up and began pointing at the rest of the boys.
"Hey! You guys better not be thinking about Hachi's badonkadonks!"
That did not help at all. In fact, (Y/N)'s face turned even brighter red as she froze in her spot. This was too much, nope, she had enough. And of course, Masaru had to open his big fat mouth.
"AHHH!!! MASA! OKAY, I'M OUT!! YOU GUYS HEARD NOTHING!!" The tall girl screeched once again before hastily getting to her feet and rushing out with her towel in hand.
Oh, and if she thought this was going to be the end of such an eventful day, (Y/N) had another thing coming. Though, just as a spoiler, they'd be much better than this little incident.