My chest constricts as I hiss in pain. The couch has never felt so comfortable, not even when I've pulled all-nighters or come crawling home with bruises blooming across my skin. Daiki ties an ice pack around my ankle in place with an old dishrag. "Sorry." He mutters, lifting my legs and placing them in his lap. "You really shouldn't be so careless." I wince slightly and cover my eyes with my arm.
"I got excited. I should've thought it through some more." I say with a sigh. Kagami didn't try to get into my apartment tonight, something I'm grateful for. I hate pain, but more than that, I hate people seeing me in pain. Gentle hands rest against my shins. "It'll be fine in just a little bit."
"Liar." Daiki mutters, reclining deeper into the couch as I breathe as evenly as possible. "Just admit it isn't okay." I clench my jaw for a minute.
"What makes you think that I haven't already admitted that?" I thought it was obvious. With a sigh, I yawn widely. "I wanna play." Daiki snorts.
"The only time you actually end up playing is when we go at it." Daiki says with an irritated tone of voice. "Besides, it would be stupid for you to play when you couldn't walk home by yourself."
"I could've done it!" I say indignantly. "You didn't put me down even after I said it was fine!" The bluenette sighs loudly as I sit up and flip so my head rests in his lap. "It's fine, though, since you're comfy." He then snorts in amusement. It's always like this with Daiki- relaxed and teasing and sometimes unusually intense, but everything's open, shared. There's no point in beating around the bush since Daiki's an obtuse idiot and I don't understand idioms well. If we have something to say, it's best just to say it straight out.
Daiki's fingers grab a strand of my hair and twist it for a few minutes as I watch him silently. "At least you know one of your neighbors." He says after a few minutes more, releasing the strands to pick new ones to twist. I smile slightly.
"Yeah, I guess. I wonder how he never noticed earlier, since he's been in here for tutoring..." I reply. "It doesn't matter, I guess." Daiki responds with a grunt, although I have no idea what it's supposed to mean. I run my fingers over the black toy's head, messing with the ears using my fingertips. I fall asleep in Daiki's lap.
I wake up in bed, and just in time to slam my alarm off with great violence. It gives a cracked groan of agony before shutting up promptly. With bleary eyes, I roll out of bed and shake Daiki awake. His futon is usually right next to my bed since I don't have an extra room, and I trust Daiki not to pull anything while I'm sleeping. I'm usually a light sleeper anyway. "Daiki... school. Gotta get up, yeah?" I say drowsily, rubbing my eyes.
Daiki's eyes are glazed over with sleep. He gives me this strange look, no doubt due to his sleepiness, and tugs me to him. "Five minutes." He groans, nestling his head against my neck. "You're warm." I sigh and don't bother struggling free. Daiki's grip is vice-like, as always.
"I was just sleeping. Of course I'm warm." I reply, trying not to fall asleep again. "We need to get to school, Daiki. We missed all our classes yesterday."
"So? It's not like we can't spare five minutes." I frown slightly at the bigger boy.
"Five minutes. That's it." I say with a groan. "But just five." Daiki doesn't reply and instead opts to snore against the side of my neck. I wriggle a bit until I'm more comfortable. Five minutes pass by more slowly than I thought they would, but they pass in time. I squirm free and shake Daiki again. "C'mon, Daiki. Time for school."
In the end, we arrive with barely two minutes to spare. We're lucky we made it at all, actually. The two of us ran like hell whenever we'd normally walk. My chest is heaving as I try to catch my breath. I slump into my seat with a heavy sigh. "We made it." I say as I continue to wheeze, trying to not sound like I'm dying. "That's the fastest I've ever run to school in my life."
"Yeah." Daiki says, panting behind me. "Never wanna do that again. Not worth the extra five minutes." I pretend to get offended at Daiki's smug look. Class starts without a hitch. The school day passes with excruciating slowness as I continually glance at the clock every thirty seconds. It seems like practice will never come around again.
"What? What do you mean I'm not allowed to practice?" I say furiously, resisting the urge to stop my foot childishly. "It's fine if I play! Why?" The pinkette stares at me with blank pink eyes, glancing down at her clipboard.
"We've decided it's best for you not to play until Interhigh, which is coming very, very, very soon." Satsuki says evenly. "We want you to be in tip-top shape, so we're eliminating any chances of you getting yet another injury by keeping you out of practice."
"You do realize I'm fully capable of keeping myself healthy, right?" I snarl, standing chest-to-chest with the pinkette. "I can play, and I fully intend to." Pink eyes stare at me without wavering.
"You will not be playing until Interhigh." She says firmly, frowning.
"I did not come in here to be told not to practice by my own manager." The words come out much more venomously than I'd intended, but at least she gets the point and narrows her eyes.
"Hai-chan... We’re not denying you this because you did something wrong. It's not a punishment. We want you to stay healthy." I can feel my eyebrow twitch in frustration.
"I came here to play. Hell, I was sent here to play. What makes you think Akashi would approve of this?" The pinkette drops her gaze. "Akashi told me to play, and I intend to do so." It's pretty low of me to bring up Akashi and try to use him against Satsuki. It's lower than low. I shouldn't be doing it, yet I am. Desperation runs through my blood like a poison I can't get rid of.
"Akashi does not go to this school. He isn't your captain anymore. You don't have to play for him, or by his rules. I, however, am still your manager. I think it's best for this team if you don't play until the games at Interhigh." The silence in the gym is so intense you could hear a pin drop. The tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife, take a chunk of it, and literally sell it. My eyes narrow significantly.
"Akashi may not go here, and he may not be my captain at this point in time, but he is the reason I began playing this stupid game, and is the reason I continue to play. You're my manager, and there is no mistaking that. You always have been. I don't doubt your ability to make decisions, and I don't think your thinking is generally flawed, but you're making a mistake in keeping me from practicing." I reply, watching pink eyes widen. "I am not Japanese, so I did not grow up thinking I should go with the flow. I have no issue with going against your wishes or being blunt. I am not Kuroko, who is selfless and a team player. I am not Murasakibara, who you can order fairly easily. I am not easily bribed, like Daiki. I am not as patient or logical as Midorima, and I cannot influence things the way Akashi does.
"Remember that while you managed those Miracles, it was not you who managed me. The only person I take orders from is Akashi. You cannot order me to stop doing something, and you cannot bribe me into doing it. I will not listen to your logic, and saying it's for the team no longer has a meaning to me. Do not think that you can deal with me the same way you dealt with the others in the past."
"I've never said you were like the others, Hai-chan, but dealing with you is getting more and more difficult. You listened to me back then, but you won't listen to me now? I don't understand why you're questioning this, or why you won't understand why I'm doing this. This team wants to win. You not playing is the best way to do so, since you've been out of commission for a while now." Satsuki says, narrowing her eyes as my temper flares. "If you won't listen to your own manager, whom will you listen to?"
"Why don't you try listening to yourself, Satsuki? You're telling a player who hasn't touched a basketball in a long time to continue to let their skills rust until the next game or whenever Interhigh is. Can you not see how backward your logic is?"
"You always ignore all the factors I'm taking into account. Stress yourself too much, and you won't be able to play properly. Does that not worry you?" I try to subdue my temper once more.
"I am more than capable of dealing with stress, thank you very much. Your vote of confidence is greatly appreciated." I reply icily. "Thank you very much for underestimating me. This always happens. It just brings great bouts of joy into my life. I'm so happy I could dance."
"Hai-chan..."
"See you later, Momoi-san. I won't play, just like you want." I exit the gym in a rage, heading for where they keep the athletic equipment so I can use the treadmills. It doesn't take long for me to change and set the treadmill to a brisk pace so I can stomp my rage into the rubber surface below me.
I just want to play. Is that so bad? Is that so much to ask? To play? Daiki doesn't play, Satsuki won't let me, and I only play with Kagami once a week. I want to practice... I want a challenge. I want to get tired and lose and feel motivated and defeated at the same time. What can I do? I doubt Seirin will beat us at Inter High, if they make it in, but... I'd kind of like them to, so I have an actual goal I'm trying to achieve.
"Alex? What're you doing in here? I thought you went to practice." Daiki practically spits the word out like it's some sort of poison. I run a little faster.
"Momoi told me not to practice until Inter High, whenever that is, so I'm doing this." I reply frigidly.
"Geez, don't get your panties in a knot." Daiki says with an amused sigh, leaning against the machine on my left. "It's not like practice would help you anyway, you know." I shoot the bluenette a very unappreciative glare.
"Doesn't mean I don't wanna go. I'm tired of lazing about doing nothing. I wanna play..." Daiki rolls his eyes.
"What about that Kagami guy? He seemed to amuse you." The rude prodigy suggests, crossing his arms over his chest.
"If I play him more than once a week I doubt he'll be able to practice properly." I say with irritation.
"Give me your phone." Daiki says with a scowl, snatching it from my gym bag.
"D-Daiki! Don't go on my phone, you idiot! What do you plan on doing?" I reply indignantly. "That's rude!"
"Eh, you actually have his number?" Daiki says with surprise as he clicks around on my phone. I glare at him.
"He gave it to me after I played him." I say as I continue running at a fast-paced jog. Daiki continues to click, so I have to assume he's texting someone. "Who are you messaging?"
"The redheaded idiot." Daiki replies testily. "Hopefully he'll amuse you long enough to keep you from killing Satsuki."
"Give me that, you stupid blueberry." I say with irritation. I look through my sent box to find what is likely a very offensive message. Instead, it's surprisingly normal. Up for a game of one-on-one? -Hai. I glance at Daiki. "At least you're capable of texting like a normal person." Daiki yawns and chucks my empty water bottle into the trashcan across the room with practiced ease.
My phone vibrates in my hand. Yeah, what time? -Kagami. I almost drop the damn thing in an attempt to not fall off the treadmill. "Gimme that." Daiki says, snatching it from my hand. "You're going to kill yourself if you try texting and running. You're no good at multitasking like that." I puff my cheeks out in irritation. "This okay?" As soon as you're out of practice. I'll meet you at Seirin. -Hai.
"Yeah, thanks." I say with a sigh. "Don't you wanna play?"
"It's not fun if we both play with the same toy." Daiki says with a roll of his eyes. "I'll mess with him later. I don't see what Tetsu thinks is so great about him." I resist the urge to tell Daiki he'd see it if he wasn't so blind.
"He's fun to play." I say with failing breath. "It's fun to mess around and see how he reacts." Blue eyes latch onto my face as I continue running.
"You better get going if you wanna play with your new toy." I slow the treadmill so I can cool down my muscles and not suffer from stiffness.
"You can't call people toys, Daiki." I scold, looking at him with a half-assed attempt at a severe expression. "They don't exist just for amusement."
Daiki shrugs. "When it comes to basketball, they're all just toys. They're worth is determined by how much they can amuse me." I almost feel like slugging the guy, but instead finish off my second water bottle and toss it in the trash.
"Maybe Kagami will amuse you." I say. "Maybe not now, but later he will. I'm sure of it." The bluenette rolls his eyes with disbelief once more as my phone vibrates. Practice is over in an hour or so. You sure? It's pretty far from Touou. -Kagami. I laugh a little at that.
I could use a jog. See ya there. -Hai. "See ya, Daiki. I hope he doesn't disappoint today." With a wave and a promise to grab some takeout on the way home, I start jogging for Seirin. Of course, it takes longer than anticipated to jog all the way to Seirin. I end up taking a whole bunch of shortcuts and crossing through alleys I'd normally avoid, but as soon as I start to flat out sprint, I know I shouldn't be too late. Of course, it would've been best to not be late at all, but a mere five minutes is okay, right? Especially when I'm running like hell, right? I suppose it is, because Kagami's just getting out onto the street as I round the corner and slow to a jog.
"Kagami!" I call, waving slightly as my jog slows to a walk. "Sorry I'm late. It took a little longer than I thought it would. My bad." Kagami looks both amused and slightly miffed, but it looks like I haven't done any harm.
"Don't worry about it. I just got out of practice, so you aren't late at all." He replies. "Did you seriously jog the whole way?" I laugh with embarrassment.
"Actually, I did my jogging in the gym earlier, so I sprinted instead..." I reply sheepishly. "I haven't done any cardio workouts in a long time."
"Oi, don't tire yourself out before we even start!" Kagami says, ruffling my hair roughly. I yelp and swat the hand away as best I can.
"I won't, I won't!" I reply, dodging the hand. "Oh, hey Kuroko!" The familiar blue-haired shadow startles the bejesus out of Kagami, who grows very irritated.
"I-Idiot! You're going to give me heart attack!" Kagami says with every ounce of annoyance possible.
"Hello, Hai-chan." Kuroko says, completely ignoring the babbling dunce beside him. "You're going to play again today?" I nod eagerly.
"Yep! I'm going to play Kagami as soon as we get to the nearest court!" I reply with a smile. "Satsuki won't let me practice, so I decided I'd play one on one games." I send a silent thank you to Daiki, wherever the hell he is. Probably at another arcade, or reading the skin mags he hides in my room when he thinks I don't notice. I smile wider.
"Let's get going." Kagami says impatiently, tapping my arm. I glance at the redhead and nod.
"Of course." I supply easily. I look to Kuroko to see if he'll tag along, but he seems to be thinking of other things. "Every time I remember you speak English I keep wanting to call you by your first name. It's so weird to call everyone by their last name..." Kagami laughs.
"It took me a while to adjust to the way people do things in America, and when I came back here I had to adjust again." Kagami says with amusement. "When are you going back?" I shift uneasily and clear my throat to ease my perpetual awkwardness.
"Ah... I don't think I can go back, to be honest." I reply sheepishly. "I got disowned for some reason, and then my citizenship got revoked. I don't actually belong to a country right now... I guess I'm hoping to apply here." Kagami looks surprised.
"How did that even happen?" I scratch the back of my head.
"My family and I aren't on good terms. I've been here since seventh grade, I think, on an exchange program. Once eighth grade hit and I wasn't showing any signs of wanting to come back, I guess it was the last straw." I answer, glancing up and down the street as we cross an intersection. "I suppose I don't really feel like a part of the family anymore. Just a person who shares their last name and some genes."
Kagami gives me a look that I recognize all too well. "Oi, don't think I'm unhappy or anything. Everything's the same as it's always been, so don't look at me like that." I say testily, walking toward the streetball courts and taking the basketball from Kagami. "I hate it when people look at me like that."